Illusion and Reality in Shakespeare's The Tempest
This essay will discuss the part that illusion and reality plays in developing and illuminating the theme of Shakespeare's The Tempest. This pair of opposites will be contrasted to show what they represent in the context of the play. Further, the characters associated with these terms, and how the association becomes meaningful in the play, will be discussed.
A good starting point to discuss the use of illusion and reality in The Tempest is to focus on the setting in Act I, scene ii. Here, the reader (or viewer) realizes that it takes place entirely in Prospero's cell which is a small room where he practices his magic arts. Miranda here asks her father, Prospero, to make sure that the people on the ship will be safe even though he has created a storm which threatens to capsize their boat and drown them all. Prospero reassures her. He says that he has no intention of allowing the people to die. To reassure her further, he continues by explaining his motives in creating the storm. Here the reader learns that Prospero and Antonio are brothers, and that Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan but that his brother usurped his kingdom and exiled Prospero and his daughter Miranda. Fortune saved the two from their rotting ship which had been set to drift, and brought them to the island where Prospero has been granted supernatural powers by the enemies of Antonio.
From the above description it is clear that the play embraces both the natural and the supernatural world. Twelve years before the action takes place, we are told that Prospero was a prince who had a different type of power than he has now.
Twelve year since, Miranda, twelve year since,
Thy father was the Duk...
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...and the event; then tell me
If this might be a brother.
Mir: I should sin
To think nobly of my grandmother.
Good wombs have borne bad sons. (I, ii, 139-144).
Prospero is really the key character about which the nature of illusion and reality centers. He is the one who appears to have been stripped of all his power, and yet he is truly the most powerful; he lives in a world where he can conjure up an illusion of a storm; he lives between a course of regular human action and magic; and he is perceptive about philosophies on the topic of illusion and reality.
In The Tempest, illusion and reality are opposites which may be considered on many different levels throughout the entire length of the play.
Work Cited
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest, edited by Louis B. Weight and Virginia A. LaMar, published by Pocket Books, New York, 1961.
“The Tempest” is a play written by William Shakespeare in early 1600s that has been previewed in different kinds of movies, such as the one made in 2010, directed by Julie Taymor. It is a play containing themes such as; revenge, allusion, retribution, forgiveness, power, love and hatred. When it is compared to the play, there are specific differences seen in the movie, such as; Prospero is reflected as a woman in the movie. The time differences between the play and the movie and how the spirit Ariel is shown as a white man in the movie. The play starts with the story of Prospero, the Duke of Milan. He gets banished from Italy and was cast to sea by his brother Antonio. He has perfected his skills during twelve years of exile on a lonely island. Prospero creates the tempest to make his enemies’ ship to wreck and lead them to the island. Meanwhile, Antonio takes Prospero’s place and starts to make everyone believe he is the duke and makes an agreement with the King of Naples, Alonso. Besides the drama happening in the island, Prospero forgives Alonso and the others.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Greenblatt, Stephen. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1997.
Mowat, Barbara A. & Co. "Prospero, Agrippa, and Hocus Pocus," English Literary Renaissance. 11 (1981): 281-303. Shakespeare, William. The. The Tempest.
Allan Gilbert’s article summarizes about the multiple parallels that can be found in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. While some of these parallels are more obvious in The Tempest, some require a scholar to fully comprehend them.
The recent debate on whether or not animal experimentation should be allowed has sparked uproar. When scientists think they have what they claim to be a “wonder drug,” they need a way to test the safety of the drug before it is safe for human use. At this point scientists turn to animals, because of their close resemblance to humans. With drug companies reducing experimentations and using alternatives, some people may wonder why animals undergo experimentation in the first place. While there are advantages to animal experimentation, it does not ensure success in human clinical trials, there is no law protecting any animal from cruel experimentation, and some animals should not have to live in cruel facilities.
Many say it is also a threat to tradition. No change in tradition is wanted. It would lead society corruption. (Wasn't slavery and segregation tradi...
