Rediscovery In The Tempest

1014 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Shakespeare's influence on modern day plays

Shifts in perceptions within an individual are consequences of rediscovering what has been lost or concealed, sparking a reconsideration of values. Shakespeare’s canonical play, The Tempest (1611), and Michael Hazanavicius’s black-and-white silent film, The Artist (2011) explore the concept of rediscovery. In The Tempest, the protagonist Prospero’s rediscovers compassion and concern which had been lost due to his brother’s betrayal. Also, discovery is induced in Prospero’s daughter Miranda who is exposed to her concealed history and hence develops a greater understanding of her identity. Rediscovery is present in The Artist as the protagonist, George Valentin rediscovers his passion and willingness to perform as a result of his lost fame. Shakespeare …show more content…

In The Tempest, the protagonist, Prospero acquires insight into the negative repercussions of his lost sense of compassion and recognizes his mistake of indulging in his selfish motivation. The matrimony of his daughter Miranda and Alonso’s son Ferdinand is a pivotal moment in Prospero’s rediscovery of compassion. The masque that he organizes displays his recognition of the power of love rather than hate. Values of selflessness and forgiveness are displayed in the masque which served as a device of peace and unity as he summons Gods to bless his daughter and Ferdinand on their incoming marriage. Shakespeare uses classical allusion as Prospero summons Ceres the goddess of …show more content…

The protagonist, George Valentin undergoes the rediscovery of his passion and willingness to perform. The film’s unique adoption of the black-and-white silent film cinematography explores the significant impact of the introduction of the ‘talkies’ for silent films. Hazanavicius’s revival of the silent film form allows him to convey the impact of developments in film as actors lost jobs and fame in the process. The film opens with the premiere of Valentin’s film where he takes the stage to accept praise for his performance. Hazanavicius utilizes spotlight and tracking shot to follow Valentin’s movements, displaying a sense of dominance and confidence within the character as he asserts himself joyously with the audience. Valentin’s stylized caricature is traditional to silent film in order to exaggerate the character’s joyous attitude in life for comic effect. The introduction of ‘talkies’ however, catalyzed the demise of Valentin’s career and attitude. Al Zimmer, Valentin’s producer says, “don’t laugh George! That’s the future” after Valentin mocks new technology – intertitles in black-and-white are used ironically as traditional silent-film style is used to convey the futuristic developments made. Valentin’s happy disposition and passion to perform is lost after his outdated acting style and failed silent film is rejected by society. This is

Show More
Related

  • The Tempest Critical Lens Essay

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    With the semester coming to an end, many students are excited. This especially includes those who will be graduating soon. However, graduation can be seen as a bittersweet moment. On one hand, the graduates enter into a new chapter in their lives. On the other hand, they may lose communication with some of their friends. Unfortunately, this is a natural aspect of each person’s life. Everyone will experience some kind of loss in their life, whether it is person or an object. In The Tempest, Shakespeare discusses the topic of loss. While this theme is not talked about much compared to other themes in the play, it is very important since it is a theme that is included in the 1956 movie adaptation Forbidden Planet. While both works illustrate the ways people deals a loss, the later work demonstrates how the advancement in the world have affected the way modern society

    Read More

  • The Subordination of the Camera Eye to the Human Subject

    2896 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Subordination of the Camera Eye to the Human Subject 2 Film, as a medium of sight, exists primarily as a mode of representation. By the recording of images, a perspective of reality is created and maintained during viewing. The relation between what the camera records and what the viewer perceives is a direct one, which is sustained through the material assumption of the filmic reality as an actual one (The suspension of belief). Citing examples from Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960), 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968), Man With a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929), and Blow Up (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966) this paper will contend that these films assert the prevailing domination of the human viewpoint over that of the “cineeye.”

    Read More

  • Parenting Analysis in Romeo and Juliet

    1513 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shakespeare, William.

    Read More

  • Classical and Post-Classical Hollywood Cinema

    2472 Words  | 5 Pages

    Classic narrative cinema is what Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson (The classic Hollywood Cinema, Columbia University press 1985) 1, calls “an excessively obvious cinema”1 in which cinematic style serves to explain and not to obscure the narrative. In this way it is made up of motivated events that lead the spectator to its inevitable conclusion. It causes the spectator to have an emotional investment in this conclusion coming to pass which in turn makes the predictable the most desirable outcome. The films are structured to create an atmosphere of verisimilitude, which is to give a perception of reality. On closer inspection it they are often far from realistic in a social sense but possibly portray a realism desired by the patriarchal and family value orientated society of the time. I feel that it is often the black and white representation of good and evil that creates such an atmosphere of predic...

    Read More

  • The Use Of Editing Techniques In Casablanca

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    The way that a movie is pieced together by the director/producers has a huge impact on the viewer’s experience. Stylistic elements are used to help engage the viewer; however, without these techniques the viewer will most likely loose interest. In this essay I will be taking a look at a scene within the movie Casablanca directed by Michael Curtiz in 1942. Casablanca is a classic film that is reviewed to be one of the greatest movies of all time. This could be due to the notable quotes used throughout the movie, or its ability to follow a historic, comical, and romantic storyline throughout the course of the film. It caters to several different viewers, making this movie favorable to many. This scene in Casablanca uses specific editing techniques

    Read More

  • The explaination of ‘cinema of attractions’

    1161 Words  | 3 Pages

    Brownlow, Kevin 1994, ‘Preface’, in Paolo, C, Burning Passions: an introduction to the study of silent film, British Film Institute, London: BFI, pp. 1-3.

