The Tempest theme on illusion
An illusion is an incorrect or distorted perception of a real situation. The Tempest, written by Shakespeare in 1600-1611, uses illusion in many different ways. I am going to Juxtapose the play with the There are 4 different aspects to the play, which are Magic, Deception, Dreams, and the Theatre. I am going to study 3 different episodes in the play where Illusion is relevant, and I will consider the ways illusion is presented. Illusion is a prevalent theme throughout both the play and the film, where it is amplified by the use of special effects.
The first aspect that I am going to expand on is Magic. This is an aspect that creates illusions. The Tempest itself was an illusion created by Prospered magic. I will be examining Act 1, where there are numerous episodes surrounding the aspect of magic. “Hell is empty and all the devils are here,” Ferdinand had screamed as he threw himself from the burning ship during the tempest. The ship burned but it didn’t get torn apart or wrecked. The ship was taken safely into the harbor and the crew was magically charmed to sleep.
Prosper had even told Miranda that “not so such perdition as a hair/ Betide to any creature in the vessel/ Which thou heart’s cry, which thou sat sink. ” The use of iambic pentameter, as well as the use of enjambment, creates an eerie atmosphere of mystery, which goes hand in hand with the aspect of magic. After this episode had finished, Prosper says to Miranda, “Will ever after droop. Here cease more questions: / Thou art inclined to sleep; its a good dullness, / And give it way: I know thou cants choose. At which point Miranda falls asleep. This was due to the powerful magic of Prosper, who cast a spell on Miranda o fall asleep. Moreover, when Ariel, Prospered spirit-servant, who had been issued the task of creating the Tempest by Prosper, was summoned by him, Riel’s starting words were, “l come/ To answer thy best pleasure: bet to fly, / to swim, to dive into the fire, to ride / On the curled clouds, to thy strong bidding task/ Ariel and all his quality. This monologue gives Ariel a magical aura, and is also spoken in a haughty tone, alluding to the powerful magical side to the spirit. Ariel boasted that, “Cove’s lightning, the precursors/ 20th’ dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary / And sight- outrunning were not; the fire and cracks/ Of sulfurous roaring the most mighty Neptune / Seem to besiege, and make his bold waves tremble, / Yea, his dread trident shake. ” This prose was said in an enthusiastic tone, with an iambic pentameter, but cleverly written by Shakespeare in Blank Verse.
Caesura, along with enjambment is also used to maintain a magical grip among the audience. In addition, when Prosper asked Ariel if the passengers aboard the ship were safe, Ariel replied, “Not a hair perished. ” This meant that what the passengers aboard the ship were experiencing as all an illusion, created by Riel’s magic, rather than a real shipwreck. Additionally, when moving from Riel’s active speech mentioned before to this part, the use of juxtaposition and contrast makes the magic seem more realistic than it is thought, alluding the audience.
As well as that, Riel’s music, when heard by Ferdinand in Act 1 The Tempest theme on illusion By Sheehan Scene 2, ” Come unto these yellow sands, / A d then take hands; / Curtsied when you have and kissed/ (The wild waves whist)/Foot it featly here and there, / And, sweet sprites, bear / The further” lures Ferdinand towards Prosper and Miranda. Ariel, due to his immense magical power, was invisible to Ferdinand, which shows the audience the power of magic throughout the whole play, as Ariel is a spirit, and is part of the island.
Therefore, if Ariel is that magical, then the island must be teeming with magic. The primary change that I found between the original reading of the play and that of Julie Tommy’s production is the introduction of a female protagonist, namely “Prospers. ” This, along with the introduction of special effects, will give a new interpretation of magic in the Tumor Production. In he film, Prospers is first shown on a cliff, wearing a cloak and bearing a staff, conjuring the Tempest. She is presented as a goddess, as she uses her magical powers to invoke disaster upon the ship containing her enemies.
This shows her immense magical prowess, and therefore creates a distinct variation between the play and the Tumor Production, as there is an unembellished contrast. Visual effects can also be taken into consideration as the Tumor Production uses to represent violent natural incidents, such as when Ariel describes how he “annihilated” the ship sing fire, lightning and thunder. The CGI made the destruction more realistic and the accompaniment of the drums make the whole scene more authentic in general. Another difference is the sex of the protagonist, as it changes the relationship between Ariel and Prospers.
In the play, Prosper controls Ariel in a more volatile way, threatening Ariel constantly. In the Tumor Production, however, Ariel obeys Prospers more willingly, and even though he wishes to be free, he is respectful and more obedient to Prospers than to Prosper in the play. When Prospers was scolding Ariel about his desire to be free, CGI creates the environment that Ariel was in before Prospers came to the island, which was that he was stuck in a tree (this, of course as shown in the Tumor Production, was an illusion).
Now I am going to examine the aspect of deception in the Tempest, in Act 2 Scene 1 . Deception is an illusion, as it is intended to mislead someone. In this scene, Antonio (Brother of Prosper) and Sebastian (Brother of Alonso), conspire to kill the king. Alonso falls asleep due to Riel’s magic, as well as Gonzalez, and so Sebastian and Antonio are given the task of protecting the king and Gonzalez from any harm. In the original reading of the play, I can see that Antonio and Sebastian are the Machiavelli of the play, and are morally deceitful.
