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The Tempest as Shakespeare's Resignation Speech
In Shakespeare's, The Tempest, the character Prospero is in many ways similar to Shakespeare himself at the time he wrote the play. Prospero, having entertained himself with his magic for most of his life, now gives up his powers as he seems to understand that his magic is no more and no less than life itself : it is just as transitory and hollow. This seems to reflect on Shakespeare's attitude toward play writing. Having spent his life writing plays and being entertained by his own employment, Shakespeare finds that his plays, while they explore the themes of life and relationship, are finally no more meaningful than life itself seems to a man who must have been feeling his mortality. The Tempest is Shakespeare's resignation speech. Having found that his 'magic' has failed him, Shakespeare is retiring to the real world, for if nothing of meaning is to be gained in play writing, then all that is left is to be human.
First, look at Prospero's final decision in the play. He is capable of returning to Milan and ruling it while keeping his magical power - he does not have to choose between the two - and he abandons his power. Just as Shakespeare was not forced to quit writing, Prospero is not forced to abandon his magic. In addition, Shakespeare specifically has Prospero tell us : "My charms crack not, my spirits obey, ..." ( V.i 2 ). Shakespeare means to tell the audience he is not quitting because his ability as a writer is lessening at all, but specifically tells us through Prospero that he is at his peak and is completely in command of his art. There is no other obvious thematic or plot-development reason why Prospero should specifically ...
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...total lack of morality, or Hotspur's view of absolute honor, had some doubt to it, or could be thought of differently. Prospero's argument here is irrefutable. Nothing he presents is in any way 'iffy' or doubtable. This is Shakespeare's final conclusion : plays, like life, fade into nothing, and nothing is left worth doing but to be what we are: human, and mortal.
Works Cited and Consulted:
Bloom, Harold. Modern Critical Interpretations: William Shakespeare's The Tempest. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1997.
Davidson, Frank. "The Tempest: An Interpretation." In The Tempest: A Casebook. Ed. D.J. Palmer. London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd., 1968. 225.
Shakespeare, William, 1998. The Tempest. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1998
Webster, Margaret. Shakespeare Without Tears. Greenwich: Fawcett Publications, Inc., 1996.
Joseph McCarthy, a Republican senator from Wisconsin, announced that he owned a list of Communist who served at State Department during his Wheeling speech at West Virginia. Joseph McCa...
Throughout McCarthy’s political journey, panic that arose from the witch hunt and fear of communism became very well known. That feeling became known as McCarthyism (Senator Joseph McCarthy 2). Communism wouldn’t be what it is today if it weren’t for Joseph McCarthy.
From 1949 to 1954, the citizens of the United States were overcome with terror of the possibility of being accused of Communism. Joseph McCarthy was an anti-communist zealot obsessed with rooting out perceived Communist spies and activities in the United States. Common opinion showed that McCarthy was a bully and a liar. The Senate condemned him for it because at the time, there was no evidence to support him. However, in recent years, evidence has come out that confirms the basis of what McCarthy said. There were Communists infiltrating America, and it seemed McCarthy was the only one who actively trying to find it. McCarthy governed the U.S. people with fear for three year, was censored, and now is being proven correct, despite people trying to hide the truth.
McCarthyism destroyed many peoples lives and it was one of the saddest events of American history. Joseph McCarthy was a politician that made everyone become afraid of “communist”. He also accused many citizens that weren’t actual communist. McCarthy was unethical with his accusations and only wanted to be in the spotlight. He was the key figure in the anticommunist madness.
The Tempest presents the character of Prospero the usurped duke of Milan. In the beginning Prospero’s character can be described as foul, spiteful, and selfish. This can be seen in various scenes in acts one and two of the play where he treats the people around him as his servants especially the fateful Ariel who reminded him of his promise only to be threatened of imprisonment. He’s selfish in the sense that he would do anything to accomplish his goal of executing his plan. Like a master puppeteer he is manipulative and deceptive. He even manipulates his daughter to fit according to his scheme. However, all of his foul characteristics left him as his plan nears its end. It is as if the shedding of his clothes represented his change is personality and attitude. After Prospero discarded his staff, drowned his magic book, and wore his duke garments he became more responsible and sympathetic. Instead of exacting revenge on the king of Naples a...
McCarthy was elected senate after becoming a lawyer in his sate of Wisconsin. During the first few years of his term nothing major really happened until 1950. In a speech to the Women’s club of wheeling in West Virginia he stated that he had a list in his hand of about 205 known members of the communist party working for the United States department. President Harry Truman had signed an executive order that said that all communists or fascists could not obtain a United States government job. The FBI played a big role in the investigation of this list McCarthy contained. McCarthy’s friend j. Edgar Hoover, which was a violent ant-communist in the federal government, could not wait to expose the people McCarthy accused of being communists. McCarthy’s list created a nationwide scar among the people of the United States. Everything McCarthy said was a lie and he had no evidence to show that the people he accused were really communist but, because of the start of the Korean War and the arrest of two American soldiers accused of spying on the Soviet Union American citizen...
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.
Joseph Raymond McCarthy was a Republican Senator from the state of Wisconsin between 1947 and 1957. Between 1950 and 1954, McCarthy became noted for unsubstantiated claims that there were Communist and Soviet spies and sympathizers inside the federal government.
There were a few reasons why the United States dropped the bombs. As Phillip Goodman points out, President Truman was under tremendous pressure from several sources. One source of pressure was his military advisors, who thought that an invasion of Japan would be too costly. A second source of pressure was domestic in nature. In particular, President Truman was under tremendous pressure to please the public because he was up for re-election. In addition to this pressure, there was a hatred for the Japanese, political problems that the U.S. had with Russia,(Doug Long),and the revenge that Americans wanted for the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.
In 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy had a frenzied leadership in America. It all started when he claimed that there were many avowed Communist in the American government. There was no proof, but anyone who criticised McCarthy’s claims were accused of being communists themselves, people were claimed to be ’Communist Sympathisers’ and were put on trial and even executed, even those who escaped death or prison were blacklisted and their whole lives were ruined socially and through their careers, this was known as the period of McCarthyism.
Shakespeare's Use of Language, Imagery and Setting to Illuminate Prospero's Journey from Revenge to Reconciliation
...specially the island that they are inhabiting. Prospero can’t see that he has stolen any type of chance that he could be the ruler of the island. Soon enough, Caliban understands that Prospero sees him as someone to be ruled. Caliban eventually realizes that he has been cheated of ever becoming the ruler. As the consequence of his realization, Caliban turns harsh and savage-like, which only confirms Prospero’s view of him. Shakespeare brings out the harsh reality of what characters believe to be “the right way” in The Tempest. With Caliban, Shakespeare showed his audience how degrading it can be to be the person who will always be considered the “savage” even though they hadn’t had a chance to show their true potential.With Prospero, Shakespeare showed the readers that he was wronged in the beginning of the play, but his quest to prove them wrong, he wronged others.
Gervinus, G.G. "The Tempest." The Shakespeare Criticism Volume 8. Gale Research Inc., Detroit. 1989: 304-307.
Frey, Charles. The Tempest and the New World. (1979): page 30-41. JSTOR. Web. 04 Feb 2011
Shakespeare, William, and Robert Woodrow Langbaum. The Tempest: With New and Updated Critical Essays and A Revised Bibliography. New York, NY, USA: Signet Classic, 1998. Print.