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Language in the tempest
The tempest language essay
The tempest language essay
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Explain how Ariel and Caliban serve as character foils for each other. Be sure to consider their physical appearance and their roles as servants to Prospero.
In the world of The Tempest , Ariel, the airy spirit, and Caliban, the earthy monster, can be described as character foils. Unlike and contrasted as they are, they have some traits in common. They both have an aversion to labor and a longing for liberty. Also, they have a primitive sense of humor, a fondness for tricks and pranks, and a spontaneous and unsophisticated love of nature. Furthermore, deeper inside them, one has a fear of a higher power and the other a craving for affection and approbation. Thus, the contrast between them is heightened.
Ariel and Caliban symbolize, respectively, pure language and pure body. The name of Prospero's language is Ariel, who symbolizes his word in action, the precise fulfillment of his desires, who operates as an extension of Prospero's body. In a way, Prospero, through his creative word, Ariel, can be seen as being omnipresent. However, Ariel chafes under his master's control, desiring a liberty that would ironically reduce him to nothingness, dispersing him into thin air.
Caliban, the son of the evil witch Sycorax, is the perfect brute, who would be petted and patted, given food and drink, and taught to speak. Caliban learns language only to turn it against itself. He becomes vindictive and rewards his master's, Prospero, efforts with curses. His developed consciousness leads him into deeper enslavement, inducing him to overeach his limits by attempting to murder his lord. Earlier, he became rebellious and attempted to "violate" his master's daughter, the innocent, pure Miranda. He later, after getting drunk, turns on Prospero and professes his loyalty to Stephano.
In conclusion, Ariel is considered to be beyond humanity at the spiritual end of the scale and Caliban is beneath humanity at the animal end of the scale. In addition, Ariel rides "on the curl'd clouds" and Caliban liveson "this hard rock." Caliban and Ariel exist at opposite sides of the spectrum and because of this, they are characters foils to each other.
#3 Describe Miranda. How is she a product of "nurturre rather than "nature"...
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...e all his faults in his earlier life. He uses magic to make things better and fix all his problems. In a way, magic is his way of getting around what he can't figure out himself. But now he has come to realize that if he wants to retain his Dukedom he needs to give up his magic and live a normal life as the Duke of Milan. Magic solved his problems for him once in his life, but now he realizes that a good Duke would face the problems just as everyone else does.
In his last line of the play, Prospero says " I'll deliver all; and promise you calm seas, auspicious gales, and sail so expeditious that shall catch your royal fleet far off." He then continues to give Ariel his send off of freedom. What he means in this last line of the play is that he is now going to leave this island, but before he does this he wants to mend all ties with those who are there. Next, he renounces his magic as he realizes that he is a new man with new responsibilities. He is off to be the Duke of Milan and serve as a trustworthy and honest Duke, one which all can live under and abide by fairly. He has his Dukedom back, he feels as though he no longer needs his magic.
From a psychoanalytic perspective, both Caliban and Trinculo of Shakespeare’s The Tempest are interesting characters. Caliban is very sexual and bitter, while Trinculo is at odds with everything: his situation of being washed ashore and wrongly accused of saying things when he did not utter a word, as well as Caliban’s worship of an unkingly man, his drunken friend Stephano. Caliban has obviously not had all of his desires trained to stay within him, despite Prospero’s punishments and Miranda’s schooling. Trinculo, on the other hand, wastes his emotions in a bottle of liquor and knows better than Caliban who is and is not fit to worship.
