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 but her father. Many years later, Prospero uses his powers and the help of Ariel, the sprite, to effect a shipwreck--hence the play's title--that brings Antonio to the island, along with the king of Naples and his son, Ferdinand, who promptly falls in ...
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Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780140714852ISBN:0140714855
Description: Very Good. Minor shelf wear with pages appearing to be FREE of markings. GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
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Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780140714852ISBN:0140714855
Description: Good. Paperback With Wear To The Edges & Corners Of The Cover. Some Notes. Great Customer Service. We Stand Behind All Of Our Products. read more
Edition: 5th Printing
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Penguin USA, E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780140714852ISBN:0140714855
Description: Near Fine. To view other titles by this author enter the kewords; XDCX, XJGX, Shakespeare or Theater. In excellent condition with minor wear o/w tight clean and square. 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."
"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..."
"one of the things that has to be noted about myself is that I don't like Shakespeare (Except the play Othello but even Christie managed one masterpiece, when you write that much you tend to get it right at least once). Saying that, a three star rating for Shakespeare from me should be considered much better than a 3 star rating for those who thoroughly enjoy Shakespeare. I assume such people exist. Perhaps those like Greg who says he doesn't know how to review Shakespeare.
I do, this is a solid 3 stars. not great but not bad either."
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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