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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
I remember reading this long, long time ago, and being enchanted by it.
Now... I find it rather... nasty.
So, Calaban's "crime" was to not want to be a slave on his own island, given to him by his mother, and falling in love with Miranda? Oh, and being ugly. So... let me guess... he was black.
Also, they SAY Sycorax died long before Prospero and Miranda arrived, but why, then, would Prospero have taught Calaban the names of sun and moon? More likely Prospero killed Sycorax when Calaban was still very young. What ever.
I am also uneasy with Ariel. "Just do this one thing, and you'll be free". Over and over again. And why wasn't she free to begin with? Because Sycorax enslaved her? So Prospero just took over the slaves after Sycorax? So... how was he being this kind and enlightened regent?
Uh. Leaves very bad taste.
Now... I find it rather... nasty.
So, Calaban's "crime" was to not want to be a slave on his own island, given to him by his mother, and falling in love with Miranda? Oh, and being ugly. So... let me guess... he was black.
Also, they SAY Sycorax died long before Prospero and Miranda arrived, but why, then, would Prospero have taught Calaban the names of sun and moon? More likely Prospero killed Sycorax when Calaban was still very young. What ever.
I am also uneasy with Ariel. "Just do this one thing, and you'll be free". Over and over again. And why wasn't she free to begin with? Because Sycorax enslaved her? So Prospero just took over the slaves after Sycorax? So... how was he being this kind and enlightened regent?
Uh. Leaves very bad taste.
I adore A Midsummer Night's Dream. Much Ado About Nothing, and Twelfth Night I quite like as well. Since reading those three, however, I've had no luck. Romeo and Juliet is good in prose, but the plot itself has never appealed to me, other than its use as a metaphor, or a synonym for tragedy in colloquial speech. Othello bored me, as did Julius Caesar, and now The Tempest.
To summarise, The Tempest is messy, and in being so, dull as well. Not a fan of the brushing over of attempted rape, or casually racist language either, but then I suppose that was Shakespeare's time.
Interestingly, though, one of my favourite Shakespeare speeches comes from The Tempest. Maybe, though, that's because I've seen it performed, and done so beautifully:
"Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again."
To summarise, The Tempest is messy, and in being so, dull as well. Not a fan of the brushing over of attempted rape, or casually racist language either, but then I suppose that was Shakespeare's time.
Interestingly, though, one of my favourite Shakespeare speeches comes from The Tempest. Maybe, though, that's because I've seen it performed, and done so beautifully:
"Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again."
I changed my mind. This WAS somehow worse than the Merchant of Venice.
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked the romance between Ferdinand and Miranda. Some parts were hard to understand. I liked the overall themes of the play. Very funny in some parts, but didn't impact me very much.
Unfortunately, I wasn't a big fan. I've liked some of his other plays much better.
2 1/2 in my opinion. Short, slightly complex, but does a good job of representing the problems with colonialism/imperialism.
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes