William Shakespeare s The Tempest - 1786 Words

â€Å"By my so potent art. But this rough magic I here abjure,†(V.i. ). Throughout Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, the main character Prospero refers to his magic, and it is through his magical abilities that the story is set in motion. In the play, Prospero controls characters and events, much like a playwright does. Shakespeare created Prospero as a guise for himself, through similarities in personality, manipulation abilities, and environment, to demonstrate and reflect on his literary abilities before bidding farewell to the theater. Shakespeare could have created Prospero by incorporating elements of his personality and life into Prospero. Shakespeare came from a good family, his mother was the heiress to a land and his father was a bailiff in Stratford. Since his father was a town official education was free, and Shakespeare was sent to a good quality grammar school. There, he learned to read, write, and speak Latin. (William Shakespeare). Shakespeare â€Å"would have studied 10 hours a day, six days a week, mostly Latin by rote. That was the international language of the professions, and vital to master if you wanted to climb up in the world† (10 TEN THING YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT Shakespeare). Although Shakespeare did not attend a secondary school or college, he learned the essentials, that in combination with his creativity, worked to form his famous literary pieces. Prospero is the former, but rightful duke of Milan, â€Å"And Prospero the prime duke, being so reputed in dignity,Show MoreRelated William Shakespeare s The Tempest1267 Words   |  6 Pagesaudience. During the Enlightenment Era, William Shakespeare’s writing were a form of social commentary on the English Government. Endorsed by the king, Shakespeare’s works told tales of tragedy and whimsy, incorporating both fiction and nonfiction elements. One trademark of Shakespeare s plays were the subtle allusions to the concurrent events in the English government. This is evident in his well known and final play, The Tempest. The story of The Tempest tells the tale of Prospero, a fallen dukeRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Tragicomedy The Tempest1935 Words   |  8 Pagesstand alone, frequently including elements from other influences. William Shakespeare’s tragicomedy The Tempest (c:1611) is a play that uses intertextuality to enhance ideas about natural order. Banished to an island, Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, conjures up a tempest that brings him his usurping brother, Antonio in an att empt to restore his Dukedom. The play’s amalgamation of tragicomedy and the pastoral genre allows Shakespeare to warn his audience about unbalance, criticising the lavish lifestyleRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s The Tempest1256 Words   |  6 PagesWilliam Shakespare’s The Tempest introduces a dynamic and colorful protagonist, Prospero. Throughout the play, he establishes himself as a multi dimensional character. Prospero’s interaction with other characters in the play is vital in uncovering the many different sides of his personality. Prospero displays a different part of his personality when he interacts with Caliban, Ariel, and Ferdinand, all of whom are ploys in his master plan to regain his crown. Prospero assimilates his personality toRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s The Tempest1229 Words   |  5 Pages William Shakespeare most definitely did not reference Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s Seven Monster Theses when writing his play, The Tempest. One of Cohenà ¢â‚¬â„¢s theses though - thesis four â€Å"The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference† - appears quite prominently in Shakespeare’s work. The thesis articulates that monsters are divisive and often arise in a culture to make one group seem superior to another. Further, societies devise monsters in order to create a scapegoat for social and political inequitiesRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s The Tempest Essay1019 Words   |  5 PagesStephen Greenblatt, believes that antagonists such as Caliban from The Tempest represent more than a source of evil. Some theorists argue that Caliban should been seen as a â€Å"colonial other.† I agree, and in this paper I demonstrate and give prime examples as to why Caliban is misunderstood and depicted as a monster when in fact he should be viewed as a native of the island. According to Greenblatt’s argument, in The Tempest, Caliban should be viewed as a colonial other rather than a universal evilRead MoreWilliam Shak espeare s The Tempest886 Words   |  4 PagesIn The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, there is a main issue of whether Prospero or Caliban have the better claim to control the island. In act 1, scene 2, we learn that Prospero, Miranda (his daughter), and Caliban are all located on an island. Caliban states, â€Å"This island’s mine by Sycorax my mother, (1.2.331), which means that he has inherited this island from his mother. However, critic Stephen Orgel has argued that â€Å"Power, as Prospero presents it in the play, is not inherited but self-createdRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s The Tempest947 Words   |  4 PagesIn Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Caliban is the primitive monster who belongs to the bottom of the power hierarchy on the island claimed by Prospero. Caliban, the original inhabitant of the island, unwillingly becomes Prospero’s slave as he uses magic to take control of the island. Prospero sees Caliban as the savage and monster who does not ackno wledge the order of civilization despite his efforts to educate him. Caliban appears as an inferior and beast-like figure from nature in the eyes of the civilizedRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s The Tempest Essay987 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance† (5.1.35-36). This quote from scene five of the Tempest gives the reader a glimpse of Shakespeare’s message regarding humanity. To be human means more than to have two feet, breathe in your lungs, and the ability to communicate. To be human is a choice. Being human means showing compassion and love for those around you. In the play the Tempest, Prospero struggles with his humanity. He possesses inhuman abilities that cause him to lose sight of theRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s The Tempest1499 Words   |  6 PagesShakespeare’s play â€Å"The Tempest† outlines many complex characters. One of which was Prospero, former Duke of Milan and powerful sorcerer. Prospero initial ly portrays a self-involved personality and God-complex but then throughout the course of the play this personality trait transpires into a more pragmatic approach to his life. All of these traits of this character makes it difficult to analyze the true character of Prospero. In the first Act of the play, we see Prospero using sorcery to drum upRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s The Tempest1469 Words   |  6 PagesThe Tempest brings out the discussion of rule, in this play the theme of rule is prominent, especially in the beginning of the play where the conversation between Prospero and Miranda (his daughter) lead the actions of Prospero, this paper will be analysing the hierarchy of the characters, the definition of justice for Prospero and who’s the king of Milan. Prospero has magical powers which is seen later in the play, the play starts off by the telling the story of the current king and his crew on