Imaginative Journeys in Literature

The imagination was used to create an alternative fictitious world in Shakespeare's play `The Tempest'. The imaginative journeys unraveled the mysteries of this imagined world but what really matters is the path of the journey not the destination. The journey ended with the opposite of what it began with, reality, and abandoning magic. The significant component of the play is the transition from illusion to reality, magic to veracity. The Tempest's imaginative journey can be divided up into sub-journeys, each with their own path and arrival.

The first sub journey is evident to both the characters and the audience. Prospero creates a magic storm that disrupts the order of the real world. It creates chaos on the ship and shows nature at it's extremes. The natural order and rank on the ship is disrupted, the boatswain command the noble rank to move out of the way and the noble rank now obey orders for a change, the boatswain order Alonso to "keep below... keep your cabins, do not assist the storm... silence." The unnatural strength of the storm reverses the roles and ranks of the people onboard. The extreme event brings out the extreme personality traits in the characters. Gonzalo's good nature is clear from the beginning when he accepts his fate and begins to pray. Antonio's and Sebastian's rude, abusive behavior is evident when they insult the people who are trying to save their lives by calling them "blasphemous, incharitable dog's." The imaginative journey for the audience is to imagine the intensity of the storm and the mayhem caused by it. They picture the extremes of nature and the disorder in natural ranks. The nature of the storm is then revealed to the audience by Propero, the audience immediately sees who is controlling...

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...f Oz the arrival is the same as the beginning but the journey taught her that home is where she wants to be. The other characters; Lion, Tin Man and Scarecrow; reach their destination, the Wizard of Oz, and realize that during their journey they acquired the object they were missing. For example Lion begins the journey wanting courage, he believes that by reaching the Wizard of Oz he will be given courage. But on the way he stands up for the group and learns to be courageous and brave through his experiences in the journey. The destination didn't matter because the journey gave him what he wanted.

In conclusion, the journey not the arrival matters because many journeys can have the same destination but the occurrence during a journey are unique. The things gained and experience are what matters, not where the journey leads to especially in imaginative journeys.