Happy endings help leave a reader feeling comforted and hopeful that things can right themselves in the world, no matter how it is established. It can be done by two lovers finally getting to be together after a struggle, the ending of some sort of devastating war, or just a balance restored, with good prevailing over evil. Especially when dealing with Shakespeare, any sort of happy ending can be very refreshing to those who watch or frequently read the famous playwright’s works.
In the Shakespeare play The Tempest, a lasting response is developed with the happy ending through a moral reconciliation. Knowing that evil is correcting itself, without the death of a higher person or interference of something great, leaves the reader with the feeling that good can conquer all, and that evil will be defeated. The literary thought of the great chain of being helps us realize that balance can be restored if a king is put back in place. This happy ending is even more comforting because it develops a sense of all is restored to what it should be, with a rightful ruler, instead of a ruler who comes to power with what was thought to be murder and corruption. The Tempest leaves the reader feeling comforted through a happy ending through the reestablishment of the balance in the great chain of being with the rightful and good king back in power, the union of two people who are truly in love, and the fall of the plans of all those with evil intentions in the play, and their spiritual reassessment when they return to good. All these fortunate events help Prospero come to the realization that he doesn’t need magic to live out the rest of his life happily, and can instead be assured that he can die at peace and all will be right with his world.
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... the play, saying that “Every third thought shall be (his) grave,” (Act 5, scene 1, line 313). Prospero is, as Fay Weldon says, “even with the self, even at death.” While Prospero does not die during the play, he flatly tells the reader or audience how content he is with how his life has played out, especially now that his daughter has found happiness and protection and his power has been restored, his brother seeing the evil in his ways. As in many cases, Prospero has to use spiritual help to help regain his power as the Duke of Milan and find the balance in the great chain of being. However, once he has found that balance, and good has conquered evil, he vows to release his spirit, and releases his control of magic and connections to that world so he can die in peace, so content with how his life is ending that he accepts death, and ends the play preparing for it.
William Shakespeare was a Stratford Grammar School boy, who was a member of the Church of England, similar to just about everyone else in Stratford. However, due to some events that occurred in the Shakespeare family home, there is some evidence that could prove that the family may have had some Roman Catholic connections. When William Shakespeare was 10 years old, legal issues and debt took a toll on his family’s life. Shakespeare’s father’s stopped attending alderman meetings which resulted in the removal of his name to become an alderman, and he was also forced to sell his beautiful home. The cause of this crisis is unknown, however the records can be used to throw together the idea that there were peculiar religious events going on (Fox). Due to these mishaps, William Shakespeare’s religion is a bit of a mystery. The play, Hamlet, was written by William Shakespeare during the Elizabethan era, which happened to be a time when religious conflicts were a big deal (Alsaif). The protagonist in the story, Hamlet, is a character who seems to make his choices through his religious beliefs. Hamlet is a very indecisive person, but his thoughts on religion tend to persuade him. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses the character of Hamlet to show the flaws in all religions. Hamlet does his best to follow the rules of Christianity, but he often questions the morality involved. Although Shakespeare belonged to the Church of England, he didn’t find any particular religion to be perfect.
Fate or choice? Choice or fate? How does one separate these ideals? Can one? Shakespeare could not. Nor can we. Fate and choice are so intertwined that our choices determine our fate, and our fate determines our choices. William Shakespeare trusts the audience to scrutinize whether it is fate or choice that rules our human life. Shakespeare aptly conveys this oxymoron (with which people have been dealing for ages) through the evidence and structure of his play, Romeo and Juliet.
There exists a kind of person who can be called by no other name than by “Magnificent Bastard”. They are masters of deception, bloody brilliant, unstoppable in achieving their goals even when it means grinding others into the dust, and yet they have such a flair, such a charming disposition, that they are often admired by even those who are wronged by them. Iago in Shakespeare’s play Othello is one such character. The audience may love or hate him, but either way they must admit that he commands the spot-light. In spite of this, the reason why Iago acts as he does is shrouded in mystery. Even when directly speaking to the audience about his motivations, Iago is not always truthful. In reality, while Iago derives great pleasure from manipulating others, his driving motivation throughout the entire play is his own jealousy; from being unrecognized for his greatness, to an impossible love for Desdemona, and of the virtuous characters all around him.
The transition of royalty from King Hamlet to King Claudius seemed smooth, but the tension within the royal family created some complications. Almost all of Denmark gave their loyalty to a new king without any suspicion as to how the previous ruler died. Although Denmark’s citizens are unaware of the fratricide, this fickle faithfulness exemplifies the social and moral decay of Denmark. Most of Denmark’s subjects act upon their own selfish interests and lack any conviction. Shakespeare uses Polonius, formerly a loyal servant to King Hamlet, as a microcosm of Denmark’s oblivious and hypocritical society as a whole. The Lord Chamberlain of Claudius’s court and the father of Laertes and Ophelia, Polonius has good intentions, but he tends to be somewhat conniving and underhanded. He frequently leaps to the wrong conclusions, and his speeches are comically pompous and long-winded. He is completely incapable of figuring out what Hamlet is up to. Looking to stay on Claudius’s favorable side, Polonius pleases the new king’s demands and even puts his own children’s reputation and lives in jeopardy. Because of his meddling in Prince Hamlet’s business, Polonius ends up dying on his own account.
