Act I - Scene I

On a ship at sea. A tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard.

[Enter a Master and a Boatswain]

MASTER:
Boatswain!
BOATS:
Here, Master. What cheer?
MASTER:
Good, speak to the mariners. Fall to't, yarely,
or we run ourselves aground. Bestir

Exit

Enter Mariners

BOATS:
Heigh, my hearts! Cheerly, cheerly, my hearts! Yare,(5)
yare! Take in the topsail. Tend to the Master's whistle!
Blow, till thou burst thy wind, if room enough!

[Enter Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Ferdinand, Gonzalo, and others]

ALONSO:
Good Boatswain, have care. Where's the Master?
[To the Mariners] Play the men!
BOATS:
I pray now, keep below.
ANTONIO:
Where is the Master, Boatswain?(10)
BOATS:
Do you not hear him? You mar our labour. Keep your
cabins: you do assist the storm.
GONZ:
Nay, good, be patient.
BOATS:
When the sea is. Hence! What cares these roarers for the
name of the king? To cabin: silence! Trouble us not.(15)
GONZ:
Good, yet remember whom thou has aboard.
BOATS:
None that I more love than myself. You are a counsellor;
if you can command these elements to silence, and work
the peace of the present, we will not hand a rope more;
use your authority. If you cannot, give thanks you have(20)
lived so long, and make yourself ready in your cabin for
the mischance of the hour, if it so hap. [To the Mariners]
Cheerly, good hearts! [To Gonzalo] Out of our way, I say!

Exit

GONZ:
I have great comfort from this fellow. Methinks he hath
no drowning mark upon him; his complexion is perfect(25)
gallows. Stand fast, good Fate, to his hanging. Make
the rope of his destiny our cable, for our own doth little
advantage. If he be not born to be hanged, our case is
miserable.

[Exeunt]

[Enter Boatswain]

BOATS:
Down with the topmast! Yare! Lower, lower! Bring(30)
her to try with main-course! [A cry within] A plague
upon this howling! They are louder than the weather
or our office.

[Enter Sebastian, Antonio, and Gonzalo]

Yet again! What do you here? Shall we give o'er and
drown? Have you a mind to sink?(35)
SEBAST:
A pox o’ your throat, you bawling, blasphemous,
incharitable dog!
BOATS:
Work you, then.
ANTONIO:
Hang, cur, hang, you whoreson, insolent noise-
maker! We are less(40)
afraid to be drowned than thou art.
GONZ:
I'll warrant him for drowning, though the ship
were no stronger than a nutshell and as leaky as an
unstanched wench.
BOATS:
Lay her a-hold, a-hold! Set her two courses! Off to(45)
sea again; lay her off!

[Enter Mariners wet]

MARINERS:
All lost! To prayers, to prayers! All lost!

[Exeunt Mariners]

BOATS:
What, must our mouths be cold?
GONZ:
The king and prince at prayers! Let's assist them,
For our case is theirs.(50)
SEBAST:
I'm out of patience.
ANTONIO:
We are merely cheated of our lives by drunkards.
This wide-chopped rascal—would thou mightst lie
drowning
The washing of ten tides! (55)
GONZ:
He'll be hanged yet,
Though every drop of water swear against it,
And gape at wid'st to glut him.

[A confused noise within]

MARINERS:
‘Mercy on us!’—‘We split, we split!’—‘Farewell, my
wife and children!’—‘Farewell, brother!’—‘We split, we(60)
split, we split!’

[Exit Boatswain]

ANTONIO:
Let's all sink wi'th’ King.
SEBAST:
Let's take leave of him.

[Exeunt Antonio and Sebastian]

GONZ:
Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre
of barren ground—long heath, brown furze, anything. The(65)
wills above be done, but I would fain die a dry death.

[Exeunt]

Act I - Scene II
Dramatis Personae

Footnotes

  1. A “furlong” is a unit of distance that is equal to 220 yards, or about 201 meters. Gonzalo means that he would give anything to be on dry land when he dies, even though he believes that his fate ultimately rests with the “wills above.”

