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Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 3.15.97: Top | Help
* Another interpretation of Prospero's reason for giving up his art is that 1)he has succeeded in raising his daughter to be the person he wished her to be and 2)he has grown old and tired, at is time to rejoin the civilized world.
* Prospero definitely released Ariel -- it's in the text.
* It is questionable whether all of the shipwreckees repent: it seems likely that Alonso, being a king, probably did; Trinculo and Stephano may have -- they certainly went through hell on the island, but who knows what will happen when they get back to civilization and pubs; Antonio and Sebastian may not have truly repented, but they've seen what Prospero can do, so they'd be idiots to mess with him again.
* Caliban is left on the island. It is a matter of interpretation, though, what that means for him. Some productions have Caliban coming on stage to forlornly watch the ship sail away. I recently did a production were Caliban comes out wearing Prospero's cloak and carrying his magic book and staff, which puts a real different spin on things.
* Miranda is simply a young woman seeing a man for the first time who is not her father and falls instantly in love with him: She says, "O brave new world, that has such people in't!" But, will this fascination last? Prospero responds to her, "'Tis new to thee."
* Shakespeare does know that this is his last play, and he speaks directly through Prospero. The Riverside Shakespeare says,"...Prospero stands for Shakespeare himself and the magic is his dramatic art." Prospero, like Shakespeare, is giving up his art. Prospero's speech in IV.i. sounds like Shakespeare himself saying farewell, even making reference to the actors and the Globe Theatre:Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.Posted by Samuell Crosse on March 20, 1997 at 20:14:12
In Reply to "Who was in the right, Prospero or Caliban?" posted by Oberon on March 18, 1997 at 23:06:31
Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 3.15.97: Top | Help