Shakespeare in Community (Act 5): The Tempest and the Humanities
Channel: Jesse Stommel
Date: 2015-05-17

Why do we need the humanities? What does Shakespeare reveal about our own humanity? https://moocs.wisc.edu/mooc/shakespeare-in-community/

About halfway through Shakespeare's The Tempest, Gonzalo is weary indeed from all of the scrambling around the island they have had to do. He says, “By’r Lakin, I can go no further, sir! / My old bones ache. Here is a maze trod indeed / Through forthrights and meanders.” We can certainly sympathize with him because we too have been subjected to a lot of mix-ups and perturbations and we ourselves want a bit of a rest. However, we continue with “forthrights and meanders” until the final words release us from this magical play. We all probably recognize the forthrights in our own lives, where we choose to continue on a path we have chosen. And we probably realize, as adults, when a meander rises up to perplex and cause us confusion.

Director, Editor, Producer: Jesse Stommel
Producer, Assistant Editor: Catherine DeRose
Producer: Sarah Marty
Producer: R L Widmann
Graphic Designer: Mark Neufeld
Music: Folger Consort