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Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare
Tag Archives: The Tempest
“We look back at Shakespeare and regret our absence from him because it seems an absence from reality.”
Conclusion to The Play’s The Thing Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————————- Honestly, I can’t believe it’s over. For two and half years, We’ve been reading and talking and thinking about Shakespeare. And to help bring this to a close, … Continue reading
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Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, All's Well That Ends Well, Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, Comedy, Coriolanus, Cymbeline, drama, Falstaff, Hamlet, Henry IV, Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II, Henry V, Henry VI Parts One Two and Three, Henry VIII, Julius Caesar, king henry iv, King John, King Lear, language, Love's Labour's Lost, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Pericles, Prince Hal, problem play, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard II, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, sonnet, The Comedy of Error, The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Two Noble Kinsmen, The Winter's Tale, Timon of Athens, titus andronicus, tragedy, Troilus and Cressidas, Twelfh Night, Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare, writing
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“On the desert island the history of the world has been performed. The performance is over; history begins once more.”
The Tempest Act Five, Part Three By Dennis Abrams ———————————— I want to conclude our examination of The Tempest with this, from the great Jan Kott: “Who is Prospero and what does his staff signify? Why does he combine knowledge … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, Antony and Cleopatra, Ariel, Caliban, Caliban Shakespeare, Comedy, Don Juan, Elizabethan theater, entertainment, Ferdinand, Giordano Bruno, Hamlet, history, island, Jan Kott, Joseph Conrad, language, literature, Miranda, Prospero, Prospero's staff, romance, Shakespeare, The Tempest, tragedy, Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare, writing
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“..I’ll break my staff,/Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,/And deeper than did ever plummet sound/I’ll drown my book.”
The Tempest Act Five, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ————————— From Harold Bloom: “Ariel is our largest clue to understanding Prospero, though we have no similar aid for apprehending this great sprite, who has very little in common with Puck, … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, Ariel, Caliban, Comedy, drama, Endgame, entertainment, Hamlet, Harold Boom, island, language, literature, Medea, Miranda, Prospero, Prospero's staff, Samuel Beckett, Shakespeare, The Tempest, William Shakespeare, writing
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“But this rough magic/I here abjure.”
The Tempest Act Five, Part One By Dennis Abrams ————————— Act Five: Ariel reports that the spirits of Alonso and the other Neapolitans have been broken, and Prospero instructs him to release them. Ariel leads the group in by magic, … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, Ariel, Caliban, Cleopatra, Comedy, drama, Ferdiand, Henry V, language, literature, magic, Mark Van Doren, Milan, Prospero, romance, rough magic, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Shakespeare, The Tempest, William Shakespeare, writing
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“The Tempest ends, like the other plays in Shakespeare’s last period, in reconciliation and forgiveness. But the ending in The Tempest is grimmer, and the sky is darker…”
The Tempest Act Four, Part Two By Dennis Abrams —————————- From Auden: “Falstaff’s kingdom is made up of Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban. Trinculo recalls all of Shakespeare’s earlier clowns, Stephano resembles Sir Toby Belch, and Caliban recollects both Bottom and … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Four, Ariel, Caliban, Comedy, drama, Falstaff, Ferdinand, frank kermode, language, literature, Macbeth, masque, Miranda, Othello, Prospero, Rilke, Shakespeare, slave, song, The Tempest, tragedy, W.H. Auden, William Shakespeare, writing
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“We are such stuff/As dreams are made on, and our little life/Is rounded with a sleep.”
The Tempest Act Four, Part One By Dennis Abrams —————- Act Four: Prospero admits that the tasks he assigned Ferdinand were to test his love for Miranda, and he now gives them his blessing to marry with a masque performed … Continue reading
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Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act Four, Ariel, Caliban, Comedy, drama, entertainment, Ferdinand, Ferdinand Miranda, island, language, law and order, literature, masque, nature, property, Prospero, Shakespeare, slave, such stuff as dreams are made made on, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, tragedy, wedding, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Here we meet the truly extraordinary thing: we are now considering as possible something directly contradicted by our own experience.”
The Tempest Act Three, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ————————— From A.D. Nuttall: “Meanwhile the civilizing agents in the drama are a morally dubious lot. Stefano and Trinculo are vulgar as Caliban himself could never be, and even Prospero is … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Three, Ariel, Caliban, Comedy, drama, entertainment, island, Julie Taymor, language, literature, Miranda, Prospera, Prospero, romance, Shakespeare, The Tempest, William Shakespeare, writing
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“The isle is full of noises,/Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.”
The Tempest Act Three, Part One By Dennis Abrams ——————————- Act Three: Prospero has enslaved Ferdinand and made him carry logs, but the young man does so willingly in order to serve his beloved, Miranda. Secretly watched by Prospero, the … Continue reading
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Tagged A Wrinkle in Time, Act Three, Ariel, Caliban, Christopher Marlowe, cloven pine, Comedy, Dr. John Dee, drama, Ezra Pound, Ferdinand, Giordano Bruno, Gonzalo, island, language, literature, Milan, Miranda, Montaigne, Northrop Frye, prison, Prospero, Prospero's island, romance, Shakespeare, slave, storm, The Tempest, William Shakespeare, writing
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“The history of mankind is madness, but in order to expose it, one has to perform it on a desert island.”
The Tempest Act Two, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————————- To continue where I left of last time with Jan Kott: “The Tempest has two endings: a quiet evening on the island, when Prospero forgives his enemies and the story … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Two, Ariel, Caliban, Comedy, desert island, drama, Dream Shakespeare, Giordano Bruno, Jan Kott, language, literature, Miranda, nature, power, prologue, Prospero, Prospero's island, Shakespeare, struggle for power, The King, The Prince, The Tempest, William Shakespeare, writing
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“A most ridiculous monster, to make a wonder of a poor drunkard”
The Tempest Act Two, Part One By Dennis Abrams ———————– Act Two: Alonso and his companions are searching for Ferdinand. Ariel, who remains invisible, send everyone to sleep except Antonio and Sebastian, Alonso’s brother. These two then plot to murder … Continue reading
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Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act Two, Ariel, Caliban, cave, Comedy, Cymbeline, drama, entertainment, island, language, literature, Miranda, New World, Prospero, Scyorax, Shakespeare, slave, The Magic Flute, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, tragedy, William Shakespeare, writing
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The Play's The Thing 