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...
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...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.
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
With the semester coming to an end, many students are excited. This especially includes those who will be graduating soon. However, graduation can be seen as a bittersweet moment. On one hand, the graduates enter into a new chapter in their lives. On the other hand, they may lose communication with some of their friends. Unfortunately, this is a natural aspect of each person’s life. Everyone will experience some kind of loss in their life, whether it is person or an object. In The Tempest, Shakespeare discusses the topic of loss. While this theme is not talked about much compared to other themes in the play, it is very important since it is a theme that is included in the 1956 movie adaptation Forbidden Planet. While both works illustrate the ways people deals a loss, the later work demonstrates how the advancement in the world have affected the way modern society
The theatre metaphor also helps to explain why, in the last analysis, Prospero has to surrender his magical powers. Life cannot be lived out in the world of illusions, delightful and educative as they can often be. Life must be lived in the real world, in Milan or in Naples, and Miranda cannot thus entirely fulfill herself on the island. The realities of life must be encountered and dealt with as best we can. The world of the theatre can remind us of things we may too easily forget; it can liberate and encourage youthful wonder and excitement at all the diverse richness of life; it can, at times, even wake people up to more important issues than their own Machiavellian urge to self-aggrandizement, and, most important of all, it can educate us into forgiveness. But it can never finally solve the problem of evil, and it can never provide an acceptable environment for a fully realized adult life.
"Negritude, originally a literary and ideological movement of French-speaking black intellectuals, reflects an important and comprehensive reaction to the colonial situation of European colonization" (Carlberg). This movement, which influenced Africans as well as blacks around the world, specifically rejects the political, social, and moral domination of the West. Leopold Senghor, Leon Damas, and Aime Cesaire are the three pioneers of the revolution. The founder who expresses his ideas more broadly, though, is Cesaire, who uses literary works to express his viewpoint on colonization. An excellent example of such a tactic is his play, A Tempest, which is a revision of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Both Shakespeare and Cesaire accentuate the greed of Europeans in their plays. However, Cesaire is more obvious in his approach to exposing it. A comparison of the two plays demonstrates that Cesaire's version, written in the late 1960's, is written as a confrontation of Shakespeare's play. He is attempting to comment on the corruption of Colonialism and the European domination of the New World through such strategies as making seemingly minor changes, switching the main character role, and altering the storyline itself.
“The Tempest” is a play written by William Shakespeare in early 1600s that has been previewed in different kinds of movies, such as the one made in 2010, directed by Julie Taymor. It is a play containing themes such as; revenge, allusion, retribution, forgiveness, power, love and hatred. When it is compared to the play, there are specific differences seen in the movie, such as; Prospero is reflected as a woman in the movie. The time differences between the play and the movie and how the spirit Ariel is shown as a white man in the movie. The play starts with the story of Prospero, the Duke of Milan. He gets banished from Italy and was cast to sea by his brother Antonio. He has perfected his skills during twelve years of exile on a lonely island. Prospero creates the tempest to make his enemies’ ship to wreck and lead them to the island. Meanwhile, Antonio takes Prospero’s place and starts to make everyone believe he is the duke and makes an agreement with the King of Naples, Alonso. Besides the drama happening in the island, Prospero forgives Alonso and the others.
In discussing Derrida's view of Western literature, Geoffrey Hartman writes that "Western tradition has been marked . . . by a metaphysics of light, by the violence of light itself, from Apollonian cults to Cartesian philosophies. In the light of this emphatic light everything else appears obscure; especially the Hebraic development of aniconic writing and self-effacing commentary of textuality" (xix). This point is well illustrated by the nature of Prospero's power in The Tempest for his control of natural and supernatural forces is achieved through book-learning the bringing to life of Logos. That which Prospero does not control completely is the vilified character of Caliban. The denigrated and unwilling servant seems to represent Prospero's shadow, and in light of the above statement, perhaps Caliban represents the shadow of our light-infused Greco-Roman style of domination of the material world. The text tells us that when Prospero first arrives on the island Caliban willingly reveals its secrets to him. Only when Caliban threatens the chastity of Prospero's daughter, Miranda, does the relationship turn into one of master and slave. Prospero thus draws the line between the shadow realm and purity. His action suggests that sexuality, too, must be kept in a role of servitude if one is to retain control of one's kingdom. In affirming this schism, Prospero simply enforces the dualistic nature of the Western tradition. In heaping scorn upon Caliban, Prospero embodies the West's extreme dualistic nature vis-a-vis its perceived schisms existent between light and dark, mortal and immortal, good and evil.
