ample, lines 58 - 61 read: A confused noise within: ”Mercy on us!•˜”We split, we split!•˜”Farewell, my wife andchildren!•˜”Farewell, brother!•˜”We split, we split, we split!• Shakespeare‘s theatre had no effective way of showing the breaking up of the ship on stage, so he resorts to this indirect method, thereby leaving the destruction of ship entirely to the audience‘s imagination. This is far more effective than anything they could have physically achieved on stage; indeed, even a modern theatre would have difficulty enacting this. It would only really be possible to show directly in a film, which, of course, had not even been dreamt of in the 17th Century.This scene would undoubtedly focus the attention of any audience, if it was portrayed effectively. However, this would not necessarily stop their minds wandering during the next scene, which, as mentioned above, is very dialogue-driven. Therefore, Shakespeare relies on something which has become almost a clich on modern television drama: He uses a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger is a technique used in all story-telling media (films, television, novels, theatre...) whereby the audience is left uncertain as to the ending for a certain amount of time. It is then hoped that the same audience will return to see the next instalment to find out what happens next. Therefore, Act 1 Scene 1 of The Tempest ends with the audience unsure as to whether anybody on the boat survived. A little way into the next scene we find out the fate of the crew and passengers and, by that time, our attention is more-or-less guaranteed.By using these various techniques, Shakespeare manages to achieve with this scene that which every writer aspires to do; that is, draw the audience into the plot and make them want to find out more. ...