Prospero enslaved the spirit Ariel or other-worldly figure of sorts. And in-turn Ariel causes a violent storm that causes the shipwreck in the opening scene, due to Prospero's request, thus bringing those back that caused Prospero to lose his dukedom. After which Ariel asked for his freedom having done his deed for Prospero, but Prospero denied his request, saying to Ariel time must be served first. Prospero continues with something of a guilt-instilling speech, reminding Ariel that he had freed him and Ariel becomes submissive once again saying, “all hail, great master, grave sir, hail! I come to answer thy best pleasure; beat to fly, to Swim, to dive into the fire, to ride, on the curled of clouds”(1,2,189-190). This shows Ariel’s language is that of someone being oppressed imprisoned or enslaved and such is the relationship that of a slave and a master. Prospero does not only oppress Ariel but also enslaves Caliban the once ruler of the island simply because Prospero believed his new ideas were much better meaning slavery over freedom, which he did impose on Caliban by saying “Dull thing, I say so; he, that Caliban, Whom now I keep in my service.” (Act. I, Sc. II, Ln. 285-286). Furthermore Prospero makes it even clearer what he thinks of Caliban the native that had helped Prospero to survive on the Island has
This interpretation of the play places more emphasis upon the character of the spirit Ariel, who could also be considered as a native of the island. Prospero frees Ariel from a tree and then enslaves the spirit to do his bidding under the promise of total freedom.
Having been usurped and wrecked on an Island Prospero and his young daughter Miranda have to settle. It is here in Prospero's past that it first clear to see where any confusion about his character may appear. As a learned and powerful man Prospero is able to take direct control of the island, he frees a trapped and tortured spirit (Ariel) and befriends the inhabitants (Caliban). Prospero 'helps' Caliban, he tries to educate him and teaches him to communicate, in exchange Caliban helps Prospero to survive on the Island. But in taking power of the Island Prospero is committing the same act that happened to him as Duke of Milan, now Prospero himself has become the usurper. In this act of goodness Prospero has unknowingly shown his evil side.
Throughout the play, Prospero is a figure who talks at rather than to the other characters, including his daughter Miranda, Prince Ferdinand, and Ariel, his airy servant. At the end of Act IV Prospero is caught up in the ecstasy of punishing and determining the fate of his foes. The beginning of Act V, however, marks a change in the character of Prospero, which averts a possible tragedy. Prospero is unsettled even though his plans are reaching fruition. In his talk with Ariel for the first time we see an actual conversation take place. In addition, in the line "...And mine shall." (Shakespeare V.i.20) we see a change of heart on the part of Prospero, and in the following monologue the audience is privy to introspection and contemplation even beyond that of the end of the masque in Act IV "We are such stuff as dreams are made on..."(Shakespeare).
Ariel’s use of subtext communicated to Prospero that his power and consumption with vengeance was causing him to become inhumane. Prospero experiences an epiphany when Ariel says, “[m]ine would, sir, were I human” (V i, Shakespeare). Ariel points out to Prospero that his power is so strong and the revenge consuming him is making him into an evil person. Once Prospero has this moment of realization, he turns his behavior around by first denouncing his magic. Prospero shows how he is done using magic when he says, “[b]ut this rough magic I here abjure; and, when I have required…And deeper than did ever plummet sound I’ll drown my book” (V i, Shakespeare). This illuminating episode and reveal of Prospero’s true character is used by Shakespeare as the casement to emphasize the inner meaning of the work. Shakespeare’s intended meaning of the work as a whole was that things such as hatred or revenge should never overcome and alter your true identity. Prospero exemplifies that revenge is a dangerous tool and can consume the one who uses it. Prospero’s epiphany allows him to find the human part of himself again and he has a realization that he should no longer be a
Caliban and Ariel who are Prospero’s slaves are also relevant to characters in “Forbidden Planet” like Robby the robot and the Monster Id. Ariel is most likely a mirror image of Robby the Robot. When we first see Robby the link between Robby and Ariel is consciously underlined through a visual allusion when we see only a cloud of smoke moving along the barren planes at high speed, much like Ariel’s airy nature. Robby much like Ariel, follows every command or order and is loyal to his/her master. Caliban is similar to the monster “Id” with their great amounts of power, and both seems to be uncontrollable. In the end of “The Tempest” Caliban learns from his mistakes and obeys Prospero. In “Forbidden Planet the “Id” was never able to be controlled by his master and leaving the only option to destroy it. But Robby the Robot also shares a bit of similarities with Caliban. Morsberger says “Robby the Robot, a servant of his own creation, who combines the good services of Ariel with the ponder-ousness and grotesque appearance as Caliban and at the end revolts against his master as Caliban does” (Morsberger 161). In the end Robby in a way dis-obeys Morbius when Morbius asks him to destroy the Id, but he “dis-obeys” him and resets to because the Id is truly Morbius which Robby is programed to not attack. Robby, also being powerful performs the same task as Caliban. For example we see
The Tempest reflects Shakespeare's society through the relationship between characters, especially between Prospero and Caliban. Caliban, who was the previous king of the island, is taught how to be "civilized" by Prospero and his daughter Miranda. Then he is forced to be their servant. Caliban explains "Thou strok'st me and make much of me; wo...
