Miranda In Hag Saved My Life

Unexpected occurrences take place that are negative, and these might be things which one does not have control over. Authors often use internal struggles as a mental imprisonment that one much conquers in order to achieve their full potential. In Hag Seed, Felix is backstabbed, kicked out of his job as the director of the Makeshiweg theater festival, and put on his journey to prove to those who betrayed him that they were wrong but most importantly he has to show himself that he can overcome the harsh obstacles of failure and rejection. The psychotic break Felix suffers after his termination, and Miranda’s death, motivates him to direct The Tempest, which ultimately heals him.

Conflict arises when Reverend Parris, the local minister, discovers the girls in the forest being led by a black slave named Tituba. Two girls out of the group, including Reverend Parris’s daughter, Betty, fall into a coma-like state after they have been caught in the forest. This causes the town to start to question if witchcraft plays a factor in their sicknesses. Reverend Parris’s niece, Abigail,

As Antonio is forced to develop into a more independent and well-informed young man, he must come to terms with the harsh realities in the outside world from which he was shielded during his early childhood. He encounters the truth behind what happens at Rosie’s—while he has always been told that Rosie is “evil, not evil like a witch, but evil in other ways” (34), he does not learn of the nature of that “evil”—and that his brother is partaking in it (165); Antonio even begins to have dreams that are far more “intense” than any he has previously experienced (70). Antonio must also confront the reality of the hardships of loss, as the people around him with whom he is acquainted—and even those he loves—die at the hands of others. This is particularly important in Antonio’s exploration of religion, as he begins to question why an all-powerful God would allow his loved ones to die, and why such a deity would not sentence those who killed them to hell (186). Antonio’s loss of innocence is finally and forcefully demonstrated at the end of the novel, when he speaks to his mother “as a man,” commanding her to take the younger (and still “innocent”) children inside (269). This is doubly important, as it demonstrates not only that Antonio has lost enough of his innocence to be speaking “as a man,” but also that he recognizes innocence in others and strives to protect them from what he has

Yet her compassion, as real as it is, also has a certain element of shallowness, or at least inexperience about it. She has lived the majority of her life in isolation, on an island known with her only companionship being that of her father. Growing up on this deserted island, Miranda learns to live and abide by the example set by Prospero. He is her only contact with the humanity and therefore he is her only friend and teacher. She knows no other woman and therefore had no female figure to aid the process of raising her. She is naïve and unaware of life's experiences, having been shielded from the rest of the world.      

Afterwards, however, she infers that because Miles is beautiful, the expulsion is absurd and he must be innocent: “…he was only too fine and fair for the little horrid unclean school-world…” She later claims that “[h]e had never for a second suffered. [She] took this as a direct disproof of his having really been chastised…” She feels that all of these inferences are truths because Miles is beautiful. Because the governess can see that Miles is beautiful, she infers that he can do nothing wrong, and thereby guesses the unseen from the seen. The governess soon begins to trace the implication of things. Peter Quint’s second appearance leads the governess to claim that he had not come for her. “He had come for someone else. This flash of knowledge” later convinces her that the person he has come for is Miles. Quint wants to appear to the children. On another occasion, when the ghost of Miss Jessel appears to the governess when Flora is near, she is certain that the child has seen the apparition. In talking to Mrs. Grose about the occasion, she tells her that; “Flora saw…I saw with my eyes: she was perfectly aware…I’m clear. Flora doesn’t want me to know…[Miss Jessel’s intention is to] get hold of her…That’s what Flor d9c a knows.” Never in the novel is there any reason given for supposing that anyone other than the governess, especially the children, sees the ghosts. Although she believes that the children do see them, there