When in the course of human events, something’s are made self-evident, like having to read Hamlet and write about three soliloquies. These soliloquies tend to be very lengthy and have very sub surface meanings to them that require some enabled humanoids to use the frontal cortex of their neurological brains in order to understand these meanings. In other words, they are hard to understand, especially with them being written in the Shakespearean era of influence in the island Kingdoms that are Untied. However, they offer meanings unimaginable and crucial to the outcome of the play Hamlet. As I have just explained, the three soliloquies of Act I, II, III, of the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare have very deep important meanings and messages to them.
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).
The events that take place in the play are all made possible by the original usurpation against Prospero, the right Duke of Milan by Antonio, his brother, the usurping Duke of Milan. The usurpation itself is made possible initially because Prospero has become increasingly more spellbound by his library of books, the same books which he later uses to exact his revenge. This is to say that not only are these books primarily the sole cause of Prospero's loss of power, but they are also entirely responsible for Prospero's dukedom being reinstated, because the magic they grant him gave him the power to do just that. This is one example of how power will always end up back in its rightful place.
The complexity and effect of father-son relationships seems to be a theme that Shakespeare loved to explore in his writings. In Hamlet, the subject is used as a mechanism to identify the similarities between three very different characters: Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet. They have each lost their fathers to violent deaths, which leads them to seek vengeance. As different as they may seem, they all share the common desire to avenge their father’s deaths. The method they each approach this is what differentiates each of their characters, and allows the audience to discern their individual characteristics. Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet’s intense loyalty to their fathers drives them to individual extreme measures of revenge, exemplifying Shakespeare’s masterful use of describing the human psyche during Elizabethan times.
Here, the imaginative sympathy for the sufferings of others leads to an active intervention based upon "virtue" rather than "vengeance." This is a key recognition in the play: virtue expressed in forgiveness is a higher human attribute than vengeance. And in the conclusion of the play, Prospero does not even mention the list of crimes against him. He simply offers to forgive and accept what has happened to him, in a spirit of reconciliation. Unlike other Shakespeare plays, the ending of The Tempest requires neither the death nor the punishment of any of the parties.
In order to complete the cycle, it is necessary for the individual to understand their path of self-destruction and learn from the mistakes they went through to successfully complete the cycle. The Tempest portrays this last step of resilience through Prospero’s forgiveness and happiness at the end of the play. Prospero displays a character of wisdom and intelligence, however, he is blinded with resentment that he uses his accumulated knowledge to take revenge, which leads to a lot of chaos in the play. However, he displays the subtopic of resilience at the end, when he grants forgiveness to many of the characters that has wronged him. He realizes that his wish of ruling the island has a parallel pattern when compared to Antonio’s aspirations as well. This act of forgiveness connects to the overall theme of destruction because it proves that Prospero has recovered from negative damage and he regained himself from destructive thoughts that caused the story to go through
This change in the last scene is easily noticed by the audience, allowing for additional characterization through the differences between the opening and final scenes. One of the most complex changes in the play takes place within Prospero himself. In considering his motives for "wrecking" the ship and bringing the characters to the island, we can't escape the feeling that Prospero holds a great deal of resentment about his treatment back in Milan and is never very far from wanting to exact a harsh revenge; after all, he has it in his power to significantly injure the parties that treated him so badly. We learn more of Prospero's character when he has a sudden insight at the start of the final act, when he decides that revenge is not the most appropriate response.
The illusions of justice and freedom, and what they truly are, has been a reoccurring theme throughout the works. The definitions of justice and freedom have become so construed throughout the times. In William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Prospero tries to enthrall his audience in his narrative of social justice. The idea of justice the play portrays represents one individual who controls the fate of all others. Their freedom is controlled by the interference of those around them. Although he spends most of the play righting the wrongs done to him, he is misdirecting so to hide his true motive. Prospero misconstrues the definitions of justice and freedom by enslaving Ariel and Caliban, using magic for his own good, and creating a false happy
The play opens with a fearful tempest threatening to destroy the king's ship and all of its passengers. This situation along with the terrified emotions of the characters appears to the reader to be very real. However, in the second scene, the reader meets Prospero and his daughter Miranda. Through their conversation we learn of Prospero's magical powers, his brother's unjust claim as the Duke of Milan, and the exile of the two to this mysterious island. Next unveiled is Prospero's plot of revenge to regain his rightful title, the first step being to shipwreck the royal party on his island with the creation of the magical tempest. The reality of the situation is that there never was any danger from the storm at all.
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.
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.