Act 1 — The Tempest — Edexcel GCSE English Literature 1ET0
Edexcel GCSE English Literature · 1ET0
Act 1
The plot, part by part
What you need to know
The storm and shipwreck, Prospero's story of how his brother Antonio took his dukedom, Ariel's demand for freedom,
Caliban's claim to the island, and Ferdinand's first meeting with Miranda.
What each scene establishes about character and theme, with key quotations.
Key quotations: 'What cares these roarers for the name of king?', 'O, I have suffered / With those that I saw suffer', 'I have done nothing but in care of thee', 'The government I cast upon my brother', 'Me, poor man, my library / Was dukedom large enough', 'I flamed amazement', 'Hell is empty / And all the devils are here', 'the still-vex'd Bermoothes', 'Thou liest, malignant thing!', 'This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother', 'You taught me language; and my profit on't / Is, I know how to curse', 'Full fathom five thy father lies', 'I might call him / A thing divine', 'At the first sight / They have changed eyes'.
Structure: the storm as a loud, chaotic opening, then Prospero's long account of the past, and Ariel and Caliban shown one after the other as servants who resent their service.
Context: the wreck of the Sea Venture on Bermuda behind the storm, and Prospero's 'white' magic set against the witchcraft of Sycorax.
Edexcel's Shakespeare question has two parts: part (a) on the printed extract marks only language, form and structure (AO2), so context earns nothing there; part (b) on the play elsewhere, from memory, marks the argument and its references (AO1, 15 marks) and context (AO3, 5 marks), not language analysis. Say which part each worked paragraph and exam tip is for.
