The Tempest the Play by William Shakespeare Ruler’s in general face many problems, as is the nature of having power and authority. However rulers like Prospero face even more difficulties, as Prospero has the ultimate power of magic and can control and manipulate people and their actions, more so than a natural ruler. The first difficulty presented is an issue, which is dealt with throughout the play: the idea of how much or how little to intervene? From the beginning of the play we are told of how and why Prospero is usurped from his dukedom, “I thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated/ To closeness, and the bettering of my mind/ With that which, but by being so retired, O’er-prized all popular rate, in my false brother.” Namely because he did not get involved in running the country and possibly felt that his job was not to intervene but to be a figure-head for the country and leave the country to run itself, a ‘laissez faire’ attitude to ruling. This short speech by Prospero raises the idea that perhaps we should remember that being a ruler involves both rights and responsibilities; Prospero wanted the former but not the latter. The idea of intervention and responsibility is presented in Act 2, Scene 1, where Prospero intervenes telling Ariel to wake Gonzalo before Antonio and Sebastian draw their swords and kill him. This issue, is particularly difficult for a ruler such as Prospero as he has the power to manipulate the situation to suit him self, raising moral as well as personal dilemmas? This raises yet another problem faced by rulers, specifically Gonzalo; of how much trust you can give your subjects or more appropriately those who are next in line to the throne? This idea of trust was ... ... middle of paper ... ...have alcohol. Caliban gives his only power, knowledge of the island, as a pledge to his new masters. His hope is that by exchanging masters, he will be able to better his life. This continues the idea of trust and the problems faced by those ruler’s such as Prospero who have slaves who have an inherit need to be incarcerated by a ruler, but unfortunately by any ruler at all and are therefore not faithful. In conclusion, Act 2 reveals the difficulties faced by ruler’s such as Prospero, through cleverly interwoven narrative threads which are developed gradually throughout the play. This is especially true of the themes of trust and the fixed natures of characters, which both pose a problem for those in power. Prospero of course has the added dilemma of possessing supernatural powers which brings with it additional problems when placed in the role a ruler.
...ith humane care, and lodged their in mine own cell, till thou did’st seek to violate the honour of my child”(Act I, Scene II, 343-348). Prospero believed that Caliban had this coming to him, and should he had been a vengeful man could have killed him. From these examples we see that Prospero perceives his power over all since he had spared them from horrible existences and given then a taste of the civilized world. Lastly, Prospero believed so deeply that since he was the first noble to set foot on the island that it was his right to claim it as his own. For before him this isle was nothing till he brought his language, education, and culture to it.
In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, the character Othello is portrayed as a fairly good man. By some, he may be known as a bad person but he has become greatly beneficial to the growth of Venice and the state of Cyprus. Othello is a good man even if he committed murder to his wife because he is a great war general and contributed to Cyprus in time of need.
Prospero, as I see it, doesn't start the play fully realizing all this. He launches his experiment from a mixture of motives, perhaps not entirely sure what he going to do (after all, one gets the sense that there's a good deal of improvising going on). But he learns in the play to avoid the twin dangers to his experiment, the two main threats to the value of his theatrical magic.
William Shakespeare's The Tempest “The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance” In act five, scene one, I believe that the lines; “the rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance“ are pivotal to the text, because the outcome of Prospero’s decision determines how the play concludes. There are many subtle hints in the text which could suggest why Prospero makes the decision that he does. First, we must question the nature of forgiveness in ’The Tempest‘.
Racial barriers are often used as a means to manipulate a member of a minority group. in The tragedy, Othello, was written by William Shakespeare(1564-1616) an English poet and playwright, who is often contemplated as the greatest writer in the English Language. The story begins with Othello, a black general in the Venetian army who secretly marries Desdemona, a white woman. Early on, Othello promotes Michael Cassio as his lieutenant over Iago, fostering mass jealousy. Desperate to get even with Othello, Iago creates elaborate plans to ruin his marriage with Desdemona. Iago’s effective manipulation skills lead Othello to take his wife's life and then his own. Iago is successfully able to deceive Othello because of their many differences, mainly racial, and Iago's understanding of how manipulation works.
