William Shakespeare's The Tempest
Consider the character of Prospero and show how he used his position
to control many of the characters in the play and how his actions
contribute to the dramatic effectiveness. How do his actions and the
attitude of the characters to him relate to the events and thinking of
Shakespeare's day?
In the Tempest, the character of Prospero is the protagonist. Prospero
is the father of Miranda and has spent twelve years on the island
since he was usurped from being the Duke of Milan. Prospero is a
powerful man, which makes him a good leader. He is very knowledgeable
because of the books he read. He also has control, because he can be
harsh and firm but also virtuous towards others. Prospero would also
seem a cruel character to a modern day audience because of sense of
control and harshness he has over the other characters. However this
would have been accepted, as the traits of a good leader because in
Shakespeare's day being a good leader would entail being harsh and
cruel towards others so therefore Prospero was looked upon as a good
leader. This connects to James the first (the King at the time
Shakespeare wrote this play) because Shakespeare is suggesting that
James the first has these qualities, (harshness, cruel, firm) because
he is a King just like Prospero in the play. In Shakespeare's time it
would have be expected that a good leader should be harsh and firm-
often the leader was head of his family. Throughout the play we see
Prospero's harshness, towards Caliban, Ariel, Miranda and Ferdinand.
Prospero is very firm towards Ariel. Ariel has no freedom because
Prospero controls her. He needed to...
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...intless therefore the only form of control is violence
and that is why Prospero uses violence towards Caliban- because he is
not worth educating. When this play is dramatised Caliban could be
represented as a creature that is grovelling on the floor next to
Prospero showing a height difference meaning that Prospero is more
powerful and human like. Prospero is more powerful than Caliban
because they each try to curse each other but the curses from Caliban
are empty because he has a lack of power.
The start of the play immediately fills the audience with suspense,
because they do not know what is going on and there is a sense of
chaos and action that adds to the dramatic effectiveness. This opening
scene does not tell the audience much, and it also seems normal
because there is nothing supernatural or strange about it.
Because they have matured, however, they know these stories are either made up or completely exaggerated.
... Other contributing factors could be the person’s gender, generational differences, religion, or fear of retaliation.
It is trying to get their blood pumping and get them ready to fight a battle, whether it be verbally or physically.
they thought something bad could be happening, they would talk to that friend and tell
In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, the character Othello is portrayed as a fairly good man. By some, he may be known as a bad person but he has become greatly beneficial to the growth of Venice and the state of Cyprus. Othello is a good man even if he committed murder to his wife because he is a great war general and contributed to Cyprus in time of need.
Through a historical lens, Shakespeare’s The Tempest revolves around the evolving times of England during the Tudor Dynasty in 1552-1603. During those times Queen Elizabeth I was the newly appointed ruler of England after her half-sister, the previous ruler had died. This new change was the new beginning for England. It allowed many opportunities to arise such as a new stock company, provisions for the poor, and a chance for many to explore the world with their new wealth. To thank and impress their new Queen, many set sail to conquer new lands. Similar to history, The Tempest did contained a few curious Englishmen and their king discovering new land but the exact location is unknown. At the time of Shakespeare’s
It is clear that the race of Othello is a factor in his downfall. A
In everyones life there is always the one person who you think you can trust, and later come to find that they have been playing you all along. This is the exact case for Othello. Iago, whom Othello thought was a person he could trust, betrayed him in many horrific ways.As you read the famous Shakespearian play, Othello, the Moor of VeniceI, you come to realise pretty quickly that Iago is the evil charecter in this play. The readers do not actually get to see a good side of Iago, if there is any, because he is constantly using and playing people. Readers will also come to learn that no matter how evil Iago may be perceived as that he is very much a coward, using other people to do most of his dirty work for him.
“I asked her to wear something revealing, so she showed up in a prophet's toga.”(CITE) Jarod Kintz’s words are an example of miscommunication, or failure to comprehend meaning. In this case, it is implied that one person misunderstood the message of another, but incomprehension also applies to problems other than falsely interpreted requests. Incomprehension can occur when people misinterpret another’s words or intentions, or when a person misreads situations or events. The outcome described in Kintz’s quote is unexpected and unintended, but there are instances of incomprehension that have consequences of greater severity. Perhaps a classic tragedy with a high body count falls under these parameters.
The Tempest raises many questions regarding the formation of authority and power. Is hierarchy understood as natural or as constructed? Also, what are the consequences when authority is usurped? This paper will attempt to answer these questions in a succinct manner using textual references to solidify its arguments. As the play progresses, Prospero constructs the hierarchy in such a way as to return things to their "natural" state. Any type of usurpation, whether attempted or successful, will always end up with power back in its rightful place, and most of the time with a lesson learned.
How important is an individual that most often than not authors focus on the growth of one over the growth of the many? Is it because the growth of one symbolizes the growth of all? Or is the focus on the individual due to the image it presents which is the growth in us? In any event, this outlook of individualism is widespread in literature and different genres and techniques excavate the development of the individual. Another factor that comes into play in the development of the character is the situation and the effects of the environment. Within William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest and Michael Cervantes Saavedra’s satire Don Quixote are two different characters molded and formed or in both cases malformed to incorporate their capsules which are the genres and settings that imprison them.
In William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and in Sophocles’ Antigone, both authors explore and illustrate the differences between “human law” and “higher law”. The two authors have different opinions about those laws. In The Tempest, Prospero uses his magic to manipulate various characters, and he often uses his magic to follow the plot of the story by his own way. Prospero uses his magic for total control over the people on the island where he lives. In Antigone, Creon, the King of Thebes, uses his title to manipulate others that kills Haemon and Antigone. Though the ending is more tragic in Creon’s control than in Prospero’s, by the end of Creon’s manipulation, the Greek Gods destroys Thebes. Regardless of the differences between the plays, both have different views of “human law” and “higher law”. Through the character and the setting development of the story in both plays, it is obvious that Shakespeare favors “human law” and Sophocles favors “higher law”.
to foolery by their silly acts as well. There are two types of fool in
People tend to just go with it, and think that what they are feeling is really
are often times based off of their experiences. The way they handle certain situations often