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    Long Answer Tempest

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    batman
    Ferdinand is a formal character who idealizes both Miranda and love. His language is reminiscent of courtly love traditions. While his formality is sometimes endearing, it also resembles Prospero's way of speaking. Ferdinand seems most genuine when he breaks from formality to show simple interest in Miranda, such as when asking her name. He agrees to marry Miranda after helping Prospero, believing he serves Miranda through this work. Prospero is pleased by Ferdinand and Miranda's love but puts a trick on Ferdinand to test them.

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    Long Answer Tempest

    Uploaded by

    batman
    781 views5 pages
    Ferdinand is a formal character who idealizes both Miranda and love. His language is reminiscent of courtly love traditions. While his formality is sometimes endearing, it also resembles Prospero's way of speaking. Ferdinand seems most genuine when he breaks from formality to show simple interest in Miranda, such as when asking her name. He agrees to marry Miranda after helping Prospero, believing he serves Miranda through this work. Prospero is pleased by Ferdinand and Miranda's love but puts a trick on Ferdinand to test them.

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    Questions and answers from the tempest

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    Ferdinand is a formal character who idealizes both Miranda and love. His language is reminiscent of courtly love traditions. While his formality is sometimes endearing, it also resembles Prospero's way of speaking. Ferdinand seems most genuine when he breaks from formality to show simple interest in Miranda, such as when asking her name. He agrees to marry Miranda after helping Prospero, believing he serves Miranda through this work. Prospero is pleased by Ferdinand and Miranda's love but puts a trick on Ferdinand to test them.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    781 views5 pages

    Long Answer Tempest

    Uploaded by

    batman
    Ferdinand is a formal character who idealizes both Miranda and love. His language is reminiscent of courtly love traditions. While his formality is sometimes endearing, it also resembles Prospero's way of speaking. Ferdinand seems most genuine when he breaks from formality to show simple interest in Miranda, such as when asking her name. He agrees to marry Miranda after helping Prospero, believing he serves Miranda through this work. Prospero is pleased by Ferdinand and Miranda's love but puts a trick on Ferdinand to test them.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    of 5

    Discuss Ferdinand’s character.

    What is the nature of his love for


    Miranda? Is he a likable character? What is the nature of his
    relationship to other characters?

    Ferdinand is very formal. Upon first seeing Miranda, he assumes that


    she is a goddess, and he addresses her as such. His language is that of
    courtly love, of knights who fight for fair ladies. Ferdinand idealizes both
    Miranda and love itself. From the moment he sees her, he is intent upon
    finding himself in a heaven of love.
    While Ferdinand’s formality is in some ways endearing, it is also in some
    ways disturbingly reminiscent of Prospero. Some of Ferdinand’s long
    speeches, especially the speech about Miranda’s virginity in Act IV,
    scene i, sound quite similar to the way Prospero speaks. Ferdinand is a
    sympathetic character, and his love for Miranda seems most genuine
    when he suddenly is able to break out of his verbose formality and show
    a strikingly simple interest in Miranda. The reader can see this when he
    asks Miranda, “What is your name?” (III.i.36). The reader notices it again
    in Act V, scene i when he jests with her over a game of chess, and when
    he tells his father, who asks whether Miranda is “the goddess that hath
    severed us, / And brought us together,” that “she is mortal” (V.i.190–
    191). Ferdinand agrees to marry Miranda in a scene in which he has
    been, like Caliban, hauling logs for Prospero. Unlike Caliban, however,
    Ferdinand has been carrying wood gladly, believing that he serves
    Miranda. The sweet humbleness implicit in this belief seems to shine
    through best at the times when Ferdinand lets go of his romantic
    language.

    Prospero is pleased that his daughter and Ferdinand have fallen for
    each other, he don’t want their blossoming love to fade too quickly .So
    he puts another of his crafty little tricks into effect.
    He accuses Ferdinand of being an imposter and has come to this island
    as a spy to take it from him. He calls him a traitor and threatens to
    imprison him.

    In act 2 scene 1, we witness a crucial part of the play. The king Alonso
    and his courtyards have mysteriously fallen asleep. Strangely, only
    Sebastian, the king’s brother and the treacherous Antonio are left
    awake. This is where Antonio begins his persuasion of Sebastian.

    Antonio begins with a very subtle attempt to persuade Sebastian,

    “Worthy Sebastian?

    Using the word “Worthy” in his sentence is the first step in Antonio’s
    persuasion of Sebastian. This word is used to make Sebastian feel
    comfortable and also special.

    “My strong imagination sees a crown

    Dropping upon thy head.”