It is clear that the race of Othello is a factor in his downfall. A
“I asked her to wear something revealing, so she showed up in a prophet's toga.”(CITE) Jarod Kintz’s words are an example of miscommunication, or failure to comprehend meaning. In this case, it is implied that one person misunderstood the message of another, but incomprehension also applies to problems other than falsely interpreted requests. Incomprehension can occur when people misinterpret another’s words or intentions, or when a person misreads situations or events. The outcome described in Kintz’s quote is unexpected and unintended, but there are instances of incomprehension that have consequences of greater severity. Perhaps a classic tragedy with a high body count falls under these parameters.
There is a unimpeded progression of maturity that Prospero is subjected to. Instead of taking vengeance on those who wronged him he ultimately decides to function with his “...nobler reason...” (5.1.26). He understands that the way he has composed himself and treated others is no better than the lack of benevolence he has been subjected to. In William Shakespeare's the Tempest, Prospero projects the oppressive demeanour that initially made him a prisoner onto Caliban and Ariel which ultimately leads to his shift from ignorance to knowledge. The relationship between servant and master is beautifully articulated and exemplifies enticing altruistic values that one should strive for.
The dramatic presentation of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead adapts the formal revenge tragedy of Hamlet to a more contemporary Absurdist black comedy. Resounding with the original through its intertextual allusion, yet maintaining integrity as a separate text, the play illustrates Stoppard’s Post-modern existentialist context. This recognises that the 20th century absurdist audience no longer hold Elizabethan beliefs. Scenes are extracted from the Shakespearean Hamlet and reproduced for the contemporary context, relevant to the 1960s – described simply as: “we do onstage the things that happen off”. In this alternative world, Hamlet’s tragic hero status is marginalised, “the exterior and inward man fails to resemble”, while his rationality diminishes in Stoppard’s removal of the soliloquy scenes. The Stoppardian response sees Hamlet at the pinnacle of hysteria, “half of what he said meant something else”. In simple comic inversion, an irreverent mood is established, endemic to the 60s satire boom which deflated authority figures – the medium of revenge tragedy is recreated into farce.
In Othello racism starts from the first scene of the play where Iago is angry about the
The Tempest raises many questions regarding the formation of authority and power. Is hierarchy understood as natural or as constructed? Also, what are the consequences when authority is usurped? This paper will attempt to answer these questions in a succinct manner using textual references to solidify its arguments. As the play progresses, Prospero constructs the hierarchy in such a way as to return things to their "natural" state. Any type of usurpation, whether attempted or successful, will always end up with power back in its rightful place, and most of the time with a lesson learned.
Happy endings help leave a reader feeling comforted and hopeful that things can right themselves in the world, no matter how it is established. It can be done by two lovers finally getting to be together after a struggle, the ending of some sort of devastating war, or just a balance restored, with good prevailing over evil. Especially when dealing with Shakespeare, any sort of happy ending can be very refreshing to those who watch or frequently read the famous playwright’s works.
Iago’s deceit and manipulation in Othello Iago is widely credited, in the words of Agatha Christie, as “the greatest villain of all time”. He is a manipulative character who “weaves a web of deceit” by exploiting even the tiniest faults in others. By maintaining a facade of comedy and boyishness he uses his honesty and twisted truth to play others “like a virtuoso” and “drive... them to madness”. In the play Othello, Act 2 Scene 1 is perhaps the most enlightening scene with regards to the truly manipulative character of Iago.
A significant moment in Othello demonstrates the theme of binaries questioned in many of Shakespeare's works. Addressing the Duke and senators, Othello says:
The Tempest Act 1 scene 1(the storm): The opening scene of the Tempest I think is. brilliant. I love the sand. There is an instant unsuspecting panic, which quickly gains. ones attention to the snare.