Act 5 — The Tempest — Edexcel GCSE English Literature 1ET0
Edexcel GCSE English Literature · 1ET0
Act 5
The plot, part by part
What you need to know
Ariel's plea for pity, Prospero giving up his magic and forgiving his enemies, Miranda's 'brave new world', Ariel's freedom and the Epilogue.
Key quotations: 'Now does my project gather to a head', 'Mine would, sir, were I human', 'The rarer action is / In virtue than in vengeance', 'they being penitent, / The sole drift of my purpose doth extend / Not a frown further', 'Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves', 'deeper than did ever plummet sound / I'll drown my book', 'I do forgive thee, / Unnatural though thou art', 'Sweet lord, you play me false', 'O brave new world, / That has such people in't!', ''Tis new to thee', 'I'll be wise hereafter / And seek for grace', 'Every third thought shall be my grave', 'As you from crimes would pardon'd be'.
Structure: the lords held in Prospero's magic circle, Ferdinand and Miranda revealed at chess, Antonio given no words of repentance, and the Epilogue spoken to the audience.
Context: Prospero's farewell to magic, which echoes the witch Medea's speech in Ovid's Metamorphoses, and forgiveness that depends on repentance.
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.
