"A journey is more than just movement from one place to another. It is about learning and growth." What have you learned about the importance of journeys from your study of Imaginative Journeys?

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“A journey is more than just movement from one place to another. It is about learning and growth.”

What have you learned about the importance of journeys from your study of Imaginative Journeys?

BY ELISE THOMPSON

A thorough study of journeys reveals that a journey is much more than just movement from one place to another. Journeys are about learning and growth, and they have the potential to teach people about themselves and the society in which they live. An Imaginative Journey is one in which the individual doesn’t in fact have to go anywhere in the physical sense. The physical journey is replaced by an expedition that is fuelled by the human capacity to imagine. Imaginative Journeys create endless possibilities. They can offer an escape from the realities of life, and are frequently used to comment on social or human traits and characteristics.

Imaginative Journeys are represented in the focus text, “The Tempest” by William Shakespeare, the 2003 calendar cartoon in the Sydney Morning Herald by Michael Leunig, and the Board of Studies Booklet Prescribed text “The Road Not Taken”, a poem by Robert Frost. The composers attempt to create a world in which imagination dominates the actions and desires of the characters, as they are taken on a journey of magic and discovery.

In “The Tempest”, Shakespeare attempts to generate a world where the audience is transported to a world of magic and superstition. This is successfully achieved through the utilisation of numerous dramatic techniques such as setting, symbolism, creation of conflict and characterisation.

Prospero, in his twelve years of exile, has had an abundance of time to imagine his vengeance on his brother, Antonio. Using his magical powers and supernatural forces, he creates a storm to capture his enemies, with the assistance of his spirit slave, Ariel. Throughout the play, the audience witnesses Prospero’s imaginative journey of revenge revolve to reconciliation and redemption. Prospero, on his island, is in command. It is his imagination that has conjured up his scheme for revenge and the journey is his to have power over.

Throughout the play, Prospero also experiences a journey of wisdom and appreciation. He learns more regarding the social order in which he lives and experiences self-realisation and discovers his identity. Prospero learns that revenge on his enemies is not the best answer “Yet with my nobler reason ‘gainst my fury Do I take part. The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance”, and through his change, other characters such as Alonso learn something about themselves and others such a Miranda and Ferdinand find love- “Beyond all limits of what else I’ th’ world, Do love, prize, honour you.”

The imaginative setting for Prospero’s island allows for the unbelievable to take place. Because of the situation, Shakespeare can exercise his imagination to generate characters and thoughts that are not possible in a realistic setting. The island is a place of magic and imagination. The magic of Prospero, Ariel and the other spirits, Caliban and the masque all persuade the audience, to suspend disbelief and accept imagination. Shakespeare has created the magic so that the audience will be enticed by the opportunity to escape from the real world, and experience encounters beyond the surface of the actuality of their real lives.

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Symbolism plays a large role in creating the Imaginative Journey in “The Tempest”. The tempest that begins the play, and which puts all of Prospero’s enemies “Close by, my master” and at his disposal, symbolizes the suffering Prospero endured, and which he desires to inflict on others. All of those shipwrecked are positioned at the mercy of the sea, just as Prospero and Miranda were twelve years ago. Prospero must make his enemies suffer as he has suffered so that they will learn from their suffering, as he has from his. The tempest is also a symbol of Prospero’s magic, ...

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