But Prospero (through Ariel) has done more than simply arrange for Miranda and Ferdinand to meet. He has cast a glamour on Ferdinand ("our garments . . . drenched in the sea, hold . . . their freshness" (II.1 60-61)), which leads Miranda to "call him a thing divine" (I.2 418). Miranda herself has been groomed by Prospero to be what men desire (pure, virtuous, beautiful), even men as unmanlike as Caliban. The question of whether or not Gonzalo, in his benevolence, thought to pack along with the books and food and the clothes that fit yet more clothes, for Miranda when grown, raises the question of whether or not a glamour might have been cast on her as well. (It is safe to say that Ferdinand's mistaking a child who has been raised immersed in magic a goddess is not as far off base as it may at first seem.) Ferdinand and Miranda experience a "love at first sight"; their affections are based solely off physical attraction. If a glamour has been cast upon Miranda, then the girl Ferdinand is falling for does not exist outside of Prospero's allowing her to exist (i.e., outside of the spell which has been cast upon her). If one has not

As a Renaissance woman protagonist, she acts within an completely male world: "I do not know/ One of my sex; no woman's face remember" (3.1.48-49).  While no other women appear in the play, references are made to other women, but the count here is still minimal and sums up to three.  Miranda speaks of the lack of female companionship around her because of her location, but simultaneously the audience sees that the references to women that do occur within the play often have a sinister purpose for appearing within the lines.  The other women mentioned in the play seem to provide a sort of dark cloak over the proceedings of the play, even if they are completely absent.  Regardless, Miranda, as the only physical woman in the play the audience actually sees and hears, is described by Prospero with kind words, and few, if any, negative imagery revolves around the appearance of the innocent Miranda.  For example, Prospero informs Miranda that this "Art" is prompted by his concern for her; "I have done nothing but in care of thee" (1.2.16).  Prospero also tells Miranda that his mistreatment and harshness toward Caliban stems from the fact that Caliban attempted to rape Miranda and Prospero wants to protect her from any harm that could come about from Caliban.(1.2.347-51).  Prospero also indicates that Miranda, to him, is "a third of mine own life,/ Or that for which I live" (4.1.3-4); therefore after she is

Porter begins the story with Miranda and her brother Paul exploring a graveyard while out hunting. As they continue with their hunt, Paul shoots a rabbit that is about to give birth. Paul proceeds to carefully slit the dead rabbit open revealing her young unborn babies. This moment is an epiphany for young Miranda as she understands the meaning of rebirth and the cycle of life and death. Miranda later reflects upon this incident years later in a foreign city’s busy bazaar and is reminded of the event that transformed her from an innocent child to a more experienced and knowledgeable young woman.

Like a rich man telling a poor man to stop thinking about money,’ and ‘There was always class between us’. This can be seen as a metaphorical representation of the shifting power distribution of the time, the rise of the middle class instigated more opportunities for working and lower class people to gain wealth and power and further blurred the line between the traditional societal divisions. Clegg is representative of the old, caste-bound patriarchy and Miranda is a pioneer of the new, less rigid system. Miranda herself, however, makes reference to her hatred of ‘the new class people with their cars and their money and their tellies and their stupid vulgarities and their stupid crawling imitations of the bourgeoisie.’ and views Clegg as the epitome of ‘the new people’ although it is possible that this view is a result of her idolisation of GP and subsequent adoption of his ideologies and values rather than her own opinion as she also expresses her ‘…despair for days afterwards, thinking how much of their rotten, pretentious blood I must have in me’, in reference to her parents, implying that she feels she does not belong to the class she was born into or that she simply wishes to be free of the class-system altogether.