    — Kayla, Owl Eyes Staff

  2. Gonzalo has not only affirmed his belief in the Boatswain’s professional skill, but he has also made stated his belief that the Boatswain is not meant to die by drowning (based on his complexion). In addition to trusting that the Boatswain has the skill to help guide them through the storm, Gonzalo also invokes Fate in this passage, emphasizing his belief that events are preordained by a power outside the control of humankind.

    — Wesley, Owl Eyes Editor

  3. Since Gonzalo comments on the Boatswain’s “complexion,” he is referring to the man’s skin and any marks that may be present. A birthmark in a certain position was believed to predict a person's death—for instance through drowning. A well-known proverb in Shakespeare's time was, “He that is born to be hanged will never be drowned.” “Gallows” were structures that were used for hanging criminals. Gonzalo’s comment might also suggest that the Boatswain looks like he was born to be a criminal, and thus, to have a criminal’s death by hanging rather than drowning.

    — Kayla, Owl Eyes Staff

  4. The Boatswain is trying his best to get the ship through the fearsome storm when Alonso, Gonzalo, and Antonio attempt to speak with him. Gonzalo tells the Boatswain to remember that he’s speaking to Alonso, the King of Naples, and the Boatswain’s response here states that the storm cares not for “the name of the king,” which means that the power structures of humankind are of no significance compared to the awesome power of nature. The boldness of the Boatswain’s assertion here emphasizes how the storm has created social upheaval among the characters. Since the storm is so dangerous, any kind of social structure that emphasizes rank and tradition is meaningless: the storm ignores such distinctions.

    — Wesley, Owl Eyes Editor

  5. Pronounced “bo-sun,” this word refers to a position on a boat or ship. Boatswains are in charge of maintaining the hull of the ship and all of the equipment related to it.

    — Wesley, Owl Eyes Editor

  6. This is a good insight into human nature. The Boatswain is far more concerned about his own life than that of his distinguished passengers or anyone else aboard.  In emergency situations social distinctions are generally forgotten. This shows how superficial they really are. Gonzalo and the other eminent passengers should consider themselves lucky that they have men aboard who are their only hope of salvation because these working men know what they are doing, while the passengers can only get in their way. In such a perilous situation the Boatswain actually has a higher de facto rank than the King of Naples or any of his retinue. We are all generally more concerned about ourselves than we are about any others. 

    The Boatswain is given a leading role in this scene because he is responsible for saving the ship and knows more about how to do so than anyone else. The tempest is represented mainly by dialogue, and most of the dialogue is spoken by the Boatswain. He has no time or patience to be respectful and subservient.

    — William Delaney

  7. Based on his reliance on the pseudo-science of physiognomy, Gonzalo repeats his assessment of the Boatswain's character and probable fate.

    — William Delaney

  8. Gonzalo is a man who believes in physiognomy, the analysis of people's characters believed to be unmistakably apparent in their facial features. What Gonzalo is suggesting is that if the ship sinks everyone aboard will be drowned, but he thinks this Boatswain is not destined to be drowned because his face proclaims that he is destined to be hanged, and therefore the ship is not going to sink. 

    German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer was a strong believer in physiognomy and wrote a persuasive essay on the subject in which he says the following:

    With the exception of beautiful, good-natured, and intellectual faces and thus of the exceedingly few and rare, I believe there will often be stirred in those of fine feelings a sensation akin to a shock at the sight of a new face, since it presents something unpleasant in a new and surprising combination.  Actually it is, as a rule, a sorry sight.  Indeed, there are some whose faces bear the stamp of so naive a vulgarity and baseness of character, as well as such animal limitation of intelligence, that one wonders how they like to go about with such a face and not prefer to wear a mask.  In fact, there are faces the mere sight of which makes us feel defiled.
        "On Physiognomy"

    — William Delaney