Knox, Bernard. "The Tempest and the Ancient Comic Tradition". The Tempest. New York: Signet Classic. 1987.
Shakespeare was intending to represent several different groups of people in society through his plays and “The Tempest” was no exception to the rule. I aim to show how the “human” relationships in the play reflect real life relationships within Shakespeare’s own society (as well as his future audience), for which his plays were written and performed.
Prospero presents himself as a victim of injustice, however his belief of justice and injustice is somewhat contradicting. He takes advantage of this authority over other people and situations he encounters while using his integrity and compassion to mask his dangerous plans and to retain love and respect. The Tempest in the end suggests that love and compassion are more effective political tools than violence, hatred or even abusive magic.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Second Revised Ed. United States of America: First Signet Classics Print, 1998. 1-87. Print.
In The Tempest, Art is that which is composed of grace, civility and virtue. It is represented by Prospero, the other members of the nobility who belong to the court party and their servants. The world of the court is synonymous with the world of Art in the play. In contrast, Nature is bestial, brutish and evil; and manifest in the form of Caliban and the natural world. With two such extremes brought together, debate between the two is inevitable.
It makes sense to me to see in this Shakespeare's sense of his own art--both what it can achieve and what it cannot. The theatre--that magical world of poetry, song, illusion, pleasing and threatening apparitions--can, like Prospero's magic, educate us into a better sense of ourselves, into a final acceptance of the world, a state in which we forgive and forget in the interests of the greater human community. The theatre, that is, can reconcile us to the joys of the human community so that we do not destroy our families in a search for righting past evils in a spirit of personal revenge or as crude assertions of our own egos. It can, in a very real sense, help us fully to understand the central Christian commitment to charity, to loving our neighbour as ourselves. The magic here brings about a total reconciliation of all levels of society from sophisticated rulers to semi-human brutes, momentarily holding off Machiavellian deceit, drunken foolishness, and animalistic rebellion--each person, no matter how he has lived, has a place in the magic circle at the end. And no one is asking any awkward questions.
'Prospero on top, invisible' which positions him 'close to God' and by his power to manipulate and control the lives of others:
During England’s Elizabethan period, people were captivated by magic and the supernatural. During this period there was little distinction between science and magic. Educated people practiced medicine, astrology, alchemy, sorcery, and tried to control the elements. Some scholars conclude that controlling the elements of nature is an underlying basis for early science and some religions (Hopfe). One of the most famous Elizabethan scientists, and one who Queen Elizabeth herself kept on staff was Dr. John Dee (Woolley). John Dee was also known as a magus, a title given to someone who was considered a master magician or adept in astrology, alchemy, or sorcery (Melton). Evidence for this cultural preoccupation with magic during the Elizabethan period can be found in many of William Shakespeare’s plays, including his final work, The Tempest, which was written between 1610 and 1611. It is widely believed that Shakespeare may well have had Dr. John Dee in mind when creating the character of Prospero (Woolley). Prospero, the play’s protagonist, is a master magician. At its core, The Tempest entertains an underlying theme of justice and forgiveness for Prospero’s brother usurping and exiling him and his daughter to a desolate foreign isle, but more prominent is Prospero and Ariel’s use of magic and manipulation of the elements. Magic plays such a key role in the play, that it could be defined as an additional character. In fact, if it weren’t for the plays heavy use of magic, The Tempest Would be boring and uneventful, and we would be left with only a man stranded on an island with his daughter and a helpful and deformed native inhabitant named Caliban.
Prospero orchestrates the events of the play with ease, his magic giving him the power to manipulate the characters and environment around him. This almost omniscient power that is presented pushes the audience to question what is real and what is not. Because the audience is not directed involved with the play's plot, they cannot be strung along by Prospero's magic, allowing for objective viewings of what is actually occurring. These contrasting perceptions can be applied to the characters in the play as well; What are mere illusions to Prospero is reality for everyone else on the island.