    Read More

  • Hugo Movie Analysis

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through most of the characters’ passion for filmmaking, this movie teaches the audience the great significance of film history. Many people in modern day tend to take film and its history for granted, but they do not realize the depth and effort that mankind has put into such a development. In Hugo, the theme of film history revolves around the entire production, and the audience sees flashbacks of Georges Méliès’ past that reveal his vital role in movie-making. By investing a deep meaning to the tale, viewers start to understand the great emotional and intellectual characteristics of movies. Additionally, Hugo himself delivers a message to his counterpart characters, which also serves as a lesson for the onlookers. He shows the audience that everyone has a part and purpose in this world. Protagonist Hugo Cabret says that “everything has a purpose, even machines. Clocks tell the time, trains take you places. They do what they’re meant to do.” Voicing through Hugo, the filmmakers illustrate how every individual has a reason to live and discover their calling. With a statement about the forgotten grandeur of film history and a valuable message to the crowd regarding one’s purpose, Hugo inspires and presents itself as a noteworthy and unforgettable

    Read More

  • The Theme of Loss in Shakespeare's The Tempest

    1985 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shakespeare's play, The Tempest tells the story of a father, Prospero, who must let go of his daughter; who brings his enemies under his power only to release them; and who in turn finally relinquishes his sway over his world - including his power over nature itself. The Tempest contains elements ripe for tragedy: Prospero is a controlling figure bent on taking revenge for the wrongs done to him, and in his fury he has the potential to destroy not only his enemies, but his own humanity and his daughter's future.

    Read More

  • Prospero, S Use Of Epiphany In Shakespeare's The Tempest

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the comedic, yet thrilling play, The Tempest, William Shakespeare uses characters such as Caliban, Alonso, and Ariel to show Prospero’s immense cruelness and pure monstrosity. Moreover, these Shakespearean characters are also used to highlight Prospero’s change in character into a kinder and more forgiving person. Prospero starts the play out as a vengeful monster, after an illuminating moment however, his persona transforms into his true identity of a compassionate man.

    Read More

  • Anti-Colonialism in Shakespeare´s The Tempest Play

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    In summary, Shakespeare’s The Tempest play explores the theme of opposition to the colonial-style authority of Prospero based on various characters’ covert and overt reactions to the master’s antics. For instance, Ariel opposes Prospero’s continuous detention of the former regardless of an earlier agreement to the contrary. Moreover, Caliban expresses his dissatisfaction with the forced labor that her does for Prospero. To prove his opposition to Prospero’s authority, Caliban plans the master’s death. Miranda also makes a statement that indicates her displeasure with the way Prospero executes his authority especially with regard to Ferdinand. The imprisoned Ferdinand also indicates his opposition to Prospero’s power through a disproving statement made before Miranda.

    Read More

  • Digging Deep into The Tempest

    1524 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Abuse of Power in Shakespeare's Play, The Tempest

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    This time however, Prospero used his daughter as bait in order to draw Ferdinand closer in the hopes of getting them married. He wants to regain his title as the Duke of Milan. 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.

    Read More

  • Human Relationships Between The Central Characters in William Shakespeare's The Tempest

    1450 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this essay I intend to explore the ways that William Shakespeare has presented the relationships between the main characters within his play “The Tempest”. I shall investigate Ferdinand and Miranda’s relationship, the father/daughter bond between Miranda and Prospero and Caliban’s lust after Miranda.

    Read More

  • Essay on Resolution of Conflict in The Tempest

    989 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Tempest, like any text, is a product of its context. It is constructed in relation to moral or ethical concerns of 17th century European Jacobean society. The resolution of conflict appears 'natural' or an inevitable consequence if regarded in relation to the concerns of its context. The resolution of conflict in this play incorporates Prospero being returned to his 'rightful' or natural position as Duke of Milan, his daughter Miranda getting married to Ferdinand, and the party returning to Milan leaving the island to the 'monster', Caliban. The resolution is a consequence of the concerns of the time, including the idea of the divine right of kings, courtly love, and colonisation.

    Read More

  • Mothers in William Shakespeare's The Tempest

    1498 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although Miranda’s mother and Sycorax never actually appear in The Tempest, their memories occupy a precarious position in Prospero’s will to power. Prospero invokes the memory of Miranda’s mother to legitimize his lineage, yet feels threatened by the control she exerts over it. His narration deftly erases his wife’s presence from Miranda’s memory, rendering him the sole purveyor of his daughter’s imagination. Prospero employs a discourse which affirms maternal authority through the denial of female sexuality. He negates the legitimacy of Sycorax’s matriarchy by constructing Sycorax as not only an evil witch, but also an unchaste mother. Such a discourse opposes Caliban’s claim to the island while justifying Prospero’s usurpation of power.

    Read More

More about Rediscovery In The Tempest

Open Document