Topic > Using Words to Paint: Viewing Language as an Art in The Tempest

In Shakespeare's romance, The Tempest, Miranda instructs Caliban: "I have endowed your purposes / With words that have them make yourself known” (I.ii .357-8), affirming the power of language to transform the insubstantial into a strong and purposeful entity. While Prospero conjures storms, masks, and enchantments, Shakespeare creates a linguistic spectacle of lush imagery, tense, staccato exchanges, direct narration, and lyrical songs to heighten different moments and expose the play's major themes. The Storm begins with a sudden, monosyllabic exchange between the boatswain and the captain that evolves into a series of confused, frenetic conversations, storms of language that convey the helplessness, fear, and dismay faced by the crew. The play moves toward elevated poetry, delightful music, and masks of mysticism, all of which converge in Prospero's touching farewell speech in which he renounces his magical powers after asserting his authority as an artist and proceeds to bring about reconciliations prescriptions that resolve the drama: no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Ye elves of the hills, of the streams, of the stagnant lakes and groves, and you who on the sands with unmarked feet Chase the ebb of Neptune, and make him fly when he returns; you half-puppets who in the moonlight make green and harsh curls, of which the sheep does not bite; and you whose pastime is to do midnight mushrooms, who rejoice to hear the solemn curfew; with whose help (however weak you are masters) I have darkened the midday sun, called back the rebellious winds, and between the green sea and the blue vault I have launched a roaring war; to the rattling thunder read I have given fire and rent Jupiter's strong oak with his own arrow; I made the strong-based promontory tremble and uprooted the pine and cedar from the buttresses; tombs at my command awakened their sleepers, opened and let them out with my art so powerful. But this rude magic I here abjure; and when I need a little celestial music (which I do even now) to make my senses work on their senses for which this airy enchantment serves, I will break my staff, bury it some meters in the earth, and the sound will never be deeper than it has ever fallen. I'll drown my book. (Vi33-57)The sound patterns and connotations of Shakespeare's language convey Prospero's temperament. Prospero begins by poetically describing the magical inspiration of fantastic creatures, ascends into a charged statement of his power to accomplish the impossible, and concludes on a gentle tone as he sets aside his magical powers. Prospero employs images of magic to confirm the power and beauty of artistic power. Appealing to "elves" (33) and "semi-puppets" (36), or dwarves, both existing only in the imagination, he conveys art's ability to transcend nature and humanity with airy wonder. Prospero refers to “moonlight” (37), suggesting the enchantment of the activities of “semi-puppets” and connoting a sense of the insubstantial or imaginary, which both he and Shakespeare enliven through art. “Elves,” “semi-marionettes,” and “moonlight” illustrate the supernatural elements of Prospero's art and contribute a sense of playfulness and cheerfulness to the serious, tragicomic drama. By recalling the influence of these supernatural powers, Prospero affirms his ability to create from nothing, to achieve the impossible using his artistic powers. Just as the "semi-puppets" create "green and harsh curls", Prospero creates storms, spells and mini-dramas. The image ofShakespeare's "hills, streams, stagnant lakes and groves" tells of the beauty of nature reflected in supernatural creations. Prospero echoes this poetic beauty with sonic cadences that resonate with lulling musicality: "elves of the hills, streams, stagnant lakes and groves, / And you who on the sand with the footprintless foot? / puppets? / ?harsh curls" (33- 4, 36-7). The consonance gives the outline a fluid rhythm and an incantatory tone that reinforces the mysticism of both the speech and the work. As his speech begins in a mood of happy fantasy, Prospero soon reminds the audience of his artistic powers which, paradoxically, constitute his entire being and also lead to his exile from Naples and temporary unawareness of the death plots of Caliban on him. While he credits the elves and dwarves for their inspirational "help," he labels them "weak masters" (41) in an aside that sarcastically subverts their abilities by comparing them to the magical powers of Prospero, the authoritative "master." . Prospero launches into a cascading monologue, made up of images of power, which presents "a portrait of the artist as an old man" seeking recognition of his magic. Prospero uses a form of the pronoun "I" twelve times during the speech, which confirms his obsession with his own powers and continues the selfishness he displays throughout the play, particularly in his dealings with Ariel (I.ii. 244-304) and Caliban (I.ii.324-9, 344-8, 365-71). Prospero's ability to accomplish the impossible reveals an irony in the speech, for who can realistically "bedim / The noonday sun," "summon the rebellious winds" (41-2), or pose a "roaring roar" (44 ) between heaven and earth? Prospero affirms art as a vehicle of creativity and transcendence. No task is too arduous or inconceivable for his capacious imagination to interpret. Shakespeare also creates a sense of urgency in Prospero, who delivers this twenty-line speech in two sentences (33-50, 50-57). Phrases such as “rebellious winds” (42), “roaring war,” “rattling red thunder” (44), and “Jupiter's stout oak split” (45) convey Prospero's growing desire to convey the power of his magic. The alliteration in "roaring war" and "red jingle" creates an atmosphere of madness, characterizing Prospero as a magician, frenetic in his outpourings of emotion. Images of winds of natural disasters, earthquakes and the opening of graves parallel the frenetic discourse of the work's models and illustrate the artist's influence on the public imagination. Shakespeare juxtaposes the beauty of the “green sea and blue vault” (43) with the “roaring war” and “tinkling red thunder” created by Prospero, which reinforces the power of art to transcend reality. Although Prospero cannot literally make the earth tremble or the winds blow violently, he can "shake" the "headland" (45-6) of his enemies' imaginations and, in this realm, he can order graves opened, spirits come down, and storms that will occur. “Roaring” connotes “unbridled, noisy revelry” (Oxford English Dictionary), which returns to the play's opening scene of noisy confusion caused by the creation of the storm. Prospero's "noisy revelry" in this speech confirms his need to emphasize the artist's power to achieve the impossible. Shakespeare characterizes both Prospero's magical art and his linguistic ability as "mighty," suggesting authority, great power, and dominating influence, all of which Prospero embodies throughout the play. He becomes a "potentate," both the originator of the play's dramatic schemes and the emblem of its keen artistry. The language of Prospero's speech illustrates his fluctuating emotions: compliant happiness, powerful authority, and collected tranquility. After defending in, 1998.