In Act I of The Tempest Prospero showed many ways on how he could control peoples thoughts by telling them stories in certain ways to sway their perceptions. He uses his variations of stories of the past in order to talk to "control" people in the present. Some examples of this are when he talks to his daughter (Miranda), his servant (Ariel), and his slave (Caliban). Prospero used his tactics to perfection when he told his daughter the story of what happened when she was a daughter and he was the Duke of Milan. He pointed out all of the evil deeds that were done to him by his evil brother. Throughout this whole process he never gives a true reason for why his brother is doing this. It is always that his brother is evil...He wants my throne, but he really fails to mention the true reason why his brother did this. I believe that Prospero might be hiding something that he did to his brother which caused his brother to be so mad. But he is changing it around so that his daughter hates his brother and he seems like he is the good guy. I also believed that he changed up the stories about Ariel and Caliban to gain more control and power over them also. For Ariel I believe he did not give the whole story about what happened when he supposedly "saved" her. I have a feeling that it will end up that he did not even save her but she just does not remember so he uses this to his advantage. He makes her feel bad by making her seem like she is asking for too much when she asks for his freedom. This really contradicts itself because he saved her from "torturous" labor to make her his slave? What is so good about that? Another idea I have is that I believe that Caliban was also not told the true story about what happened with his mother and how he is being treated. He probably changed up his story as well in order to gain more control over him and make him his slave. I know it sounds pretty repetitive but I believe he used the same tactics on all three of these victims in order to gain the upper edge on them and more control over them.
TEE HEE!! ;)
Mr. Samurai--
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to quote the text. I'm going to let you by this time--but make sure and do it in your future postings.
Hey man, you've got a super good post!!!! I really liked the ideas that you had about Prospero, mainly because i had some of the same ideas and it makes me feel like i'm doing it right. Also i liked your idea about Prospero changing the story of the lives of Miranda, Ariel, and Caliban, because it seems like it makes a lot of sense to get them to listen and trust him. The only thing that you didn't do was quote the text and you should probably do that next time since those are the rules. Finally, and never forget this: Tryharda always try hard......
ReplyDeleteI liked the concepts you considered when analyzing Prospero, it really helped further my understanding of Prospero and how he came to be on the island, as well as many other characteristics about him. I liked how you came to realize that Prospero was manipulative in a sense that he altered the stories and past of Miranda, Ariel, and Caliban. He ultimately did this to gain the trust and admiration of his daughter, Miranda. I also like how you stated that Prospero never gave a reason why his brother might have done what he did, causing Prospero to lose the status of duke and live on the island. This is a big indication that Prospero's view is one-sided and biased. Good job!! And oh yeah, quote the text :)
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