What immediately strikes the audience about The Tempest is the use of the supernatural in the form of apparitions like Ariel and the Harpy. These apparitions are under Prospero's authority and the result of his Art, which is the disciplined use of virtuous knowledge. By invoking a masque to celebrate the betrothal of Ferdinand and Miranda, Prospero effectively brings to full circle the theme of re-generation by obliterating the evil done and suffered by one generation through the love of the next. However, this is juxtaposed against the anti-masque elements of the attempted usurpations of Antonio and Caliban, which hold the play in a delicate balance between a tragic or comic resolution, holding the audience in great suspense.
Through the use of his Art, Prospero is able to bring Ariel, whom he releases from the imprisonment of Sycorax, under his control. By transcending into the realm of the supernatural, there is an inversion of the Natural Order, as Prospero is but a mere mortal while Ariel is beyond humanity at the spiritual end of the natural hierarchy. However, the authority that Prospero possesses over Ariel is liable to abuse. There would be a very human temptation for him to use Ariel to exact his revenge on the Court Party members, who are effectively at his mercy, because of an inherent susceptibility to feelings of resentment, anger and revenge due to the injustice of 12 years past. This is Prospero's test as a ruler, not only in his treatment of the Court Party but also in his treatment of Ariel. He must exhibit benevolence and temperance before he can pass this test. Initially, there are lapses in Prospero's control over his anger when, as Ariel asks for his freedom, Prospero replies wit...
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In the comedic, yet thrilling play, The Tempest, William Shakespeare uses characters such as Caliban, Alonso, and Ariel to show Prospero’s immense cruelness and pure monstrosity. Moreover, these Shakespearean characters are also used to highlight Prospero’s change in character into a kinder and more forgiving person. Prospero starts the play out as a vengeful monster, after an illuminating moment however, his persona transforms into his true identity of a compassionate man.
The Tempest by William Shakespeare is one of the most relevant and studied plays of the Elizabethan period among scholars, from both, ancient and actual times. One of the many readings that have prevailed suggests that the play’s protagonist, Prospero, and his two su-pernatural servants, Ariel and Caliban, can work as a single psychological unit is constantly discussed by the academics. This reading is not new; it has been considered for longer than the idea of The Tempest as an autobiographical allegory, being first proposed by Thomas Campbell in 1838 (Yachnin).
Hill, Christopher. The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution. London: Temple Smith, 1972.
“Immoral beauty and moral truth, chaos and order, and nature and civilization,” are the contradictions Milosz often uses in his poems
Shakespeare's play, The Tempest tells the story of a father, Prospero, who must let go of his daughter; who brings his enemies under his power only to release them; and who in turn finally relinquishes his sway over his world - including his power over nature itself. The Tempest contains elements ripe for tragedy: Prospero is a controlling figure bent on taking revenge for the wrongs done to him, and in his fury he has the potential to destroy not only his enemies, but his own humanity and his daughter's future.
Discrimination is still a chronic global issue, and drastic inequalities still exist at the present time. Thus, the Affirmative Action Law is an important tool to many minorities most especially to women, and people of color, for the reason that this program provides an equality on educational, and professional opportunities for every qualified individual living in the United States. Without this program, a higher education would have been impossible for a “minority students” to attain. Additionally, without the Affirmative Action, a fair opportunity to have a higher-level career...
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “it would do some women good to get raped,” from a historical perspective, lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Women are still seen as the property of men, are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men are usually more aggressive, and women are seen as passive. (Vogelman) This socialization process is changing, but slowly.
..., disrespect the girl he loves, and dress in a manner that is unlike him. Hamlet’s primary motive in life becomes to obtain revenge for his father’s death. He is no longer concerned with upholding the image that he once had. Hamlet’s madness ultimately consumes him.
Before considering the purpose of Prospero's experiment, we should note how central to all his magic Ariel is. And Ariel is not human but a magical spirit who has been released from natural bondage (being riven up in a tree) by Prospero's book learning. The earlier inhabitants of the island, Sycorax and Caliban, had no sense of how to use Ariel, and so they simply imprisoned him in the world which governs them, raw nature. Prospero's power depends, in large part, on Ariel's release and willing service. In that sense, Ariel can be seen as some imaginative power which makes the effects of the theatre (like lightning in the masts of the boat) possible. One of the great attractions of this view of the play as a celeb...
Nesbit, E.. "The Tempest." The Best of Shakespeare: Retellings of 10 Classic Plays. Oxford University Press, 1997. n.pag. eLibrary. Web.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt, Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard and Katharine Eisaman Maus. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1997. 3055-3107.
...rother and open to sibling rivalry and betrayal, the bond of the new Milan is father-to-daughter. By advancing Miranda Prospero does advance himself, in that she is and will produce his legacy, but he also advances her of her own accord, as an act of love. The latter is the more virtuous, closer to the idyllic Milan Prospero would have shared with Antonio and the paradise that Gonzalo proposes to the shipwrecked party. Prospero summons the tempest to effect the calm that will follow, knowing the pieces will settle where he wants them.
The illusions of justice and freedom, and what they truly are, has been a reoccurring theme throughout the works. The definitions of justice and freedom have become so construed throughout the times. In William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Prospero tries to enthrall his audience in his narrative of social justice. The idea of justice the play portrays represents one individual who controls the fate of all others. Their freedom is controlled by the interference of those around them. Although he spends most of the play righting the wrongs done to him, he is misdirecting so to hide his true motive. Prospero misconstrues the definitions of justice and freedom by enslaving Ariel and Caliban, using magic for his own good, and creating a false happy
Regarding one of Shakespeare’s plays, The Tempest, the conflict Illusions vs. Reality becomes a critical part of the story’s development. Illusions are things that we our senses would wrongly interpret. As a part of life, one might think about seeking revenge on someone who has sinned against him, however, in reality we only prove that we are no better than the person who has sinned against us in the matter. Sometimes, our sense of justice can trick our sense of humanity and create a twisted and disastrous state of mind.