Shakespeare's The Tempest & Henry IV

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 provi

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s enabled Prince Hal to mature. In a sense, Falstaff has offered Hal his stage of initiation, his levels of Blakean experience. For according to this philosoph-ical perspective, "fair needs foul". Moderation can only be actualized after one has transgressed its borders. Here Falstaff can be seen as a comic initiator, a relatively benevolent force of providence. In "Comic Theory and the Rejection of Falstaff" Moody E. Prior argues that Falstaff is best when read with humor. Prior asserts that Falstaff is misread when he is reductively seen as the butt of a joke or victim of moral depravity. Rather comedy must be inscribed here as a perspective which incorporates the "flaws, frailties, and oddities" of a character in order to arouse affection and even admiration (Prior in Bloom 60). It is here that Falstaff is best appreciated as an agent of providence. For Falstaff, in a sense, forecasts to Hal what he might become if he continues following along this riotous path. Shakespeare seems to be indicating that Hal must meld the circumstances of having met Falstaff, an act of providence if you will, with his own interpretation of their time together. It could be argued that Hal must bid farewell to Falstaff not because he ha
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Approximate Word count = 1721
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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