    In this statement Antonio is almost saying he wants Sebastian to be


    king. What this line suggests, is that Antonio is supportive of Sebastian.
    When he says “strong imagination”, it is like he is foretelling the future.

    “Though let’st thy fortune sleep – die rather;”

    Antonio also hints at the importance of Sebastian’s actions, “Die rather;”


    What this implies is that Antonio wants Sebastian to rather die than
    loose his opportunity.

    Sebastian begins to understand Antonio, and agrees to follow him,

    “Well I am standing water.”

    He is saying that like standing water he has no direction, and therefore


    needs Antonio to show him the right way to go. Antonio replies like this,
    “I’ll teach you how to flow”

    From this we can gather that Antonio wants to establish a teacher


    student relationship with Sebastian. This way Antonio can get a lot more
    control over Sebastian.

    Antonio continues his persuasion of Sebastian by mentally eliminating


    the obstacles that would stop Sebastian from being king. He tries to
    ensure with Sebastian that Ferdinand is dead by saying,

    “Will you grant with me

    That Ferdinand is drowned?”

    by saying this Antonio is trying to eliminate any of Sebastian’s hope of


    Ferdinand being alive. Next, Antonio starts eliminating Claribel as a
    possible threat to Sebastian’s chances.

    “She that dwells

    Ten leagues beyond man’s life;”

    Antonio again tries to distance Sebastian and Claribel, this time by


    emphasising the physical gap between them.

    By saying she is beyond mans life; Antonio is saying there is now way
    she can do anything about it even if she knew.

    “till new-born chins

    Be rough and razorable;”

    Sebastian begins to fully understand Antonio’s plot.

    “Say this were death

    That now hath seize them, why, they were no worse than now they are.”

    In this quote, Antonio is talking about Alonso and the courtyards. Antonio
    is insinuating that Alonso and the courtyards are as good as dead, and it
    would just feel as if they sleeping. Antonio probably says this to ease
    Sebastian into killing Alonso.

    “My brothers servants


    Were then my fellows, now they are my men.”

    What Antonio is trying to tell Sebastian, is that he has prospered from


    his duplicity.

    He tells him that the people that were once his equals are now his
    inferiors.

    Telling Sebastian something like this would encourage Sebastian to


    desire Alonso’s crown more.

    Further along the scene Antonio attempts to remove Sebastian’s respect


    for Alonso by insulting him. When talking about Alonso, Antonio states,

    “No better than the earth he lies upon,”(Line 274).

    This statement is designed to eradicate Sebastian’s respect and


    sympathy for Alonso.

    Antonio compares Alonso to dirt, and ranks them the same.

    Over the course of the scene Alonso’s persuasion sinks through to


    Sebastian and they both agree to kill Alonso and Gonzalo.

    Contrast Prospero's attitude towards Ariel and


    Caiban

    Prospero uses his magic to control both Ariel and Caliban, albeit in
    different ways. In that sense his attitude towards them is inherently
    exploitative. Ariel and Caliban exist to serve him, and how they
    perform their duties will largely determine how they are treated.
    Caliban, for instance, is treated by Prospero in a malicious, vengeful
    manner. Prospero's magic is used to control Caliban, to keep him in a
    permanent state of subjugation. It's no wonder that Caliban is so surly
    and resentful towards his master. But ultimately he has no choice;
    through the exercise of his magic powers Prospero has a hold on him:
    I must obey. His art is of such pow’r It would control my dam’s god,
    Setebos, And make a vassal of him (Act I Scene ii).
    It's different with Ariel. Whereas Prospero uses his magic to subjugate
    Caliban, he uses it to set Ariel free from the curse of Sycorax, the evil
    witch. Because of this, Ariel adopts a submissive posture towards
    Prospero; he feels forever in his debt. Even so, Ariel makes so bold as
    to ask his master if he might one day be released from his authority:

    Is there more toil? Since thou dost give me pains, Let me remember
    thee what thou hast promised, Which is not yet performed me . . . My
    liberty (Act I Scene ii).
    Yet Prospero immediately puts Ariel back in his box. He threatens to
    imprison him in an oak tree for twelve years. Wisely, Ariel reverts to
    his supine attitude:

    Pardon, master. I will be correspondent to command And do my


    spiriting gently (Act I Scene ii).
    So even though Prospero has a more benevolent attitude towards
    Ariel, he still makes it abundantly clear that he is firmly in charge.
    Until he's finally granted his liberty, Ariel's relationship to Prospero is
    characterized by domination and control no less than Caliban's.

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