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  • Essay / The use of words to paint: considering language as an art in The Tempest

    In Shakespeare's romance, The Tempest, Miranda asks Caliban: "I have endowed your aims / With words that made them know” (I.ii.357-8), affirming the power of language to transform the insubstantial into a powerful and useful entity. As Prospero conjures up storms, masks, and spells, Shakespeare creates a linguistic spectacle of lush imagery, tense, jerky exchanges, simple narration, and lyrical songs to intensify different moments and expose the play's major themes. The Tempest begins with an abrupt, monosyllabic exchange between boatswain and master that evolves into a series of confused, frantic conversations, storms of language that convey the helplessness, fear and dismay facing the crew . The play evolves into elevated poetry, delightful music, and masks of mysticism, all of which converge in Prospero's poignant farewell speech in which he abandons his magical powers after asserting his authority as an artist and proceeds to Completion of prescribed reconciliations that resolve the drama: Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay You, elves of hills, streams, standing lakes, and groves, And you who are on the sand with footprintsless feet, pursue the ebbing Neptune and make him fly when he returns; you the half-puppets who make the green and sour curls by the moonlight, of which the sheep does not bite; and you whose hobby is making midnight mushrooms, who rejoice to hear the solemn curfew; by whose help (however weak you are) I have darkened the midday sun, provoked the mutinous winds, and between the green sea and the azure vault a roaring war; to the loud and read thunder, did I give fire and tear the great oak of Jupiter with its own bolt; I shook the promontory with its solid base and, by the spurs, I uprooted the pine and the cedar; the tombs at my command have awakened their sleepers, opened them and let them out thanks to my powerful art. But this crude magic I abjure here; and when I need celestial music (which I still do now) to make my end work on their senses for which this airy charm is intended, I will break my staff, bury it certain fathoms in the earth, and a falling sound deeper than ever. I'm going to drown my book. (Vi33-57) The sound patterns and connotations of Shakespeare's language convey Prospero's temperament. Prospero begins by poetically describing the magical inspiration of fantastical creatures, rises to a charged affirmation of his power to accomplish the impossible, and concludes in a gentle tone as he puts his magical powers to rest. Prospero uses images of magic to confirm the power and beauty of artistic power. By appealing to “elves” (33) and “half-puppets” (36), or dwarves, both existing only in the imagination, he expresses the capacity of art to transcend nature and humanity with an aerial wonder. Prospero refers to "moonlight" (37), suggesting the enchantment of the activities of the "half-puppets" and evoking a sense of the insubstantial or imaginary, which he and Shakespeare enliven through art. "Elves", "Half-Puppets" and "Moonshine" illustrate the supernatural elements of Prospero's artistry and bring a playful and joyful touch to the serious and tragi-comic drama. By recalling the influence of these supernatural powers, Prospero affirms his ability to create from nothing, to achieve the impossible through his artistic powers. Alljust as the “half-puppets” make “sour green curls,” Prospero creates storms, spells, and mini-dramas. Shakespeare's image of "hills, streams, standing lakes and groves" tells of the beauty of nature reflected in supernatural creations. Prospero echoes this poetic beauty with cadences of sound that resonate with soothing musicality: “elves of hills, streams, standing lakes and groves, / And you who are on the sand with footprints without footprints? / puppets? /? sour curls” (33-4, 36-7). The consonance gives the fluid rhythm and an incantatory tone which reinforce the mysticism of the speech and the piece. As his speech begins in a mood of joyous fantasy, Prospero soon reminds the audience of his artistic powers which, paradoxically, constitute his entire being and also lead to his exile from Naples and temporary ignorance of Caliban's death plots against him . While acknowledging the elves and dwarves for their "help" of inspiration, he calls them "weak masters" (41) in an aside that sarcastically subverts their abilities by comparing them to the magical powers of Prospero, the "master" doing authority. Prospero launches into a cascading monologue, composed of images of power, which presents "a portrait of the artist as an old man" who seeks recognition for his magic. Prospero uses a form of the pronoun "I" twelve times during the speech, which confirms his obsession with his own powers and continues the selfishness he displays throughout the play, particularly in his relationship with Ariel (I. ii.244-304) and Caliban (I.ii.324-9, 344-8, 365-71). Prospero's ability to accomplish the impossible reveals an irony in the speech, for one who can realistically "bedim / The midday sun", "summon the mutinous winds" (41-2), or place a "roaring roar" (44) between heaven and earth? Prospero affirms art as a vehicle for creativity and transcendence. No task is too daunting or inconceivable for his vast imagination to interpret. Shakespeare also creates a sense of urgency in Prospero, who delivers this twenty-line speech in two sentences (33-50, 50-57). Phrases such as “mutinous winds” (42), “roaring war,” “red thunder” (44), and “Jupiter's great oak torn apart” (45) convey Prospero's brewing desire to convey the power of his magic. The alliteration of “Roaring War” and “Red Rattling” creates a mood of madness that characterizes Prospero as a magician, frenetic in his outpourings of emotion. Images of natural disaster winds, earthquakes, and opening graves parallel the frenzied discourse of the play. motifs and illustrate the artist's influence on the public imagination. Shakespeare juxtaposes the beauty of “the green sea and the azure vault” (43) with the “roaring war” and “red thunder” created by Prospero, which reinforce the power of art to transcend reality. Although Prospero cannot literally make the earth shake or the winds blow violently, he can "shake" the "promontory" (45-6) of his enemies' imaginations and, in this, can order the opening graves, the descent of spirits, and storms to arise. “Roaring” evokes “tumultuous and noisy festivities” (Oxford English Dictionary), which returns to the play's opening scene of noisy confusion caused by the creation of the storm. Prospero's "noisy rejoicings" in this speech confirm his need to emphasize the power of the artist to achieve the impossible. Shakespeare characterizes both Prospero's magical art and his own linguistic art as "mighty", suggesting authority, great power and dominating influence, which Prospero embodies throughout the, 1998.