William Shakespeare 's The Tempest And Julie Taymor 's Film Version Of The Play

Explore the struggle/desire/theme of power and how it is presented in ‘Lord of the Flies’ and ‘The Tempest’.

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.

William Shakespeare is one of the greatest writer in the world. He has written allot of plays which were amazing and interesting. Even today, people still try to understand and figure out Shakespeare’s master piece in his plays. Many of them are influencing writers’ around the world and one of them is called Junot Diaz. “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” is the title of Junot Diaz book in which we can perceive the author’s allusion to William’s Shakespeare play in order to comprehend the book better wise. There are many allusions that Junot Diaz had in mind of the play “The Tempest” while writing his book and the one that beats them all is the resembles of the rightful Duke of Milan in the play, Prospero and Yunior, the narrator of the story of Oscar Wao. Each of their personalities, story and character’s will prove this allusion in which they are such alike and how we perceive the story and the character differently after these following information.

The Tempest by William Shakespeare and Mama Day by Gloria Naylor are two fantastic stories that both belong to the genre magical realism, which is where magical elements are incorporated into realistic fiction. Prospero the main character is robbed of Dukedom and marooned on an island with his infant daughter where he meets natives and fire demons who do his bidding. Mama Day the main character in Gloria Naylor’s novel is a no nonsense woman who uses her magic to help the other residents of their island. Even though Naylor denies that Mama Day is modern retelling of the Tempest it is hard not see that there are similarities between the stories. However, there are some differences. Prospero takes justice into his own hands, just as the characters around Mama Day take their situations into their own hands. They do not trust Mama Day’s ways until they are forced to ask for her help. Whereas Prospero and Miranda might seem like parallel characters because they both use magic, Miranda knows its limits and uses it to help others, while Prospero only discovers the limits of magic after he gives it up.

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life, is rounded with a sleep." (Act IV, Scene I) Shakespeare’s The Tempest play, I have read the play and have seen Julie Taymor version of the movie. While doing this I have come to a conclusion that it has many differences and similarities. It is obvious while watching the movie and reading the play of The Tempest that their are many topics to compare and contrast. Shakespeare’s The Tempest movie and play have many differences and similarities with the characters. The similarities include of the plot, the actions, the characters, the lines, the setting, the conflicts, etc. While the differences are Prospera, Ariel, Ariel’s actions, and Ferdinand’s singing role.

The most recent version of The Tempest by Julie Taymor changes Prospero to “Prospera,” a female figure played by Helen Mirren. Consider both 17th-century gender issues and more recent ones in examination of the play’s discussions about virginity, marriage and femininity.

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

The ability of passion to bring destruction upon the lives of the unsuspecting is illustrated in Shakespeare’s Othello with the use of both manipulation and deceit. The curse of fierce passion fell namely on Othello as he transitioned from a respected general to an unstable murderer. His downfall is demonstrated through his increasing self-doubt, lack of ability to articulate, and violence. In the start of the play, he is an accomplished general and happy newlywed, and has yet to be significantly held back due to his being a Moor and outsider in Venetian society. As passion overtakes him, however, Othello truly ingrains the idea that he is less than, and those around him begin to blame his actions on the nature of his ethnicity. He has completely lost his identity to his desires and is unable to think rationally. Shakespeare juxtaposes this version of Othello with his initial composed self in Venice to demonstrate the damage of ignorance to logic and heighten the sense of tragedy. The effects of an overwhelming passion involving love, jealousy, and revenge are shown through Othello’s degradation and loss of stability.

In William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, power, commonly defined as the ability to control and influence other people, plays an integral role in the relationships between each of the characters. Prospero, the comedy’s protagonist, establishes power based relationships with his slave Caliban, his daughter Miranda, and his spirit helper Arial. Prospero’s ambition is to regain his former position as the Duke of Milan from his treasonous brother, Antonio. To achieve this goal he uses a variety of manipulation devices on each of the characters. Prospero uses manipulative language to maneuver the marriage between his daughter and Ferdinand. The Tempest illustrates that language operates as a means of violence.

He seeks for control in his nemesis towards his brother Antonio, control of the fate of his daughter Miranda, and the control of his servants Ariel and Caliban. Prospero uses force and debt to have greater authority over the spirit Ariel. When Ariel asks for his freedom and “liberty,” Prospero brings up the “damn’d witch Sycorax” from whom he saved him (1.2.247-264). Sebastian and Antonio also abuse their powers by plotting an attack on Alonso, the King of Naples, so they could gain even more political power in the real world. Eventually after all the words of encouragement from Antonio, Sebastian finally says, “Thy case, dear friend, shall be my precedent. As thou got’st Milan, I’ll come by Naples. Draw thy sword,” (2.1.270-272). The desire for political power and authority becomes the core from which other minor themes develop in this play. This improper use of power eventually only harms everyone, not benefit.

Julie Taymor 's 2010 film adaptation of Shakespeare 's The Tempest is a truthful recreation of the classic romantic tragicomedy in all aspects except that the role of the magician, Prospero, is played by Helen Mirren, turning him from Prospero to Prospera. Through this simple change in the gender of one of the main characters, we see the play 's themes called into question and viewed differently to how they would have been if the role of Prospero was played by a male. These themes include the usurpation of royalty and family. This review will discuss how Taymor 's decision to change Prospero 's gender is a critique of modern gender discourse.

Many people argue that among the many literary works composed by William Shakespeare the tempest treats issues that revolve around reconciliation, forgiveness, and faith in the future generation. Making use of character Prospero, the Author was able to develop the major themes of the play that in broader context overthrow the Great chain of being and adopt a modern sensibility. To be in a position of exposing how Shakespeare addresses the mentioned theme, a consideration of a thesis statement that attitudes and actions of the main characters in play define the implication a play has on society. To facilitate an extrapolation of the thesis in consideration, I will first explain what is meant by the modern sensibility. In connection with artistic or social activities, modern sensibility refers to an understanding or the ability to decide what is useful and valuable. In a social setting application, modern sensibility is a way of understanding things to the social ideals of an earlier age.

The Tempest is a play that has a theme of nature and civilization. It has a strong theme that deals with issues of colonizer and the colonized. While to many people this play may simply be just a play, it really has a story of what happens when nature and civilization collide. The character Caliban represents a being of pure nature. The character Prospero is civilization. These characters can also be seen as the colonized and the colonizer. The relationship they have is very complex and is a constant struggle, much like any relationship between a colonizer and colonized. It questions what is pure nature? Is it savage and monster like, as Caliban is? In this paper I will examine the relationship between Caliban

“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

The Tempest, often regarded as Shakespeare’s last play, displaces the theme of possession of control and command over other, commonly known as power. Ariel, Caliban and the courtiers from Milan, all demonstrate different levels of control. Prospero, the protagonist of the play, especially displays his ability to cast influence and affect others psychologically. The characters, their relationships and their use of power can be compared to the English government and society of the 17th Century.