Shakespeare Magazine 12

Shakespeare’s Storms
“The primary function of Shakespeare’s storms is to
separate characters, most obviously with a shipwreck”
Storm clouds gather
above the stage at
Shakespeare’s Globe
(Photo by John
Wildgoose).
hakespeare was remarkably fond of storms,
not only in the stage effects he so often calls
for, but in the metaphors and similes he gives
to his characters. In fact, if such images are
included, there is some instance of storm in every
Shakespearean play. Perhaps this shouldn’t be
surprising; the storm is a trope that has carried
across literature from ancient epic to twenty-first
century narrative non-fiction, from Aeneid to
Zeitoun. Readers of Shakespeare Magazine will
no doubt be aware of Shakespeare’s storms as
individual moments in plays, but what happens if
we take the panoramic view?
If Shakespeare’s storms are to be thought of
as functional, then their primary function is to
separate characters. Most obviously, this separation
is achieved when the storm causes a shipwreck, as
in The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, Pericles and
The Tempest. In Othello, a storm splits the Venetian
fleet without splitting the ships themselves, with
the effect that characters are divided briefly.
The sea is not necessary for a storm to separate –
in King Lear, the weather divides characters into
indoor and outdoor groups – but it is tempting
to view the shipwreck storms as motifs. This
temptation is amplified if we concentrate on
The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night and The
Tempest, and the chronological detail that these
plays date from the beginning, middle and end
of Shakespeare’s playwriting career. But these
storms cannot be dismissed so neatly. Shakespeare,
rather than re-use the same storm for each play,
approaches each play with distinct requirements
and concerns, drawn out in the texts and the
storms themselves.
There is, though, a pattern. If Shakespeare’s seastorms
are approached in chronological order then
we see an increasing interest in bringing the storm
into a more immediate, and thereby dramatic and
threatening, presentation. In the development of
60
shakespeare magazine