The Tempest.
The Tempest Long Essay Magic was a notion firmly embedded in the Elizabethan culture. It explained many things. Discuss the importance of magic in the play The Tempest. "The Isle is full of noises, sounds, and sweet ones, that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments will hum about mine ears: and sometimes voices..." states Caliban (Act III, pg 109) Within Shakespeare's text, The Tempest, set in Elizabethan times, magic is indeed of great importance. Shakespeare gives Prospero the ability to perform magic which allows him to carry out alterations to the world around him. His magic will eventually lead to the restoration of order following the disruption caused, or symbolized, by the tempest; the most obvious and important magical achievement in the play. From the start of the play, Shakespeare uses magic to captivate his Elizabethan audience and move his characters from one scene to another, for example, we are introduced to our first characters during the tempest itself, and it is through this created event that they are transferred to the safety of the island. Magic is frequently used by the main character Prospero, sometimes for compassionate reasons to prevent the suffering of his daughter, but often to make others remorseful and change their ways. Initially, one must examine the importance of magic, which was firmly embedded in the
The tempest
Examine act 2, scene 2 closely. How does the scene affect Your understanding of the characters Caliban and prospero. Prospero plays an important role within "The Tempest" Shakespeare uses his character to portray sympathy and convey empathy to both the viewer and reader. He does this by the by using such a misleading plot "wronged by his step brother", and misleading first impression of characters and use of language, clearly portraying his character as one which Shakespeare feels misfortune upon. Prospero's presence in "The Tempest" is important, and brutal amongst other characters, therefore has a general overpowering characteristic. Prospero's character has a great desire for knowledge; however this kind of desire for magical knowledge eventually causes Prospero to get into trouble. Causing him to no longer be aware of all the issues and important matters that concern him as a duke of Milan , thus allowing his brother to compete for his title. Although Shakespeare tries to show concern and uses sympathetic language towards this character, through his unfair loss of the "Duke of Milan" which creates an unbalance within the plays good and bad. Shakespeare also portrays a different side to the character, as the audience also sees his greed for magical knowledge. This gives a contrast between feeling sympathy and feeling as if he his character deserved it. This causes the
The Tempest
The Tempest 'The Tempest' was Shakespeare's last major play and is partly based on a true story about a ship called 'The Seaventure' which set sail for America in 1609. However, the ship was blown off course by a storm and ended up in Bermuda. This was the time when people were just beginning to explore the world and Bermuda was thought to be inhabited by spirits, demons and monsters. Shakespeare used the disaster of 'The Seaventure' as a starting point for his play and incorporated the beliefs of the people in his play. 'The Tempest' explores the 17th Century myths and colonisation. Caliban is a character in the play and resembles both of these ideas, he represents the new ethnic groups, with his mother being a witch and worshipping a Patagonian God, which also resembles new religion. Caliban also represents the way natives were treated; he is treated badly throughout the play. This represents the way natives were treated by the conquering. Westerners. This essay will explore how Shakespeare presents Caliban and whether he is merely just a savage or whether he is a noble savage. One way in which Caliban shows he may be just a savage is through his poor response to education. He tells Miranda that his only "profit" from his learning is that he "know(s) how to curse." Caliban sees no useful point in an education. This contrasts to the 'civilised' idea that an education is an
