Silver, Fury and Tyrant, mentioned in this scene?
ACT V--SCENE I. What is the purpose of this scene? Is the plot brought
to a satisfactory conclusion? Are there any characters left unaccounted
for? Does every character in the play appear in this scene? Are they all
on the stage when the curtain falls?
Make a list of the incidents which to you seem unnecessary, which could
be left out without injury to the real story. Make another list of
incidents that could not be omitted without spoiling the story. Find two
little plots that make complete stories in themselves, but that help
only in a moderate degree to make the main story clearer.
POETRY AND PROSE. Do any of the characters speak always in prose? Do any
speak always in poetry? Do some speak partly in prose and partly in
poetry? Can you see any connection between each character and his method
of speech? How many songs are sung in the play? Who sings them? Do you
like any of the songs? What effect do the songs have upon the play? Can
you find rhyming lines anywhere excepting in the songs? Does any
character speak in rhyme?
CONCLUSION. If we study a play too long or continue to read it after our
interest ceases for a time, we are liable to be prejudiced against it,
and to feel that it is not worth the labor we have put upon it. If,
however, a person will stop studying when he begins to lose interest and
work seems a drudgery, he will come back a little later with renewed
interest. Again, when we study a play minutely as we have been doing,
and view it from many sides, we may lose sight for a time of the unity
and beauty of the whole composition. This is peculiarly unfortunate, for
the poet intends us to view his work as a whole, and to produce his
effect with the whole. It is _The Tempest_ that we will remember as a
work of art, and, if our studies are fruitful, that will draw us back to
it at intervals for many years to come. Before we leave it, we must take
it and read it through in a leisurely manner, pausing merely to enjoy
its beauty, to smile at its playfulness and to feel our hearts expand
under the benign influence of the grand old man Prospero. Now Miranda,
Ferdinand and Ariel have passed the line of mere acquaintances, and have
become to us fast friends, who, though they may be forever silent, have
yet given us a fragment of their lives to cheer us on our way.
OTHER PLAYS OF SHAKESPEARE. Shakespeare wrote a great many plays, and
all are not equal
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