Episode 72 - The Tempest
Episode 73 of the The Bicks Pod podcast, hosted by thebickspod, titled "Episode 72 - The Tempest" was published on January 25, 2022 and runs 64 minutes.
January 25, 2022 ·64m · The Bicks Pod
Summary
“Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.” In almost every way this play is Shakespeare's swan song, and a heartfelt goodbye to his time spent crafting entertainment and poetry for the people of London. Consequently, the play is very concerned with legacies, family, time, supremacy, and - perhaps most interestingly of all - colonialism. Despite being one of Shakespeare's shortest and most easily accessible plays, it manages to jam pack a whole lot of thought into the topics it does weave its magic on, so join us for a discussion about all things The Tempest in this, our final episode devoted to Shakespeare's work. Notes: Aidan incorrectly named the date the play was performed in front of King James - it was actually done on November 1, 1611. He also incorrectly identified the date the play was put back into production - it was actually 1667, albeit under a different name with heavy adaptations. Both Aidan and Lindsay highly recommend Barbra A. Mowat's A Modern Perspective essay (a standby of this series) for an interesting look at how Shakespeare combines time, family, and the other themes of The Tempest into a nice little package. Ancient Bickerings: If you were shipwrecked on an abandoned island and had to take 5 Shakespeare plays with you, does this one crack the list?
Episode Description
“Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.”
In almost every way this play is Shakespeare's swan song, and a heartfelt goodbye to his time spent crafting entertainment and poetry for the people of London. Consequently, the play is very concerned with legacies, family, time, supremacy, and - perhaps most interestingly of all - colonialism. Despite being one of Shakespeare's shortest and most easily accessible plays, it manages to jam pack a whole lot of thought into the topics it does weave its magic on, so join us for a discussion about all things The Tempest in this, our final episode devoted to Shakespeare's work.
Notes:
- Aidan incorrectly named the date the play was performed in front of King James - it was actually done on November 1, 1611.
- He also incorrectly identified the date the play was put back into production - it was actually 1667, albeit under a different name with heavy adaptations.
- Both Aidan and Lindsay highly recommend Barbra A. Mowat's A Modern Perspective essay (a standby of this series) for an interesting look at how Shakespeare combines time, family, and the other themes of The Tempest into a nice little package.
Ancient Bickerings:
- If you were shipwrecked on an abandoned island and had to take 5 Shakespeare plays with you, does this one crack the list?
Similar Episodes
Apr 10, 2026 ·251m
Apr 8, 2026 ·281m
Apr 5, 2026 ·38m
Apr 3, 2026 ·282m