Sample Essay 1
Question:
How do composers show us the power of discoveries to transform lives?
In your answer, refer to your prescribed text and one other text of your choosing.
How do composers show us the power of discoveries to transform lives?
In your answer, refer to your prescribed text and one other text of your choosing.
Note: This sample essay discusses the core text, The Tempest, only. As such, it is incomplete.
Discoveries have the ability to inform and alter an individual’s perception of self and the world around them. This transformative process is key to an individuals' understanding of their own humanity, often compelling them to accept new values. In his pastoral romance, The Tempest, William Shakespeare explores the transformative power of discoveries by removing his characters from the courtly world of Milan and placing them in a natural realm where they experience new and challenging ideas that alter their perceptions of the world. Margaret Atwood’s 1961 poem ‘Journey to the Interior’ also explores the transformative power of discovery through a metaphoric journey to centre of the earth where the speaker must confront new and challenging ideas about their self and the world around them .
Shakespeare portrays the transformative power of discoveries, both physical and internal, through the revelatory journey of the preeminent character Prospero in his play The Tempest. Moreover, Shakespeare suggests that the process of discovery is a crucial element in the evolution of humanity. As a character, Prospero is influenced by the values, perceptions and rules of the courtly, “civilised” world of Milan. Prospero commences the play consumed by a need for control and vengeance, and fuel by a desire to seek revenge for the “foul play (he) had” endured (I,II). However, whilst executing his revenge, Prospero gradually discovers that the “rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance” (V,I) and that the redemptive power of forgiveness enhances an individual’s humanity. This proclamation represents Prospero’s concluding, melodramatic transformation and reflects his newly found acceptance of compassion and forgiveness. The shift in Prospero’s tone and language from the first act, where he described his brother as “perfidious” and one who “opened the gates of darkness”, to “I do forgive thee, unnatural through thou art” (V,I) in the last act, signifies his deep transformation, brought on by the discovery of his own and others' humanity. Ultimately, it is the pure love shared between Miranda and Ferdinand’s that leads Prospero to his final and complete acceptance of forgiveness and the rediscovery of his own humanity. Ferdinand’s sincere poetical verse, “Beyond all limit of what else i’thworld, do love, prize and honour you”, during his game of chess with Miranda becomes a symbol for Prospero’s transformation. After observing these proclamations of love, Prospero’s perception of self and the world around him alters and he realised that he has in fact“cursed them without cause.” (V,I). Prospero's renewed perceptions of humanity are also presented in the epilogue as the character breaks the fourth wall to directly address the audience, “Now my charms are all o’erthrown… I must be here confined by you” (V,I). It is through the epilogue that Shakespeare explicitly demonstrates the powerful nature the process of discovery and its' effect on individuals lives. Prospero’s direct and personal declaration “unless I be relieved by prayer … it assaults me Mercy itself and frees all faults”, highlights his transformative journey of self-discovery. Moreover, the biblical allusion to “Mercy” combined with with the allusion, “let your indulgence set me free”, reflects the virtuous ideologies of the Lord’s prayer, such as the power of forgiveness and compassion, and displays the extent to which new understandings and values can transform a previously irreligious individuals' life. Prospero’s newfound empathy is apparent in his contrasting addresses to Ariel and Caliban. During the first acts, he unfavourably referred to Caliban as a “poisonous slave, got by the devil himself” (I,II) and Ariel as a “malignant thing” who was repeatedly asked to “Speak! .. Tell me, hast thou performed” (I, II). These aggressive imperatives starkly contrast with the tenderness of the later affectionate epithet, “my delicate Ariel … my chick, be free and fare thou well” and the forgiving tone in his comment to Caliban, “have my pardon, trim it handsomely”. Ultimately, by discovering love and humanity in the relationship between his daughter and her suitor, Shakespeare portrays the compelling nature of discovery and its ability to transform an individuals' understanding of them self and the world around them.
The Tempest and ‘Journey to the Interior’ both explore the power of discovery to transform an individuals' life. Whilst Atwood’s free verse poem focuses on how a physical discovery can inform and alter an individuals perception of self and the world around them, Shakespeare explores how discovery is a potent catalyst for an individuals' understanding of their own humanity, propelling them to accept new values. In this way, both composers can be seen to highlight how discovery positively alters the lives of individuals.
Shakespeare portrays the transformative power of discoveries, both physical and internal, through the revelatory journey of the preeminent character Prospero in his play The Tempest. Moreover, Shakespeare suggests that the process of discovery is a crucial element in the evolution of humanity. As a character, Prospero is influenced by the values, perceptions and rules of the courtly, “civilised” world of Milan. Prospero commences the play consumed by a need for control and vengeance, and fuel by a desire to seek revenge for the “foul play (he) had” endured (I,II). However, whilst executing his revenge, Prospero gradually discovers that the “rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance” (V,I) and that the redemptive power of forgiveness enhances an individual’s humanity. This proclamation represents Prospero’s concluding, melodramatic transformation and reflects his newly found acceptance of compassion and forgiveness. The shift in Prospero’s tone and language from the first act, where he described his brother as “perfidious” and one who “opened the gates of darkness”, to “I do forgive thee, unnatural through thou art” (V,I) in the last act, signifies his deep transformation, brought on by the discovery of his own and others' humanity. Ultimately, it is the pure love shared between Miranda and Ferdinand’s that leads Prospero to his final and complete acceptance of forgiveness and the rediscovery of his own humanity. Ferdinand’s sincere poetical verse, “Beyond all limit of what else i’thworld, do love, prize and honour you”, during his game of chess with Miranda becomes a symbol for Prospero’s transformation. After observing these proclamations of love, Prospero’s perception of self and the world around him alters and he realised that he has in fact“cursed them without cause.” (V,I). Prospero's renewed perceptions of humanity are also presented in the epilogue as the character breaks the fourth wall to directly address the audience, “Now my charms are all o’erthrown… I must be here confined by you” (V,I). It is through the epilogue that Shakespeare explicitly demonstrates the powerful nature the process of discovery and its' effect on individuals lives. Prospero’s direct and personal declaration “unless I be relieved by prayer … it assaults me Mercy itself and frees all faults”, highlights his transformative journey of self-discovery. Moreover, the biblical allusion to “Mercy” combined with with the allusion, “let your indulgence set me free”, reflects the virtuous ideologies of the Lord’s prayer, such as the power of forgiveness and compassion, and displays the extent to which new understandings and values can transform a previously irreligious individuals' life. Prospero’s newfound empathy is apparent in his contrasting addresses to Ariel and Caliban. During the first acts, he unfavourably referred to Caliban as a “poisonous slave, got by the devil himself” (I,II) and Ariel as a “malignant thing” who was repeatedly asked to “Speak! .. Tell me, hast thou performed” (I, II). These aggressive imperatives starkly contrast with the tenderness of the later affectionate epithet, “my delicate Ariel … my chick, be free and fare thou well” and the forgiving tone in his comment to Caliban, “have my pardon, trim it handsomely”. Ultimately, by discovering love and humanity in the relationship between his daughter and her suitor, Shakespeare portrays the compelling nature of discovery and its ability to transform an individuals' understanding of them self and the world around them.
The Tempest and ‘Journey to the Interior’ both explore the power of discovery to transform an individuals' life. Whilst Atwood’s free verse poem focuses on how a physical discovery can inform and alter an individuals perception of self and the world around them, Shakespeare explores how discovery is a potent catalyst for an individuals' understanding of their own humanity, propelling them to accept new values. In this way, both composers can be seen to highlight how discovery positively alters the lives of individuals.
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