Sunday, June 2, 2019

The Tempest Essay -- Shakespeare

Everyone has befogged something. One of my earliest memories is a car fluff through the desert of Arizona. We had just stopped at a gas station, and after we had gotten back on the road I realized that I had left-hand(a) behind a small toy I had gotten at McDonalds earlier that day. Even at s rase years old I knew that I would forget about the toy in a day or two, but for some reason I could not help but ardently invoke my parents to return for it. It was only after I had lost the toy that I realized how much I wanted it. Shakespeares characters have lost something as well their freedom. The idea of a puppet master is not an uncommon one in classic literature. In Shakespeares Macbeth we sense the subtle manipulations of the tierce witches in their treatment of Macbeth, and in The Final Problem by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle we see Sherlock Holmes struggle to free himself from the the works of criminal mastermind James Moriarty. We even see it in childrens literature through The Won derful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Yet The Tempest is unique as the mastermind has lost his own freedom as well. It is like seeing the puppets dance, looking behind the curtain, and seeing only more strings. Through reading The Tempest you come to take care that almost every character, even if that character is seemingly in control of their own destiny, is trapped by something or someone, and it is only as they struggle to convalesce their freedom that each individual realizes how much it was taken for granted.The most obvious loss of freedom is felt by the public opinion party consisting of Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, and Gonzalo. Their first coating is to return to Naples, but that voyage is halted by Prosperos storm and their subsequent wreck on the island (1.2.205... ...e to regain control of both Milan and Naples. But in the end The ruling party is spared, Antonio regains his son while Prospero regains his kingdom, Ariel is freed, and even Caliban takes some small owner ship in his actions, Ay, that I will and Ill be wise hereafter / And seek for grace. What a thrice-double ass / Was I, to take this drunkard for a god / And worship this dull fool (5.1.332-335) It is that sense of rediscovery that Shakespeare leaves us with, the sense that the characters have struggled against fate without even shrewd it and are just now realizing what they have gained as a result. The future is uncertain and relationships are still being recreated, but every character leaves the island with a deeper appreciation of the importance of freedom.Works CitedShakespeare, William. The Tempest. Paperback. New York Modern Library, 2008. Print.

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