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The nature of discovery entails a Journey that is transformation and concerns one’s relationship with one’s self or one’s world. Discoveries can be either sought or serendipitous and can lead to good or bad consequences, but ultimately they are all concerned with the acquisition of greater knowledge and a new perspective. In William Shakespearean The Tempest, Prosper comes to realize not only the limitations of his art, but also the importance of love and redemption in redefining one’s place in the world, as well as one’s view of it.
Relative text. The Tempest, as its title suggests, is partly concerned with the forces of nature, but mostly it is about the need for the liberating and redemptive power of forgiveness in the face of man’s inhumanity towards man. Prosper conjures a storm, with Riel’s forced assistance that brings to the island those who have wronged him. The scene seems set for a revenge plot to unfold. However, we soon discover that Prosper has changed in the 12 years that he has been exiled on the island.
He realizes that he is as much to blame for his exile as his treacherous brother Antonio to whom he legated his ducal responsibilities in order to pursue his selfish interests: ‘And to my state grew stranger, being transported/And rapt in secret studies. ‘ Just as Miranda discovers her true identity, her history and her future husband, Prosper has discovered his error and will return to Milan a wiser, more forgiving and less self- indulgent ruler: ‘I’ll break my staff, / Bury it certain fathoms in the earth, / And deeper than did ever plummet sound/ I’ll drown my book. Through the dramatic device of the masque and Ariel (music) he comes to see that even on the island his powers are enable to change those unwilling to change, Just as he has realizes his powers did not prevent his exile from Milan, and comes to accept the need for himself to change his perspective on human nature; one that sees it as a combination of both Clinical and Ariel, evil and good, chaos and harmony.
Ultimately he comes to realize that his powers are based on illusions. Related Text Similarly, with the arrival of the ‘survivors’ on the island, Miranda discovers a ‘brave new world’ populated by creatures other than the few she has known. Most importantly, however, as a fifteen-year-old girl on the verge of womanhood, she discovers a new kind of love: ‘l might call him / A thing divine; for nothing natural/’ ever saw so noble. Ferdinand, the son of the King of Naples, the enemy and co- conspirator in Prospered usurpation and exile, is the man Prosper has chosen for Miranda and as the vehicle for his return. Miranda is on the verge of a new life and Prosper is about to return to his old one transformed. Despite her sheltered existence and without her father’s powers and books, Miranda already realizes what Prosper has for so long refused to accept: ‘Good wombs have borne bad sons. ‘ Clearly she is ready to return to the real world and to discover more.
Related Text The nature and legacy of any discovery can be complex, diverse and transformation Shakespearean The Tempest: The Liberating and Redemptive Power of Forgiveness By transporters on boot personal and global levels, confirming the inter-relatedness to inner and outer worlds. The Tempest moves from the discovery of an uncharted island and the creatures that inhabit it to the equally important discovery of the power of love ND forgiveness in a world made imperfect by man.
The discovery of metaphysical realities continues in Dead Poets Society through the representation of relationships that seek to control and shape the lives of others in accordance with existing expectations devoid of any recognition of individual differences. Whilst essentially different in their endings, both texts represent the liberating nature of the discovery of self, our limitations and our potential. In short, discovery is an unending Journey that transcends time and place because it reflects our need to find personal meaning in our world.