Shakespearean Romances were once combined into the 18 Comedies Shakespeare wrote during his career. However, as scholars have analyzed these plays further, they’ve realized that five of them are more like “tragicomedies” than true Comedies, because they incorporate important qualities from the Medieval Romance genre. Thus, Shakespearean Romances have become a genre of their own, on par with his Comedies, Tragedies, and Histories.
Having students create storyboards that depict the elements of this genre will help them to understand the Romance elements in The Tempest. It will also help them follow the multiple plots and interweaving of characters, while bringing the genre to life!
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Student Instructions
Create a storyboard that shows the five elements of the Shakespearean Romance in The Tempest. Make sure to depict the scenes where the elements appear, and describe how the scene highlights the element you have identified. Make sure you craft the scenes with care, choose historically-appropriate art, and give clear, concise explanations. Proofread your work!
Prompt students to discuss how forgiveness and justice are portrayed in the play. Assign roles or perspectives to ensure that all voices are heard and encourage respectful argumentation and evidence-based reasoning.
Divide the class into groups representing different characters or viewpoints. Give each student a role—such as Prospero, Miranda, Caliban, or an observer—and equip them with guiding questions to focus their arguments.
Encourage students to find direct quotes and examples from the text that support their assigned perspective. Highlight the importance of using textual evidence for stronger, more persuasive points.
Set clear guidelines for respectful discourse and active listening. Moderate the debate to ensure each voice is heard, and steer the conversation back to the main themes as needed.
Wrap up by having students reflect on how the themes of forgiveness and justice tie into the romantic elements of the play. Encourage connections back to the genre and students’ understanding of The Tempest as a Shakespearean Romance.
The Tempest includes five key romantic elements: the play begins with a conflict that is resolved by the end, features a central older noble male, introduces a love interest, incorporates supernatural elements, and explores broad, universal themes.
Students can identify romance elements by analyzing scenes for conflict resolution, noble figures, love interests, supernatural events, and grand themes. They can then illustrate these moments in a storyboard and write brief explanations for each cell.
Shakespearean Romances combine elements of comedy and tragedy, featuring magical or supernatural events, redemption, and complex characters, while traditional comedies focus more on humor and mistaken identities with happy endings.
The Tempest is viewed as a romance because it blends comic moments with serious, even tragic, themes, includes supernatural elements, and centers on forgiveness and reconciliation, making it more complex than a typical comedy.
Quick activities include storyboarding key scenes, group discussions on each romance element, matching scenes to elements, and writing short scene summaries that explain how each fits the romance genre.