She looks in the mirror and thinks “‘[t]hough much is taken, much remains’” (Atwood). Bob had taken her dignity that night, but she used that pain to change and present herself more sensibly. Atwood shows “gender relations as constituting power struggles" as Verna struggles to overcome the pain Bob brought her and to be a stronger person (Godard). At first, Bob has power over her by being popular and a town hero, but by creating a new confident and flirty identity for herself, Verna gains her own power over men. However, what is apparent in the story is Verna’s “lack of knowledge of [her] condition, at the first stage of [her] appearance in the plot, and [her] similarity to a victim” (Sasani). At first, Verna is a naive little girl who believed a boy loved her. She was then a victim of sexual assault by that same boy, and endured great pain. This situation made her change and present herself as a strong and confident woman, not a victim. Many of Atwood’s characters are “females engaged in a quest for self while caught up in the stifling tensions of sexual politics” (“Margaret” 77). Verna was supposed to leave town on a scholarship and become very successful. However, she was raped before she had the chance to leave, and though it was not her fault, the whole town blamed her instead of her attacker. Although it was a horrible circumstance, this loss made her find herself and change into a stronger

Rebecca Stead incorporates the veil metaphor into the story when Miranda has a moment of realization towards Julia. On pages 143 and 144, Miranda’s veil is lifted and the truth about Julia’s personality is exposed. Originally, Julia is thought of as a rude and selfish girl, but Miranda’s view about her soon changed. While the two girls listened to a school music assembly, Miranda observed Julia and the way she watched Annemarie, Julia’s best friend. Miranda noticed that Julia did not watch the stage, but she looked at Annemarie. This simple action helped Miranda realize that Julia cared deeply for Annemarie, who Julia argued with not too long ago. Miranda saw that “Julia’s look was my look. My looking at Sal,” on page 144. In this quote, Miranda sees the way she looks at Sal, her best friend, in Julia’s eyes. In this

"[Elisa's] passionate involvement with the process of planting becomes an expression of all the suppressed romance in her life" (Lewis 393). "She is a strong, childless woman of thirty-five that has subliminated her maternal instincts by producing remarkable flowers" (French, John 83). Nevertheless, "the plants and flowers cannot compensate for the lack of understanding and affection from her husband" (McCarthy 27). In the story, Elisa plays the role of a simple-minded lady who allows her husbands thoughts and actions to dominate her. "Elisa's marriage neither fills her time nor fulfills her desires" (Hughes 24). However, Beach concludes that Elisa without a doubt has a "soul" and is much less simple than she seems (Beach 32).

Her perception of the real world is only what she has imagined in her dreams. She only knows what she has seen and what she has been told by her controlling father, Prospero. Prospero puts Miranda on a pedestal and treats her like a princess so she has no idea of how the world really is. He only starts to tell her the story of how they became stranded on the island once she turns 15. Miranda’s kindness is demonstrated in the beginning of the story when she is concerned about the people aboard the shipwreck in the storm she witnesses. She has a kind soul and will most likely treat her people fairly but may be too naïve to see through the ones who are likely to plot against her.

Miranda's utopia is a very naive one. All her life she has been isolated on the island seeing no-one but her father and Caliban, and therefore upon seeing other beings is amazed and overcome by her new discovery. Her role in the play, along with Ferdinand is to unite enemies (Prospero & Alonso), and this links in to Ferdinand's utopia which represents true love (as it has passed Prospero's tests). Ferdinand therefore finds a utopia on the island, because in marrying Miranda his life changes, for the better. In meeting Miranda he also therefore plays a major role in Miranda's "utopia".

Although the King’s son, Ferdinand loses his luxury life and has to face the test of survival, his determination and valor enables him to live a time of jubilation. Living in Naples, Ferdinand struggled to find his true love, but shortly after he arrives on the island, a spirit named Ariel uses his mellifluous voice to guide Ferdinand towards Prospero’s daughter, Miranda. With one glance, Ferdinand falls for Miranda, who he claims as, the “perfect and… peerless” (III, i, 47) lady he’s been waiting for. In addition to love, Ferdinand is also living every adolescent’s dream; being away from their parents. Without his father next to him on the island, Ferdinand gets to make his own decisions and lives his life without his father’s ruling; obtaining the feeling of independence and discovering what he is capable of doing on his own. Ferdinand finds pleasure with the feeling of freedom, wanting to “live here [forever]”