About this title: Generally agreed to be Shakespeare's last play, THE TEMPEST was most likely written in 1610. Twelve years before the action begins, Prospero--Duke of Milan--and his daughter, Miranda, were stranded by Prospero's brother, Antonio, on a remote and idyllic island where Miranda has grown up happily among the beasts and flowers, never seeing any man ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Edward Arnold, London
Date Published: 1967
Description: Fine Like New, Unread, not previously owned. May show signs of wear including remainder marks or stickers on book or cover. 175 p. illus. (incl. music) 18 1/2 cm. read more
Edition: Illustrated.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780521479035ISBN:0521479037
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Book is in excellent condition-ONLY Flaw is extremely minimal shelfwear. Pgs are clean and tight-no spine crease. SHIPS V. FAST! ! Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 176 p. Contains: Illustrations. Cambridge School Shakespeare Picture Collection. Audience: Young adult. read more
"The story of a prince who is shipwrecked in a strange land on his journey home is a frequent theme of Classical literature. These strange lands are almost certainly snares, attempts to prevent the hero from fulfilling his destiny and arriving at his homeland, and the usual method of entrapment is seduction.Odysseus on Calypso's island, Aeneas in Carthage, and Jason and Medea as told in the Metamorphoses. In The Tempest, Ferdinand finds himself in just such a situation. Washed up on a strange shore, Ferdinand meets the strange and entrancing woman who bewitches him and inspires him to remain in captivity instead of heading home to rule his city. He believes that he is the king (1.2.435 "Myself am Naples"), but will remain on the island for Miranda's sake. What makes The Tempest different from the other stories is the presence of Prospero, the one who is actually orchestrating the lovers' encounter.
Prospero was a philosopher-king defeated by a MachiavelProspero was a stranger ot his state, "being transported / and rapt in secret studies." Antonio is described as having set "All hearts i' the' state / to what tune pleased his ear, . . " (1.2.79-116), who realized that he had to learn Machiavellianism if he was to maintain his throne. He speaks in Machiavellian terms of Fortune bringing him the opportunity which he must not neglect (1.2.178-184). He manipulates the situation to his best possible advantage; intersetingly, he does this through Baconian methods. His whole life has been about studying ways to manipulate nature, achieving power over nature. This is what enables him in the end to achieve power over the shipwrecked men -- for the power of man over Nature really means the power of some men over other men with Nature as the instrument.Prospero takes a fundamentally adversarial stance to Nature as portrayed by both of the original inhabitants of the island, Caliban and Ariel. He originally tried being nice to Caliban (1.2.344-348), but learned to his chagrin that this part of nature is tricksy and unyielding. He also freed Ariel from the pine tree, but only because Ariel is useful to him; he dominates Ariel, praising and scorning him by turns even as a large part of his power depends on the sprite. He cannot afford to alienate Ariel as he has alienated Caliban, but he still dominates. Prospero believes that he is manipulating everything for the greater good, but he is still manipulating it all, and this will eventually lead to what we know as the Brave New World (5.1.182-185).It is possible to argue that Prospero's endeavor is not Baconian, since he rarely directly manipulates nature but instead relies on a cooperative spirit. Lewis described the eschatology of our power over Nature in Miracles, this way: "In the walking on the Water we see the relations of spirit and Nature so altered that Nature can be made to do whatever spirit pleases. This new obedience of Nature is, of course, not to be separated even in thought from spirit's own obedience to the Father of Spirits. Apart from that proviso such obedience by Nature, if it were possible, would result in chaos: the evil dream of Magic arises from finite spirit's longing to get that power without paying that price. The evil reality of lawless applied science (which is Magic's son and heir) is actually reducing large tracts of Nature to disorder and sterility at this very moment."
But when Prospero hears of Gonzalo's tears, his reason defeats his baser desires for vengeance and he realizes that all his manipulation is of the same school as Medea's.(5.1.15-20) It's not noble, it's selfish witchcraft, and he renounces it by quoting Medea's own description of her powers."
"The play i am currently reading is The Tempest by William Shakespeare. This play starts off on a small ship in the middle of a storm. This ship is carrying several lords and nobles, including the King of Naples and his son. On a nearby island we learn there are three people watching. Prospero is one of these and is standing by his daughter Miranda. We learn that Prospero was once a duke, but he was overthrown. We also learn that the storm was of Prospero's doing, so he could extract his revenge on the people who usurped him. The characters are built around the idea of revenge, Prospero's revenge on those who overthrew him. At this point the only important characters are Prospero, Miranda, the Prince, Ariel, and Antonio. The unimportant one right now are The King, the Nobles, the Mariners, and the Boatswain. I beleive that all of these characters are believable. The theme of this play is revenge and love. the revenge is from Prospero on Antonio and those who wronged him. Love is because Miranda and the Prince fall in love at first sight. I believe that shakespeare controls the art within this play is kinda wierd. I think that is only because i am not used to reading his work that often and it is hard to understand some of the words and phrases. I do enjoy this play because of the plot. As soon as i was able to understand what i was reading i enjoyed it a lot more. The only part i didn't like is the fact that is skips around too much. One moment you are on a ship being battered by a storm, the next you are on an island with completly different people watching the ship in the storm.
"Where should this music be? i' th' air or th' earth? It sounds no more: and, suer, it waits upon Some god o' th' island." Ferdinand says this line after hearing Ariel's song. I like this line because it once again, like so many other books i've read, connects magic with music. I really like that connection of how magic can enchant people. Even when i listen to certain people sing i get enchanted
"'Tis far off, and rather like a dream than an assurance that my rememberance warrants." This quote was by Miranda. She said it when prospero asked if she could remember anything befor the island. I like this quote, because i have had this feeling. I look back on my oldest memories and some of them are when i was three and four. They are all images and sounds.
"Farewell, my wife and children!" this line was said by the Mariners right before they thought the ship was going to sink. It affects me because i've always pondered the question of what a person thinks about right before he thinks he is going to die, or actually dies. Is it true that most people think of family and loved ones? I'm just not really sure"
"I can't give the bard less than three starts, but to be honest, I found this play rather disappointing. How could I feel any sympathy for Prospero when he came across as a manipulative a*#hole (excuse my language). The little love subplot was never fleshed out and my last impression was, gee, Caliban's last line was completely out of character (something to the effect of, 'oh, I see how foolish I was to trust these guys, now I'll brownnose you Prospero'). How can I enjoy a story of revenge when I can't root for the one seeking vengeance? Maybe I was too tired when I read this..."
I read this so that I could read Arno Schmidt's School for Atheists, which according to the back cover draws heavily from The Tempest. I didn't love The Tempest as much as say Hamlet, but I enjoyed it just fine. I'll probably need to re-read it again to really begin to get it.
I should read more Shakespeare. Like the Bible I'm of the firm belief, but not practice, that both should be read in their entirety to even begin to be fully literate in Western literature. There is just so many things one misses in literature by not having a good grounding in Billy the Bard and the Not So Good Book.
The one complaint about this book? The endings a little too happy. I guess that this is why this is technically a comedy, although it's not really that funny except for some jokes about easy women and impotent men."
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