The Importance of Act 1,Scene -1 of The Tempest /The Dramatic Significance of Act 1,Scene-1, of The Tempest

                                                 The  Importance Of  Opening  Scene Of   THE TEMPEST

The opening scene of  Shakespeare's  play  THE  TEMPEST  is dramatically significant.The  Tempest begins with a storm or tempest where as in many other plays, the opening scene begins with a conversation.It is the tempest which renders the play its charm and also supplies it with the atmosphere and lends it the scope for the necessary action.The opening scene also provides the play with thrill and is thus successful in catching the attention of the audience.This scene helps the play to shape its intended course.The desire for revenge burning in the heart of  Prospero would not have been satisfied if there had been no tempest in the opening scene.It is the tempest which is instrumental in bringing Prospero's enemies to this uninhabited island.
       
        The play The Tempest, suggestive of its name opens with a storm and the audience finds a royal fleet tossing in the storm.The royal ship,which has on board  many dignitaries ,is in peril.There is a state of complete chaos.The master of the boat issuing orders to his mariners,the boatswain,tense and in a nasty mood is doing his best to save the ship .Alonso, the king of Naples ,Sebastian,his brother,Antonio,the duke of Milan and some high ranking nobles are in the royal ship.The violent tempest has brought them to the deck of the ship.All of them seem to be panic-stricken,Gonzalo a lord or counsellor however seems to have maintained his calm and has not lost his sense of humor even in the face of imminent death.The perilous situation brings out the worst in Sebastian and Antonio as they engage in a verbal duel with the boatswain. Unable to restrain himself,Sebastian curses the boatswain.."A pox o' your throat,you bawling,blasphemous ,incharitable dog.'Antonio uses more abusives as he yells at the boatswain  'Hang cur!Hang,you whore son,insolent noisemaker'
 The panic and pandemonium in the ship heightens to such a level  that the passengers throw themselves into the sea to save their lives.

         The opening scene also throws light on a profound truth that death and calamities are great levellers and bring the prince and the pauper to the same platform.Thus the boatswain doesn't think of the king but himself when he gives his best efforts to save the ship from being wrecked.Thus  he answers Gonzalo..."None that I love more than myself,"when the latter reminds him of the presence of the important persons on the ship.
                 
                            The opening scene is also remarkable for another reason.It again shows the skill and mastery of Shakespeare and his knowledge of the marine terms and the language  used by the mariners.Shakespeare has used his marine vocabulary very aptly and with great accuracy.
         "Heigh my hearts;cheerly,cheerly my hearts!
           Yare,Yare!take in the topsail...."
                     
                              The main drama takes place in this opening scene .Nature does not care for royal personage,thus the boatswain speaks out...
   "What cares these roarers for the name of the King?"

    The skillful use of language and punctuations have made the scene very dramatic. "All lost!To prayers,to prayers" highlighting a great sense of loss and arousing the imaginative powers of the audience to visualise the storm and its effects on the passengers.

        The opening scene with its thunder and lightning,noise and cries of the passengers and mariners,shouts and curses of the peerage have been succesful in capturing the attention of the audience and they are suspense and dying to know what follows....