Language is defined as the system of words or signs that people use to express thoughts and feelings to each other. Language is an essential part to humanity; it is what we use to communicate with one another. Language is what makes humans distinct. Although, it is not solely for communication it is more than that. Language is power, and it is a power no one can take away from you. It is evident in “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” that language is an essential part of life, not so much in the “The Tempest.” Both works suggest that language is power and liberation, but Gloria Anzaldua believes that language is what makes her, her, where Caliban believes language does not. It is interesting to see that both stories have language as a theme, but go about them in different ways.
The Tempest by William Shakespeare (1611) is a play about the manipulation of people who have a lack of knowledge of the current situation. Throughout the play Shakespeare uses Prospero a wizard as a master manipulator. The manipulation by Prospero, Ariel and Stephano are used to show that if you keep knowledge from others it is easy to take advantage of them. This was the case during the colonization of the New World by the English, Spanish and French. When first coming to the New World people from the old world uses manipulation and the lack of knowledge of the native people in order to overtake the land. By using manipulation Prospero is able to put into affect his plan to regain his dukedom.
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.
In the 1600s, married women were expected to do anything for their husbands. Husbands were urged to be good heads of their families and to treat their wives with kindness and consideration. The woman were considered to be the 'weaker vessel ' and thought to be spiritually weaker than men and in need of masculine guidance. During this time, women were treated as inferior being who were meant to look after the house and were to children . Women were treated with little dignity. In “The Tempest,” William Shakespeare was able to show the oppression of women throughout the play. Scenes with Prospero and Miranda have shown significant hidden evidence to prove that the colonial era was a time of female oppression. Shakespeare uses Prospero as an
In the first few acts we learn the truth behind what happened between Prospero, Alonso, and Antonio. Because of Prospero’s focus on his studies instead of focusing on being the Duke of Milan, Prospero’s brother, Antonio feels he would be a better ruler for Milan. With the help of the king of Naples, Antonio raises an army to go to Milan and overthrow Prospero. The numerous schemes that go on during the play are reflections of human nature to gain dominance over one another, even when the dominance is obtained through betrayal. Shakespeare uses symbolism by having Prospero create a storm that captures the way he feels about losing a battle over his rightful dukedom and being kidnapped and left to die at sea.
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.
The first demonstration of Prospero's powerful illusions occurs during the very first scene of the play. The huge storm and the ensuing shipwreck is our first introduction to the world of the play and as we later find out the first part of Prospero's elaborate plan. The tempest that begins the play engulfs the ship and leaves its occupants throughout the island, each believing that they were the only survivors. Prospero manipulated the reality of the situation, leaving the survivors unaware that they were never in danger the entire time. The presence of Prospero's magic establishes a dichotomy between this play's world compared to Shak...
There is a hierarchy on the island, with Prospero on top of the list. Lorie Jerrell Leininger writes in her article “Miranda is given to understand that she is the foot in the family ...
Throughout history, the struggle for power has led mankind to commit unspeakable acts of violence in order to obtain or maintain dominion over others. Imprisonment, torture and murder are all tools tyrants such as Caligula of Rome, Ivan IV of Russia and Pol Pot of Cambodia used to subject their will on others. At the most basic level these are all stories of men obsessed with power. The Tempest, by William Shakespeare is another such story that shows just how far a person will go to gain control and power over others. The character relationship between Prospero and his slaves, Ariel and Caliban, provides insight into the overall theme of the story which is the struggle between those who have power and those that are envious of that power and will stop at nothing to take it from themselves.