Explore Shakespeare's concern with illusion in his play "The Tempest".
Priya Patel THE TEMPEST 20/12/04 Explore Shakespeare's concern with illusion in his play "The Tempest". In my essay I am going to explore Shakespeare's concern with illusion in his play "The Tempest," in this play Shakespeare had used different forms of illusion in four different ways and means, they are: * Deception * Magic * Dreams * Theatrical Illusion There is a lot of use of illusion in "The Tempest," it is used mainly to hide things, the actual tempest is an illusion. Deception is truth concealed by an illusion, there is frequent use of deception in "The Tempest". The whole shipwreck is actually a magical illusion created by Prospero to bring his former enemies to the island, as this would mean justice for him, as he and his daughter Miranda were cast adrift at sea in the dead of the night by Alonso's army. In act 1 scene 2, lines 471-475, Prospero says, "Who mak'st a show, but dar'st not strike, thy conscience is possessed with guilt. Come from thy ward; for I can disarm thee with this stick and make thy weapon drop." Here Prospero is using his magical powers to disarm Ferdinand from his sword in order to take him prisoner, he is doing this to put Ferdinand through some hardship to test the strength of his love for Miranda. This in is an illusion as Prospero has used Ariel, in order
The tempest act 1 scene 2 - Explore thedramatic significance of this episode within the play.
Look at act one scene 2. Explore the dramatic significance of this episode within the play. Adam Hepburn The tempest by William Shakespeare is a play that takes place in one afternoon, on an enchanted island in the middle of the open sea somewhere between Africa and Italy. The story is based on two characters Prospero, and his daughter Miranda who were cast away from Milan onto an island where for eight years they have to fend for themselves in order to survive. However Prospero spots a ship sailing near to the shore of the island and quickly realises that Alonso and Antonio, the people that cast him away from Milan were, among others on board of the ship. Prospero uses this opportunity to seek revenge on the people that betrayed him. Using his magical powers and the aid of an airy spirit named Ariel, Prospero whips up a storm that pushes the boat over leaving the occupants to frantically swim to the shore of the island for safety. This happens in act 1 scene 2 of the play. This scene introduces the reader to the different characters and their characteristics in the play. Prospero and Miranda watch as the members of the boat swim for shore. However Miranda appeals to her father to use his magical powers to calm the storm oblivious to the fact that it was Prospero's magic in the first place to create the tempestuous storm. Miranda's "tender heart is filled with pity" as
Show how Shakespeare has used conflict in The Tempest to explore ideas that are of interest.
"In order to attract an audience towards themes, a playwright must use conflict." Show how Shakespeare has used conflict in The Tempest to explore ideas that are of interest. In doing so, refer in detail to the literary and dramatic elements employed. Shakespeare in this play sets out to represent Prospero as a strong, powerful leader as they would be at this period of time in England, however although an English monarch must be powerful they must also show a sense of compassion and approachability about them. The play is based on betrayal and revenge, which become the main ingredients to a highly entertaining play. Prospero (who was once the duke of Milan) and his daughter, Miranda was sent to an island by his brother Antonio and his enemy Alonso, King of Naples and Sebastian, Alonso's brother. Prospero was starting to discover magic and became less involved with his responsibilities of being a Duke and concentrated more on the realm of magical powers. Antonio saw this as a perfect opportunity to get rid of Prospero and take over as Duke of Milan with the help on Alonso and Sebastian. This storyline is full of conflict enabling the audience to become entertained fairly quickly due to the suspense created on what Prospero will do to declare his revenge. Prospero is represented as a leader. Leaders have to have strength and power; his almighty power is shown right from the
Is Prospero good or evil?
