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CALIBAN: You taught me language, and my profit on't is I know how to curse. The red plague rid you for learning me your language. (I.ii.366-368) |
“Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises, |
Anthonio and Sebastian find the discovered island a barren wasteland and Trinculo and Stephano are frightened by it. Caliban, the native tries to convince them of its beauty - to challenge their assumptions and initial impressions, expressing the sense of wonder that the island inspires in him.
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Ariel sings this song to Ferdinand about his father who Ferdinand believes has been drowned at sea. It highlights, through metaphor and song, the transformative power of Alonso's journey of discovery.
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Nothing of him that doth fade, |
This thing of darkness, I acknowledge mine. |
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“At this hour Ariel: If you now beheld, them, your affections / Would become tender.. The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance. |
At first Prospero seeks only vengeance and retribution. But he too undergoes a process of discovery to find an unexpected appreciation of forgiveness and its power to bring restoration and happiness.
Prospero discovers the virtue of forgiveness over vengeance. His relationship with Ariel represents an internal discourse with his better nature. |
Caliban realises his naivete and reconsiders his trust and loyalty. This also a warning to the audience to not be swayed by first impressions of others who promise them a better way of life. This is in reference to those who plotted against King James.
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Caliban: What a thrice-double ass / Was I, to take this drunkard for a god / and worship this dull fool! |
“I might call him. A thing divine, for nothing natural. I ever saw so noble.” |
Miranda discovers the opposite sex and is filled with wonder.
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“I would not wish Any companion in the world but you, Nor can imagination form a shape, Besides yourself, to like of.” |
Miranda discovers love for the first time and it fills her with a sense of wonder and joy. Prospero sets out to help Ferdinand discover that Miranda is a valued prize. He makes him suffer as "this patient log man" to teach him an important lesson - that he must make sacrifices to find rewards.
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Note the flowery language of Ferdinand as he professes his newfound romantic love for Miranda. The audience on this journey rediscovers romance and young love, living vicariously through the characters.
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“Hear my soul speak: |
Ariel to Alonso |
Alonso is forced by Prospero to consider what is important in his life. He feels he has lost his daughter and his son and this helps him seek redemption by begging forgiveness and restoring Prospero to his rightful place. Ariel plays the role of the conscience of these "three men of sin" (Anthonio, Alonso and Sebastian) who seek to overthrow rightful rulers and are forced to rediscover morality and respect for the Divine Order that governs all things and maintains universal balance.
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The Age of Discovery brought with it discourse on how the colonialist should treat the natives of the lands he acquired. Prospero has enslaved Caliban, the native, and notes that he responds better to beatings than to friendship. Caliban, in turn perceives that the European has stolen his land, challenging Elizabethan notions about colonisation of 'uninhabited' lands.
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“Thou most lying slave, “Caliban: As I told thee before, I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island.” |
Anthonio: What a sleep were this / For your advancement! Do you understand me? |
Anthonio is depicted as the Machiavellian villain, manipulating others to take what is not theirs. He is characterised as a whispering, sneaky opportunist. As such he is unappealing to the audience - we are positioned to see him as an repulsive character emphasising Shakespeare's abhorrence for Machiavellian amorality.
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In this speech Shakespeare employs the naive but well-meaning Gonzalo to express the ideals of Michel de Montaigne, alluding to his essay, Of Cannibals, in which he notes the moral superiority of primitive native tribes where men kill for a reason, in contrast to more 'civilised' European peoples. His ideas represent the emergence of new ways of thinking that emerged in the Age of Discovery, where the discovery of new lands challenged traditional ways of thinking.
The parallel construction throughout the appropriated dialogue creates a sense of elevation and grandiose morality but this is undermined as the dialogue is given to one of the most good-hearted but naive and ineffective characters in the play - Gonzalo |
“GONZALO: I' the commonwealth I would by contraries "...nature should bring forth, |
Prospero rediscovers all that becomes a king. He releases his obsession with his Art and accepts his duty.
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I'll break my staff, |
“Though with their high wrongs I am struck to th' quick, |
Prospero discovers that it is only through forgiveness that he can truly be free and restore everyone to their rightful place.
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“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.” |
Prospero acknowledges the ultimate human discovery - we are impermanent and insubstantial and our only certainty is death at the end. His epilogue leaves us thinking about what we can do while we are here to make it all worthwhile.
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