They, while King Alonso was resting, were conspiring to kill the king. Antonio hinted this when he said, “And yet, methinks, I see it in thy face, / What thou should be: desiccation’s speaks thee, and / My strong imagination sees a crown / dropping upon thy head. ” This implies that Just as Antonio deceived his brother Prosper by usurping him to become the Duke of Milan as Sebastian mentions, muff did supplant your brother Prosper’), Sebastian should kill his brother Alonso in order to become King of Naples.
The whole dialogue between Sebastian and Alonso, until the point where they drew their swords (unsuccessfully killing the king, as Ariel awoke them first Witt the song, “While you here do snoring lie, / Open-eyed conspiracy/ His time doth take. / If of life you keep a care, / Shake of slumber and beware. / Awake! Awake! ), the dialogue was written in blank verse, and the iambic pentameter was often shared between two people, for example, when Sebastian says, ” What? Art thou waking? ” and Antonio replies, “Do you not hear me speak? ” This adds up to 11 syllables, which is considered a variation of the iambic pentameter.
Even after Alonso and Gonzalez awoke, the pair still deceived them, by Sebastian saying that “Even now, we heard a hollow burst of bellowing / Like bulls, or rather lions: diet not wake you? / It struck mine ear most terribly. ” This was a deception because they were trying to hide the fact that they were about to kill the King and Gonzalez! Antonio, following on from this, to deceive them even further, trotted that, “O, twats a din to fright a monster’s ear – / To make an earthquake! Sure, it was the roar / Of a whole herd of lions. ” The diction used during this dialogue is formal and persuasive.
The blank verse arrangement emphasizes this, as it is somewhat poetic like persuasion is. In the same scene, Ariel utters that, “My master, through his art, foresee / the danger / that you, his friend, are in, and sends me forth / (For else his project dies) to keep them living. ” This meant that Prosper had been deceiving Antonio, Sebastian, Gonzalez, and Alonso from the very beginning, cause Prosper had foreseen this beforehand. This also meant that Prosper is deceiving Ferdinand because he knew that Alonso (Ferdinand Father) would have been alive. In the Tumor adaptation of the play, the scene subtext is different.
In the play, Antonio and Sebastian are morally deceitful, however, in the Tumor production, which is a feminist production, the characteristics that they possess are shown to be not morally, but instead the deceit occurs because they are male. Antonio usurping Prospers is shown as a symbol of male dominance. For example, Ferdinand in the Tumor Production is more sensitive, showing a feminine side, and is accepted by Prospers. Antonio and Sebastian are shown as proud males, and so are looked down upon by Prospers. The actors of Sebastian and Antonio (namely Alan Cumming and Chris Cooper) show that to the audience respectively.
The final aspect I will be examining is Theatre. To begin with, the whole theatrical aspect of the play is illusory, because to watch a play, you must believe something that is not true. In the case of the Tempest, the characters are not on an island, but on a stage set, and they themselves are not aristocrats, however they are actors. The disappearing feast in Act 3 is certainly relevant to this aspect. In Act 3, Antonio, Gonzalez, Alonso and Sebastian are walking across the island when several strange shapes bring a banquet to them and invites the king to eat.
They all discuss the incident, for example when Sebastian says, “No matter, since / They have left their viands behind; for we / have stomachs. / Will’s please you taste of what is here? ” Just as they were about to start eating, Ariel, in the form of a harpy, appears and makes the banquet vanish. Then Ariel calls Antonio, Sebastian, and Alonso “three men of sin, homo destiny – that hath to instrument this lower world [And what is nit – the never surfeited sea / Hath caused to belch up you,” and then mentions that, “l have made you mad” which means that they could see things that Gonzalez could not, which is illusory.
This would be shown on stage with the use of trapdoors, soundboards, and phosphorus lighting effects, giving the indoor stage an eerie effect. This play was originally created for the indoor stage, and so lighting effects via. Candles could also be used. For example, to produce lightning effects, candles would be repeatedly blocked and unblocked. This gives an illusory effect to the play itself, making it more plausible.
The Toymaker version of this incident is vastly different in respect to Theatre; this was cast in a studio, and in real life islands. The CGI made Ariel look more harpy-like, and it even shows him (Ben Wish) flying. When Ariel mentions making them mad, a burst of crows appear, this is created by SF and makes the madness of the characters more credible. The banquet is seen to be lit by a ‘heavenly spotlight’ in the Tumor Production, whereas in the play, a group of strange shapes brought the banquet onto the stage.
This meant that in the Tumor Production, due to more modern techniques, the banquet would not have to be taken off the ‘stage’ but the camera would be cut at this point. In conclusion, both understandings of the Tempest display the theme of illusion in different ways. Although it is one of the main themes orbiting Shakespearean play itself, the theme is presented in a more sophisticated and is more alluring in the Tumor Production of the play, by the use of special effects and CGI, which highlights the films ability and proficiency to produce believable and credible illusions.
