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Shakespeare's The Tempest & Henry IV

Providence in Shakespeare's The Tempest & Henry IV Part Two

As Shakespearean creations the characters of Miranda in The Tempest and Falstaff in Henry IV, Part Two are polarized constructs of untested innocence and world weary wisdom. Prospero appears as an ousted king who has been deposed by his jealous brother. In this romance, it will be his essential task to move toward reconciliation. By the play's end Prospero has learned generosity and forgiveness from Ariel (Smith 10). Prospero sees that Ariel who is "but air" can afford sympathy for mortals (V.i.21). This prods him to embrace his "nobler reason, gainst my fury" and do the same (V.i.25). Prospero has lived in virtual isolation on a bewitched island, practicing magic and being served by the sprite-like Ariel and the beast-like Caliban. In Henry IV, Part Two Hal, the young prince, chooses Falstaff as his drinking companion and temporary, even transitional tutor. By this history play's conclusion, Hal will need to sever his ties with Falstaff's corrosive influence. In order to succeed as king, Prince Hal will need to refashion himself by abandoning the habits of irresponsible youth. Shakespeare's dramatic intent in both of these plays is to illustrate the mysterious manner in which providence manifests itself. Shakespeare's intricate and sometimes counter-clockwork plotting suggests that the hand of fate often appears capricious. Although Miranda and Hal must bend to the rigors of their fate, accepting providence, they must simultaneously allow themselves to be transformed by experience. This tension between providence and experience helps to encapsulate Shakespeare's Renaissance view of the world. Yet, even more importantly, the contrast between the dyadic pairs of Miranda and Prospero and Prince Hal and Falstaff underscore Shakespeare's dramatic pattern of an individual's growth through absorption of one's opposite.

Fate dramatically establishes the peri...

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Shakespeare's The Tempest & Henry IV. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 08:12, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1680899.html