The Dramatic Uses of Intoxication in Shakespeare's Play "The Tempest"

The second difference between the play and movie “The Tempest” is the time that it’s written and the time shown in the movie. The play takes place during Shakespeare’s time, the early 1600s. When Shakespeare was writing “The Tempest”, “people still believed that the sun went round the earth.” (Shakespeare 115-121) England was a Christian country and was educated by the Church’s education and, grammar schools taught Latin. The setting of “The

Tempest end with Miranda and Ferdinand's marriage plan? In this paper I will argue that

The play, The Tempest, by William Shakespeare is a very cleverly thought out piece of work. Shakespeare very deliberately inter-relates several different forms of power during the course of the play. There is political power, shown through the plethora of political characters and their schemes, while at the same time parodied by the comic characters. The power of magic and love, and its ability to reunite and absolve also plays a major role in the play. Throughout the play, Prospero, the main character, takes great advantage of his power and authority, both properly and improperly. The epiphany of this however, is realized at the end of the play.

The role of language in Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest” is quite significant. To Miranda and Prospero the use of language is a means to knowing oneself. Caliban does not view language in the same light. Prospero taught Caliban to speak, but instead of creating the feeling of empowerment from language, Caliban reacts in insurrectionary manner. Language reminds him how different he is from Miranda and Prospero, and also how they have changed him. It also reminds him of how he was when he wasn’t a slave. He resents Prospero for “Civilising” him, because in doing so he took away his freedom.

The Tempest is widely considered to be one of Shakespeare’s greatest works and is seen by many to be the perfect finale to one of the greatest writing careers of all time. At time of writing in 1610 The world was changing and full of turbulation much like the travelers among the tempest in the first scene of the play. Old and New Worlds were colliding with the settlement of North and South America and many civilians of Europe had little time to adjust to their evolving setting. Conflicts arose with natives and some lay question to whether or not this exploring was ethical considering these people had occupied this new land first. The newfound resources from these adventures served as a focal point of discussion with the opportunities of national

The Tempest is about an ousted Duke of Milan ,Prospero, who has been living in exile on a remote island for the past twelve years with his daughter Miranda. He is a powerful magician, who happens to be the master of Ariel and Caliban, and a guy who really likes his books. When Prospero's enemies wash up on shore, he uses his black magic to seek revenge and restore himself to power. The Tempest belongs to the genre of Elizabethan romance plays. It combines elements of tragedy with those of romantic comedy, and like one of Shakespeare's plays previously, it asks deeper questions that are not completely resolved at the end. The tone that seeps into the play is one of wonder, amazement, and admiration. Mystery is still present , but the magic performed is not black and scary. The version that seems to grasp my attention more, would have to be the Utah Valley University interpretation because it takes Shakespeare’s main purpose and tone but shows it in its own unique way. Furthermore, with its silly drunkards, the play has a certain lightness to it and even the so called killers of the King tell hilarious jokes and are lighthearted. But there is also the tone of revenge and reconciliation in the play. We feel a revenge burning in Prospero while, at the same time, a wish for forgiveness and reconciliation with those who have wronged him.

Due to these debates, it’s possible that Shakespeare has contemplated on the different views on colonization and decided not only to create the setting of the play on an island, but uses the storm in the first act as way to create excitement and danger and also to reference to the perils of the struggle of exploration. Also the title of the play is The Tempest which also hints how powerful the storms of the ocean are, that it can determine the fate of many people as seen in the play; and is relatable to real life events such as the one described earlier. The Tempest also reflect the concerns of the times such as the exploration of foreign lands and struggles for power and the colonization of lands as seen in the role of the characters in the play.

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".

Shakespeare has written three different ‘types of genre’ in his plays. One of these is his Tragedies like ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Another genre he writes within is Comedy, an example of which is ‘Much Ado About Nothing’.

William Shakespeare, as did most writers of his time, took the basis for the stories he wrote from other texts. He would use source poems or mythology in order to write his own works. Romeo and Juliet, for example, can be compared to the tragedy of Pyramus and Thisby. Plays such as Richard III and Julius Caesar are artistic accounts of historic events. The Tempest, however, is commonly perceived as an original story. Many critics feel that this was the only story of his that was entirely created by Shakespeare. This is not the case. In fact, there are several sources from which he very much drew inspiration for this tale. Shakespeare used

Throughout the play, Prospero?s god-like representation is shown by his judging, punishing, and forgiving. With the help of Ariel, Prospero also appears to be all-knowing too. It can be argued that he is an Old Testament God, where he turns to vengeful fury when he is crossed, and the question throughout is Prospero will overcome his anger and forgive his enemies. Christians are expected to forgive and revenge is not a Christian attribute. As Prospero observes, forgiveness is a nobler action than vengeance. However, it may be argued that Prospero?s actions were quite harsh. For instance, it may be said that the sufferings of Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo are comic. However, there seems to be something cruel in the way Prospero deals with his old enemy Alonso, letting him think until the last minute that his beloved son Ferdinand is dead. (Bringing Ferdinand back from the dead, so to speak, is God-like too.)

William Shakespeare is perhaps the greatest literary writer of all time. His works are still being studied, read and performed today. Dramatist Ben Johnson was correct in stating that Shakespeare “was not of an age but for all time.” Shakespeare’s The Tempest demonstrates the timelessness of human nature and that the lessons portrayed in his play appeal to the reader, no matter the timeframe. These lessons are revealed through the themes of freedom, forgiveness and power. All individuals desire freedom.

The second that she offers is that the magic that Prospero controls only allows him control of the physical world. Since he cannot directly influence the thoughts and beliefs of others, he is limited to mostly trickery, albeit impressive trickery. He has the power to conjure spirits, control the weather and raise the dead, but for all this earthly power, he cannot change the basic tenets of men. He has to use his powers to attempt to make the characters of the play change themselves. This sometimes works, and sometimes does not. This interpretation of Prospero is in contrast with the last tenet. Prospero appears at the beginning, according to his own words, to be only interested in gains beyond the world, yet his magic is limited to only things in the world (assuming that spirits are also physical in nature, and not outside the realm of reality.) This means that he is restricted to using earthly means to attain a goal above earthly gains. He is a strangely hypocritical person here. He rejects the world in pursuit of his studies, yet he is restricted by that same earthly limitation. This adds to the dimension of his character. Perhaps he is not as simplistic as he seems. This allows him the possibility of having conflicting goals within the play, as he seems to have.

The Tempest is believed to be the final play written by English playwright William Shakespeare (Arnold 2009: 1). This allegorical play takes place on an exotic island and describes the master-slave relationship between Prospero the virtuous ruler and Caliban the ugly evil. Approximately three and a half centuries later, French poet and author Aimé Césaire, who objected to colonialism and was concerned about post-colonial issues, published A Tempest (‘Une Tempête’), a post-colonial adaptation of Shakespeare’s work.

William Shakespeare's The Tempest Generally acknowledged as one of Shakespeare's final plays, 'The Tempest' may be described as a romantic tragi-comedy - where love and contentment prosper despite the threatening presence of evil forces. However, beyond the almost 'fairy-tale' like exterior lies