The Role of Language in Shakespeares Play The Tempest Essay -- The Te

The Role of Language in Shakespeare's Play The Tempest 1 The role of language in Shakespeare’s play â€Å"The Tempest† is quite significant. To Miranda and Prospero the use of language is a means to knowing oneself. Caliban does not view language in the same light. Prospero taught Caliban to speak, but instead of creating the feeling of empowerment from language, Caliban reacts in insurrectionary manner. Language reminds him how different he is from Miranda and Prospero, and also how they have changed him. It also reminds him of how he was when he wasn’t a slave. He resents Prospero for â€Å"Civilising† him, because in doing so he took away his freedom. Language and knowledge is the key to power on the island. Prospero is a well educated man, and has many books, which gives him his magical power. Prospero rules the island and has many creatures under his command. He possesses so much power that he can even cause weather to change and indirectly the fate of the people who were shipwrecked on the island. William Sherman has the opinion â€Å"Knowledge was magical, and sometimes even entailed magic. But the attacks on libraries, the condemnations for conjuring, and the polemical complaints betray a deeper and more significant phenomenon: there were in early modern England dramatic uncertainties about the power of information and those who possessed it. (Cited in Jardine 1996: 105) Throughout the whole play there is evidence of power, someone in possession of it and another subordinate to the person with the power. Mostly this happens in the scenes with prospero, as he is almost an omniscient and omnipotent character, with god-like qualities. He has the means to change many things not possible for humans, because of his magic and his power over magical creatures such as Ariel. Caliban also does the will of Prospero; But, as ‘tis, We cannot miss him: he does make our fire, Fetch in our wood, and serves in offices That profit us. What, ho! Slave! Caliban! (I.ii.351-53) The shipwrecked people also play into Prospero’s hand, but they don’t even realize this. Even Miranda is dutiful to her father, and does what he says with little complaint. There is a hierarchy on the island, with Prospero on top of the list. Lorie Jerrell Leininger writes in her article â€Å"Miranda is given to understand that she is the foot in the family ... ...epresents every person that has been colonized by Europe, and their attempt to civilize the savages. Their method of civilizing and to maintain a firm grip on their savage labourers was language. It was their means to communicate and control the people who they didn’t consider as themselves and a means to discriminate against it. This is reason why Caliban resists and rebels against Prospero and disparage the language he has been taught. To him it is the loss of freedom and the agency through which he is being discriminated against. References: Knight,G.Wilson. â€Å"The Shakespearean Superman: An essay on The Tempest.† The Crown of life: Essays in Interpretation of Shakespeare’s Final Plays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1947. 203-255 Leininger, Lorie Jerrel. â€Å"The Miranda Trap: Sexism and Racism in Shakespeare’s Tempest.† The Woman’s Part: Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Eds Carolyn Ruth Swift Lenz et al. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983. 285-294 Smith, Ian. "When we were capital, or lessons in language: Finding Caliban's roots." Shakespeare Studies 28 (2000): 252-256 Tomlinson, Gary. "The matter of sounds." Shakespeare Studies 28(2000):236-239

Absurdity in Beckett’s Endgame

Bucket's â€Å"Endgame† explores an existence in an era when the importance of being Is Incessantly challenged by man's newfound recognition of the universes absurdity and lack of observable meaning, Written In 1957, the context of the world at the time of this works creation sheds much insight on its themes. In a time of continuous social and technological change scientific observations began yielding a more accurate picture of causality for the world and its phenomena; and the concept of god became ever less relevant. The recent world wars had left ruins in not only cities, but in the concepts driving the nature of man.With the Implicit destruction of deities and sets of traditional rules to govern man's behavior, humanity found Itself at a need to define a different purpose to Its existence. Enter existentialism: A belief in existence despite any discernible meaning, existence for its own sake; heralding with it an implied freedom of choice in both perception and action. As with the then contemporary world view, the characters in Bucket's â€Å"Endgame† are left to survive in the wake of a crumbled world. Free to devise their own world view, the characters respond by developing life affirming routines – mistreating that creation persists even In destruction.Destruction, It would seem does not eliminate an object or Idea, but only redefines its form, beginning its existence anew. Rather ironically, the play begins with Cool repeating the world â€Å"finished†. Consequently, this theme of beginnings and endings as interrelated, cyclical, mutually necessary, and conclusively futile comes to prevail over the course of the play. As with the classic case of the chicken and the egg, the cyclical pattern of creation and destruction is eternal In Its supposed nature.However, to the AOL of Inciting drama or motivation, a story must begin with destruction; a motif with which â€Å"Endgame† is rife. The very setting of the play Immedia tely evokes a sense of catastrophe and destruction. The lifeless â€Å"bare interior (Endgame, 50) is coupled with the â€Å"nothing† or â€Å"zero† (Endgame, 51) reported outside by Cool to Imply at the decay of a once lively outside world; while the imagery of the stage as a skull (with the two windows acting as eyes and the characters as the thoughts) denote the destruction within.During this unmentioned catastrophe, the characters saw the end f their entire world and way of life; thus being forced to redefine their views and behaviors. The destruction of their past worlds leads the characters to abandon their old ideals and ways of life. The bastardly He doesn't exist. † exclaimed Ham when his prayer went unanswered; showing that even god had died in the wake of Ham's personal disaster. However, these new circumstances work to effectively create a new world for the characters to inhabit – a world as senseless as the last.Whether It Is the story about the tailor, which coupled the end of a period of walling he beginning of the world, Ham and Clove's killing the flea from which they believe humanity may have been reborn (Endgame, 591 or the numerous references to Christ, whose death (and subsequent rebirth) – destructive and creative motifs in Bucket's â€Å"Endgame† are presented in tandem. Interestingly, the cyclical nature of life and death renders itself generally nonsensical and pointless.Surely, if all is to end to be reborn anew then a personally crafted purpose will ultimately remain as to exemplify this notion of a circular existence, with many motifs of rebirth such as Cool always returning. In their awareness of death (their own destruction), Bucket's characters foster eternally static routines that they hope will distract them from their imminent demise. They go through the â€Å"†¦ This farce, day after day† (Endgame, 54), as Nell puts it, because there is nothing else to do but delay the ine vitable while they wait.To that end, Becket makes use of repetitive language to denote the futility and repetitiveness of the cyclical nature of life. The play systematically notes upon and enunciates the characters minutest movements, and repeats their most casual interests: from Ham's insistence on remaining at the center of the room (Endgame, 57); to how many pauses Ham takes in his speech; to how Nell repeats herself to Nag, as in the case of â€Å"April afternoon† (Endgame, 56) . â€Å"Let's my dream. A world where all would be silent and still, and each thing in its last place, under the last dust. † (Endgame, 66) says Cool, expressing a desire for order.Yet Cloves constant tidying seems to have no end in sight; especially if he were to direct his efforts to the destruction outside. This tidy end of which Cool dreams would only yield disappointment as he would have no cleaning duty to occupy him and upon achieving it, his life would again become meaningless. In s uch a way, Cloves vision provides meaning to his trudge, which would otherwise dissipate upon achieving his goal. This focus on repetitive actions that delay the inevitable prohibits the discernment of meaning from these same actions, since there is never a final culmination to assess.Still, even the one example of a final product, is by no means fulfilling. â€Å"Look at the world and look – at my TROUSERS. † (Endgame, 56) Says the tailor in Knell's story, as if to belittle the bounty of the world (tongue in cheek, of ours) in the face the quality of his pants. In this case, as in the case of the characters death delaying routine, no amount of postponement will have made the end result worthy. As such, the play essentially stresses a â€Å"damned if you do, and damned if you don't† scenario by showing how any action will eventually be absolved in futility.The theme of futility ties into the very initial metaphor for ends in beginnings: As Cool mutters â€Å"Fi nished, it's finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished. Grain upon grain, one by one, and one day, suddenly, there's a heap, a little heap, the impossible heap. (Endgame, 50), he effectively questions when individual grains live up to the concept of a â€Å"heap. † From this perspective, the heap is an â€Å"impossible† notion, as any single grain is not in itself a heap, and a â€Å"heap† is Just an accumulation of single grains.This view resurfaces yet again, when Ham considers how individual moments make up a life (Endgame, 70). In this instance the analogy maintains that it is an â€Å"impossible† life, consisting not of a life that can be scrutinized as a goal achieved (or not), but of discrete moments that define it (before death terminates it indefinitely). Thus, any creation of meaning incurred during one's life, is presented as ultimately pointless – and only leading to its own destruction with the passing of its believers.Whil e Ham and Cool are in the â€Å"endgame† of their ancient lives, with death lurking around the corner, they are also stuck in a perpetual loop that never allows the to achieve closure. Ham claims he wants to be â€Å"finished,† but admits that he â€Å"hesitate[s]† to do so (Endgame, 51). â€Å"We're not beginning to†¦ To†¦ Mean something? â€Å", Ham wonders, only to be ridiculed by Cool in response him deeply aware of its lack of purpose. Since any ending is also a beginning, there is never any finality, and conclusive meaning is impossible.Besides, any meaning derived would be as shallow as the meaning left behind; while only persisting as long as its belabored. The very expression of Ham's question exemplifies this very struggle; where he delays and repeats words as he attempts to finish the sentence – only to have it become a meaningless gesture in the eyes of Cool. Cool, though aware of the world's absurdity must still subscribe to routi ne. He adheres to the daily procedures of tending to Ham and thus makes it the purpose of his life.Just as death wont arrive to conclude their lives, neither Ham nor Cool can escape existence in catheters presence. Such is the case with Clove's frequent failed attempts to leave the room and Ham's insistence on squashing the flea that might herald with it the human race; the characters appear to fear the destruction of their current realm of existence in favor of another for fear of the new world being worse still. It is consequently implied that the characters loathe the thought of reincarnation into this world; particularly being personally resurrected after death only to face life again.Thus they make an effort to kill all potential propagators of meaningless life such as the â€Å"procreators† that they seek to kill (Endgame, 73), or the incident with the flea the flea: â€Å"But humanity might start from there all over again! Catch him, for the love of God! † (Endg ame, 59) screams Ham, in chase of the flea. In exploring the cyclical nature of destruction and creation, â€Å"Endgame† notes on the futility inherent to the process. The cyclical nature of destruction and creation is rendered meaningless by the very definition of its continuity.Seeing the meaning seep from their previous existence, the characters come to realism that any new purpose will be as unfailing and mortal as the last. In the process of finding purpose in an existence doomed to meaningless, the characters come to occupy their time with senseless repetition that they both despise, and require. In true existentialist fashion, they deem all actions pointless, but are unwilling to stop making them while they still can. This play goes to show that meaning is what you make of it, and that there are no winners at the end of this absurd game called life.

Native American Tradition Culture Of Native Indians

Every country and nation have they own special festivals and music, and Native American is no exception. First, the native music related many aspects such as ritual, life and work. They like to combine music with dance, and the Native American music always created rich percussion instruments. For example, the hand drum, log drum, water drum and rattle, etc. The Powwow is an important festival and ritual for the Native American, and it is a symbol of the tradition culture of Native Indians. Powwow, is a social gathering by the Native American tribes, and they are singing and dancing. Powwow is not only a method that the Native American expresses the enthusiasm of the life and peace, but also enhances the sense of identity and cohesion.†¦show more content†¦This means people have more entertainment programs and reward the winner from the competition. The most interesting part that I found was the dancing part. The Native Indian are always good at expressing their emotions through the dancing. Every tribe has they own way to express the reverence for natural, the delight of hunting and the desire of victory. These wonderful conversations between the Manitou and people, has formed the special art in the Native American. Certainly, there are music accompany by dances, and the instrument contains spiritual symbol as well. For instance, drum plays an important role in the Powwow. The article â€Å"Without the drum, there would be no Powwow† mention that â€Å" Our drum has character, we have that powwow spirit, and people dance.† Drum is not only representing the core of Native people faith, but also is the heartbeat of the creator. Powwow drums are often made by circle, because circle stands for lifecycle. People surrounding and beat the drum, like the life turning and returning. Jingle dance song is one of the powwow music that I favorite. According to the textbook, there are two versions that described the origin of the Jingle Dress Dance. One is on United States Chippewa and the other one is from the Canadian Ojibway. This dance performed by females, and drum is played on the music. During the song, I can hear a leader man voice in the beginning, and drum beat accompanied with male harmony. During listeningShow MoreRelatedThe Girl Who Sang To The Buffalo Character Analysis1183 Words   |  5 Pagesthe popular American author, Kent Nerburn. Nerburn connected the reader to the ways of the Native Americans and non-Natives. Many non-Natives believe they have a basic understanding of the Native Americans, and what they have dealt with the US government. However, Nerburn provides a different perspective in comprehending the irritation the Native Americans thought of Americans not fully realizing they are heckling the Natives in this manner. Kent Nerburn had som e issues with the Natives in not thinkingRead MoreA country, a region, a belief, people will proud of the truth will always stand the test of time.1400 Words   |  6 Pagescolonialism is able to force people to behave in its ways, it cannot completely change people’s minds. Until September 21, 2004, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) opened to the public. The foundation which was established in 1916, in New York City, The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian located on a symbolically significant site on the National Mall, next to the U.S. Capitol, and it is in a very grand building. I went to this museum twice, and I think thisRead MoreNative American Paper1353 Words   |  6 PagesNative American Storytelling Paper Rashmi Price ENG/301 August 26, 2013 Dr. Gregory Beatty Native American Storytelling Paper Native American literature is considered by many as the traditional written and oral literature of Native cultures around the world. Many of these literatures are transmitted over periods of time by storytellers. This particular literature has many features that includes a mixture of oral tradition techniques along with tribal mythology. The majorityRead More Native American Boarding Schools During the Westward Expansion607 Words   |  3 PagesNative American Boarding Schools During the Westward Expansion People know about the conflict between the Indians cultures and the settlers cultures during the westward expansion. Many people know the fierce battles and melees between the Indians and the settlers that were born from this cultural conflict. In spite of this, many people may not know about the systematic and deliberate means employed by the U.S. government to permanently rid their new land of the Indians who had lived theirRead MoreThe Ways Of Native Americans By Phillip J. Deloria s Playing Indian1153 Words   |  5 Pages The ways of Native Americans have been both a cultural and societal sustainment within the United States today. However, not in the way traditional sustainment is seen as. In Phillip J. Deloria’s book, Playing Indian, he asks how across American history â€Å"has the notion of disguised Indians dumping tea in Boston harbor had such a powerful hold on Americans’ imaginations?† (9) What is it exactly that captivates the minds of Americans’ over the culture of our Native American predecessors? BeforeRead MoreThe Decline Of The Native American Indians1607 Words   |  7 PagesPrior to the European invasion, the Native American Indians inhabited both North and South America, most of them living in areas beyond the reach of railroads and well-traveled highways. The Europeans and Native Americans met episodically through war, resulting in a clash of culture and social integration. Interestingly, during times of geographical expansion, the American government usually had their greatest interest in the Indians. The United States population doubled every twenty years betweenRead MoreReservation Blues By Sherman Alexie1256 Words   |  6 Pagescohesive country. Sherman Alexie’s story Reservation Blues explores the lives of some Native Americans who wrestled with cultural, racial, and religious barriers to embrace the rest of the country. The story reflects the process of racial and cultural integration the country has been going through since its inception, revealing an underlying struggle by the minority groups in the country to become part of the Americans culture that is often dominated by the majority white population. The process of assimilationRead MoreStereotypes Of The American Indian Mascot1206 Words   |  5 Pagesorganizations that portray the American Indian people as a mascot. Ninety-two percent of these sport organizations are high schools, which means roughly around eight percent of high schools have the American In dian mascot in some form (FiveThirtyEightSports). Frankly, this is an unacceptable statistic.This promotes racist mental images from a young age, and can lead many generations to recycle this outdated representation of Natives. One might ask if an American Indian mascot is really that harmfulRead MoreThe Differences Between Native Americans And Europeans1323 Words   |  6 Pagesdisrupted the life of the Natives. The natives had their own culture in America with their own special beliefs. When Europeans arrived they tried to alter the way Native Americans lived their lives to resemble their way of living. The Natives did not respect this because they had previously built a lifestyle in America that they wish not to be transformed. The two cultures had different opinions about government, religion, land, and society. Due to the many differences between the Native and European peopleRead MoreArguement Analysis on Cultural Appropriation597 Words   |  3 PagesArgument Analysis â€Å"Perhaps the most intangible aspect of Native peoples’ existence is compromised within [tribal] stories† (Tsosie 302). In society today we are seeing the growth of other cultures being incorporated into the fashions trends, movies, and in commercial use. The term, â€Å"cultural appropriation†, comes into use when discussing the problems Native Americans face in society today. It is defined as â€Å"the taking- from a culture that is not one’s own-of intellectual property, cultural expressions