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.
In literature as in life, characters are multi-dimensional beings. They possess a wide variety of character traits that make them who they are. In the Tempest written by William Shakespeare, Prospero traits resemble those of the Europeans that came during the exploration of the Americas. Thus, Prospero’s treatment of Caliban is similar to the way Europeans treated the Native Americans.
Before considering the purpose of Prospero's experiment, we should note how central to all his magic Ariel is. And Ariel is not human but a magical spirit who has been released from natural bondage (being riven up in a tree) by Prospero's book learning. The earlier inhabitants of the island, Sycorax and Caliban, had no sense of how to use Ariel, and so they simply imprisoned him in the world which governs them, raw nature. Prospero's power depends, in large part, on Ariel's release and willing service. In that sense, Ariel can be seen as some imaginative power which makes the effects of the theatre (like lightning in the masts of the boat) possible. One of the great attractions of this view of the play as a celeb...
In this whimsical play, Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, after being supplanted of his dukedom by his brother, arrives on an island. He frees a spirit named Ariel from a spell and in turn makes the spirit his slave. He also enslaves a native monster named Caliban. These two slaves, Caliban and Ariel, symbolize the theme of nature versus nurture. Caliban is regarded as the representation of the wild; the side that is usually looked down upon. Although from his repulsive behavior, Caliban can be viewed as a detestable beast of nature, it can be reasonably inferred that Shakespeare’s intent was to make Caliban a sympathetic character.
Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest is set on a mysterious island surrounded by the ocean. Here the magician Prospero is ruler of the isle with his two servants Caliban and Ariel. Caliban is the abrasive, foul-mouthed son of the evil witch Sycorax. When Prospero was shipwrecked on the island Prospero treated him kindly but their relationship changed when Caliban tried to rape Prospero's daughter, Miranda. Caliban then became Prospero's unwilling servant. Caliban serves his master out of fear Prospero's wrath. Prospero's other servant Ariel is a graceful spirit who has courtesy and charm. Ariel has put her services at Prospero's disposal out of gratitude for his kind actions towards her. Prospero saved Ariel from the confinement of Sycorax who held her prisoner.
Ariel is the air spirit as well as being one of the servants of Prospero. The reason behind Ariel being Prospero’s servant is that Prospero saved him from the tree that he was trapped in. Since the day he was saved, the only thing he wants is to be set free. It can be known that Ariel is a male because, in the book he is referred to as a male such as “Ariel and all his quality” or “Enter Ariel … claps his hands…”(Shakespeare). Ariel does most of his jobs by changing shape and being in contact with people in that form. Caliban is the earth spirit and he is the second servant of Prospero. He is oftentimes called a monster, such as “This is some monster of the isle four legs…”(Shakespeare). Caliban is Sycorax’s son who was the evil witch. For this reason Caliban thinks that the island is his own. He is never willing for the jobs he do and he always complains so he is controlled through magic, which is done by Prospero. So, because of these reasons Ariel and Caliban have different characteristics even though they are both servants.
In Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, there are two characters who appear to be polar opposites. The characters of Caliban and Ariel both play very important roles in the play. The term caliban is defined as “a brutish or brutalized man,” and the term ariel is defined as “a spirit of the air” (Dictionary). The definitions of these two characters names even show the huge difference in the two characters before readers or viewers even get to know the characters. There are also differences in how the two characters feel about the self-proclaimed king of the island, Prospero. However, regardless of their many differences the one thing that they do have in common is the fact that they are both oppressed by Prospero who has deemed himself king of the island and seek freedom.