I'm having a little trouble understanding if Prospero has his own powers, or if it is only Ariel that makes the magic happen. Is anyone else clear on that? I might have misunderstood a line somewhere that told us if Prospero has magic. It seems like he only uses his words to control everyone and that seems to do the job. Caliban says in act 3.2 on line 51 that Prospero got the island with sorcery, but it could have been Ariel's and nothing of his own. Maybe I am just trying to make Prospero less powerful in my mind.
I love love-at-first-sight stories! (I wish my boyfriend were happy to serve me, and it wouldn't hurt if he were heir to the throne.) Although Miranda is innocent, she seems to have genuinely found her true love. It is strange that one of the men her father had stranded on the island is the man made for his daughter. He probably hoped all along that she would marry into such a high place of power. Do you guys think he is happy for her because she is happy, or because Ferdinand is the king's son?
I really like that Caliban has mostly stopped his cursing to tell the comic relief about the island. I would say that the island is Caliban's love since he does not have a woman of his kind. The image I think of when I imagine Caliban is that of Harry Potter in the Goblet Of Fire. He eats the gillyweed that he got from Dobby (who stole it from Snape's dungeon/office after hearing of it from Professor Moody who is really Barty Crouch Jr. in magical disguise trying to get Potter killed!) and grows gills and webbed fingers and toes. He's not so much a monster as just a weird looking dude. Maybe Stephano and Trinculo are just too drunk to reason out whether Caliban is a fish or man. Unfortunately, I think the plot to kill Prospero becomes a joke instead of understanding that Caliban is very unhappy. Did you guys feel the same?
3 comments:
When it comes to the love between Miranda and Ferdinand i am a little skeptical, i feel like they are made for eachother but, that Prospero will somehow mess it up. I believe he is only happy about the two because Ferdinand is the king's son.Miranda's innocense happys me worry, i feel like she will somehow get taken advantage of.
To my understanding Prospero can do his own magic. It says that he is always reading from the magic book. I think he just makes Ariel do it all for him.
I believe that Prospero does have powers of his own. Remember when Prospero first comes to the island Ariel is entrapped within a prison. Prospero releases him from prison and that is the reason that Ariel is in his service. I do not believe we have seen any of Prospero's powers, but the power of the mind and of suggestion is also one to take into account. He comes up with all the ideas that Ariel then acts upon. Even though it is Ariel performing the said acts, it is all by suggestion of Prospero for his own purposes. Prospero has knowledge on his side.
I love the connection that you made between Caliban and Harry Potter! I was having a hard time envisioning him (and the artwork on the cover does not exactly depict what I took Caliban to be) and your comparison really helped! Although I believe Stephano and Antonio are extremely intoxicated, I believe that Caliban is a very deformed being and they both recognize that fact.
I've not finished the play yet, but I'm bothered by Prospero and the twelve years he's been on the island with Miranda. If he does have powers, could these powers have brought him another boat somehow for them to steal or stow away home on? If he's learned so much on the island through his study why hasn't he tried before to take he and his daughter home or at least to a place with other people? I can only think that Prospero is not as powerful as he'd like to think or that he's just selfish at being in this desolate place with lots of his own time where he is king of the castle (so to speak). Both he and Ariel seem a bit too mystic for me and lead me to think that isn't the main issue to focus on, but it's certainly hard not to want to dig in and explore just how much Prospero can do or make happen.
Post a Comment