Is Prospero good or evil? Prospero has two very obvious sides. He has a very compassionate side where he helps people and tries to make the island a better place to live, and his darker evil side where he torments people. It could be argued he's only compassionate to help him self but he could only behave evilly for an over all good. When Prospero is with Miranda he displays all of the compassionate characteristics of his personality. He speaks to Miranda very genteelly but sometimes patronizingly as is she is still a young child. He has kept the past from his daughter. This could be seen as protecting her, but he waits until she is in early childhood to tell her "thy father is the Duke of Milan." This could show that's he's a bit of a control freak as he is sheltering her and denying her knowledge of her past. By keeping her in the dark he could be protecting her from what went on as he might still think of her as a young child as she was when they landed on the island. His sheltering could also be for his own good. If Miranda didn't know what had gone on she couldn't ask questions with answers that would make Prospero show his true colours. By sheltering Miranda he could protect himself. It is not clear if Prospero intentions where for his own good or for the good of his daughter. When the royal ship was wrecked Ferdinand landed near to Prospero cell. Prospero wants
Explore the theme of transformation in 'The Tempest '. Show with particular reference to Prospero, how the characters in the play undergo change.
Explore the theme of transformation in 'The Tempest '. Show with particular reference to Prospero, how the characters in the play undergo change. Transformation manifests itself in a number of ways throughout The Tempest, the play is based around revenge, mainly the revenge of Prospero, and so by the end of the play, with the use of his magic on the characters there is some sort of transformation or resolution in the characters. However, this simple transformation of character is not as simple as it appears and the conclusion of the essay sums up the difficulty of 'closure' in the play. 'The Tempest' revolves around the sayings and doings of one character. We first meet Prospero in Act 1, where he is established as the most prominent character in the play, with the most power. He uses this magical power, which he acquired from studying books, to manipulate the events that take place throughout the performance. For this reason, he has the ultimate control over all of the characters. At the start of the play Prospero is agitated, bitter and resentful, having been severely mislead by his brother, Antonio, and being exiled by the King of Naples. He has set up the situation we find the play in. We see several different sides to Prospero's character for the duration of the play. Firstly, a loving father, a love for magic and a love for learning, and it was because of this love
How does Shakespeare present the encounter between Ferdinand and Miranda from lines 450-499?
How does Shakespeare present the encounter between Ferdinand and Miranda from lines 450-499? The encounter between Miranda and Ferdinand in lines 450-499 of The Tempest is presented using three characters, Miranda, Ferdinand, and Prospero. Miranda and Ferdinand have fallen in love at first sight to Prospero's delight, though he doesn't want them to fall in love too quickly or interfere with his plans, so he lies to Miranda about Ferdinand's unworthiness and then charms Ferdinand from moving. Miranda is presented as a helpless damsel distressed by the way her father handled this situation. "If the ill spirit have so fair a house, Good things will strive to dwell with't" These are Miranda's first words in these lines saying that physical beauty is a sign of proper morals and righteousness. This was an axiom during the renaissance period, hinting that she is only wise enough to state the obvious argument. After Ferdinand is charmed from moving she says, "He's gentle and not fearful." This sounding like she believes he is courageous, but more likely she is emphasizing his gentleness and compassion. These short interjections present Miranda as useless to the entire dispute. There are only three lines of verbal exchange between Miranda and Ferdinand, "My father is of a better nature, sir, Than he appears by speech. This is unwonted Which now came from him." This
Analysis of 'The Tempest'
How does Shakespeare present the use and abuse of power in 'The Tempest'? Comment on the use of language, ideas and stagecraft. Elizabethan society's understanding of colonisation and natives is reflected in the play 'The Tempest' by William Shakespeare. Elizabethan's were very positive towards colonisation and the idea of usurpation, and were neither very knowledgeable when it came to global awareness and the feelings of others. Elizabethan's viewed natives in a humorous way and this is what they wanted to see in their theatres - entertainment and humour. The role of women in the Elizabethan era was very different compared to modern society today. Women were not allowed to perform on stage, therefore female roles were often played by young men, along side this, a lot of women were prostitutes. This role of women mirrored in Shakespeare's plays; in which normally only consist of one female character. The female personalities in Shakespeare's plays are distinctively repetitive and memorable, either soppy or light-hearted, a prostitute, or having an evil trait like Lady Macbeth. As for the theatre itself, they of course had no dramatic lighting or computerized sound effects; therefore, Shakespeare relied on his use of language and exaggerated stagecraft to represent emotion, tension, the concept of magic, humour and of course to create a lively atmosphere within the theatre.
How does Mrs. Doubtfire change peoples lives?
In this essay, we will be analysing the influence that Mrs Doubtfire's personality has on the characters around her. Moreover, we will be able to see how her presence causes a transformation in the behaviour of each member of the family, following their encounters with her. The film which is represented to us as a comedy, actually reveals itself to be of a more serious nature. The film is set in modern San Francisco and shows the break-down of a marriage between Miranda, a career woman and Daniel, a man with Peter Pan type traits. The three kids are pulled emotionally between the two parents, who are continually fighting. The novelty of the film is the "Nanny", Mrs Doubtfire, who is actually the husband in disguise, professionally made up by Daniel's brother. The humour of the situation is taken to the limits but the film leads us to a believable ending. Daniel Hillard, the father, is shown to us in the opening moments of the film, as a person of unusual talent. The gift he has for imitating voices is wonderful, but he won't say script lines he doesn't morally agree with: "Millions of kids see this cartoon...do u think its right to promote smoking to the youth of America?" This sequence provides us with a development of the character's inner personality, showing strong morals and consciences. These characteristics are however, incompatible with an actor's job and so he
Comparison Between'Pale Horse, Pale Rider' By Katherine Ann Porter , And ' The Snows of Kilimanjaro' By Ernest Hemingway.
Argumentative Paper: Comparison Between'Pale Horse, Pale Rider' By Katherine Ann Porter , And ' The Snows of Kilimanjaro' By Ernest Hemingway. This paper is going to discuss and analyze fully two short American fiction stories which are 'Pale horse, Pale Rider' by Katherine Ann Porter and ' The Snows of Kilimanjaro' by Ernest Hemingway. By reading the bibliographies of both these authors, one finds that Porter and Hemingway have met in a certain period of their life, where they could have shared lots of ideas and agreed on lots of different issues. By the end of reading both stories, one notices that there are lots of similarities found in both stories. One of the obviously noticed similarity is the autobiographical elements which has been enriched and elaborated on by the author's imaginations which makes it have the reality of actual experience lived. It adds to the feelings of the authors and the people who lived at that period and faced these kinds of crisis. Another similarity is the technique of switching from reality to delirious dreams/ fantasy/hallucinations and vice versa. For example in ' Pale horse, pale rider' the reader first sees Miranda in a dream where she was in her childhood home " How I have loved this house in the morning before we all awake and tangled together like badly cast fishing lines...Too many have died in this bed already, there are far too
The Collector.
Nancy Kuo Introduction to Literature Journal 6 5 May 2003 The Collector I think Clegg is a psychopath because how can he kidnap a person and lock her in a basement so long? Especially when she was sick, he lied to himself that she was OK but actually her condition is awful. Miranda was dead after all, and then Clegg goes into a vicious circle that he decides to choose a more obedient one to kidnap. His love is twisted that what he has done to the girls is what he does to his butterflies. He collects beautiful things-both butterflies and Miranda. He loves them, but in a wrong way. Miranda and a butterfly have the same feature that they are pretty but lead a very short life because of Clegg's animal-like desire. But the irony is, Clegg calls his desire "love." I think Clegg knows nothing about love because his mother abandoned him and his aunt and cousin looked down to him. Only his uncle supported him. That's why he wants to "collect" all the things such as a female and photos because they are easily controlled and they can be seen dead. He only knows this way. Clegg collects beauty but in fact his heart is ugly. When he has the money from lottery he expands his desire to an extreme point, which is to collect Miranda. The desire is frightening so that Miranda called him "Caliban" in Tempest. He is a shallow man, too. Contrast to Miranda, he knows very