Comparison of The Tempest and Translations

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Comparison of The Tempest and Translations

‘The Tempest’ begins with a enormous storm and signifies a great

change for the people of the island, but we do not learn until later

on in the play that it is Prospero who has caused the storm so that

the characters on the ship will be brought to the island. The opening

scene is very dramatic and shows the inner turmoil and change that

will occur for the characters involved, whereas it is also quite

confusing for the audience as we are not aware of what significance

the storm has, and what has caused it until later. Characters run

frantically about in this scene and we are unaware of their purpose;

the audience is not communicated well at the beginning as we are left

uninformed of the situation. Just as in ‘Translations’ where there is

also a lack of communication as Manus is trying to get Sarah to talk

but as she is unable to talk she cannot express her feelings and

thought to him clearly and so the communication between the two has

been broken. Manus says, “Soon you’ll be telling me all the secrets

that have been in that head of yours all these years”.

When Prospero tells Miranda the story of where he came from and how he

used to be the Duke of Milan but was usurped by his brother, he asks

Miranda if she is listening properly to make sure there would be no

broken communication between the two of them. He says, “I pray thee,

mark me” and “Dost thou hear?” But Prospero does not communicate well

and sometimes talks nonsense so that it is hard to understand what he

means. Prospero explains that he gradually grew uninterested in ruling

his kingdom and turned his attention more and more to his studies and

books, neglecting his duties as duke. As he did not commun...

... middle of paper ...

...ers have to take

each of the Gaelic names and anglicise it, either by changing it into

the approximate English sound or translate it into the English word,

they feel they have had their identity taken away from them. Without a

cultural background, or if people have their cultural identity taken

away from them, they feel they have lost a sense of the person they

are. Owen says, “My job is to translate the quaint, archaic tongue you

people persist in speaking into the King’s good English.” This

quotation shows how the English do not see the Irish as civilised

people because they speak a different language that they do not

understand. They think that they are doing the Irish a great favour

and making them more civilised by Anglicising their places names and

teaching them English. They do not realise they are taking away the

Irish’s identity and background.

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