Update 2022-01-01-wher-i-have-been.md

_posts/2022-01-01-wher-i-have-been.md

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 author: Brennan Brown
 comment: true
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+# The Tempest  
+**Act 1 Scene 2 Pt 2**  
+by Rachel Fitzgibbon and Kenneth Brown  
 
+---
+
+### Characters  
+
+**Prospero**  
+A powerful magician and the rightful Duke of Milan, Prospero's complex character emerges through his varied relationships. His magical prowess is evident in his control over Ariel, commanding "My brave spirit!" (303) and orchestrating the tempest. As a father, he shows tender care for Miranda, calling her "a cherubin" (182) and prioritizing her education: "Here have I, thy schoolmaster, made thee more profit / Than other princes can" (212-213). However, his cruelty manifests in his treatment of servants, threatening Ariel with imprisonment "in his knotty entrails" (350) and addressing Caliban as "thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself" (374). His desire for revenge drives the plot, yet he strategically plans its execution, noting his fortune depends upon "A most auspicious star" (238).  
+
+**Ariel**  
+A powerful but bound spirit, Ariel's character reveals the complexity of servitude and freedom. His magical abilities are extraordinary - he can "flame distinctly" (284), cause "dreadful thunderclaps" (287), and transform at will. His obedience is absolute: "To every article" (278), yet tinged with yearning for liberty: "Let me remember thee what thou hast promised... My liberty" (291-293). His past trauma under Sycorax, who imprisoned him "Into a cloven pine" (330) for refusing her "earthy and abhorred commands" (326), explains his careful negotiations with Prospero. Despite his power, he must carefully navigate his master's moods, quickly shifting from requesting freedom to eager service: "That's my noble master. / What shall I do? Say, what? What shall I do?" (360-361).  
+
+**Miranda**  
+Prospero's daughter exhibits both innocence and intelligent curiosity. Her compassion emerges immediately in her response to the tempest: "O, I have suffered / With those that I saw suffer". Her sheltered upbringing shapes her perspective, yet she shows agency in questioning her father: "Your reason / For raising this sea storm?" (228-229). Her education under Prospero has made her "more profit / Than other princes" (212-213), suggesting both her intelligence and her father's controlling nature. Her judgment of Caliban - "'Tis a villain, sir, / I do not love to look on" (371-372) - reveals both her moral certainty and her alignment with her father's viewpoint.  
+
+**Caliban**  
+The island's indigenous inhabitant, now enslaved, represents colonized resistance. His mother Sycorax, described as "the foul witch" (321) who was "grown into a hoop" (322), establishes his connection to the island's magical past. Though called "poisonous slave" (374) by Prospero, his rebellion manifests in cursing: "As wicked dew as e'er my mother brushed / With raven's feather from unwholesome fen / Drop on you both" (383-385). His position as the island's original inhabitant forced into servitude - "He does make our fire, / Fetch in our wood, and serves in offices / That profit us" (373-375) - embodies themes of colonization and exploitation. His resistance, though ultimately ineffective, is persistent: "There's wood enough within" (381), showing passive defiance even in submission.  
+
+---
+
+### Scene Overview  
+
+This scene follows a conversation between Miranda and Prospero in which Prospero explains how they ended up stranded on the island. After Miranda falls asleep, Prospero summons the spirit Ariel. Ariel confirms that he has followed Prospero's orders to sink the ship and that he separated the shipwrecked King Alonso, Antonio (Prospero's brother), the king's brother Sebastian, and the king's son Ferdinand on different parts of the island, with Ferdinand being alone. This sets the stage for the eventual meeting of Ferdinand and Miranda. After confirming that he obeyed Prospero's orders, Ariel asks Prospero to free him, to which Prospero denies Ariel his freedom and reminds him that Prospero was the one who rescued him from his previous master, Sycorax's, prison. Prospero threatens to turn Ariel back into a tree should he ask again for his freedom. But Prospero agrees to discharge Ariel in two days if he follows his orders. He sends Ariel away, and Miranda awakens. They call upon their slave Caliban, who is the son of the witch Sycorax. Caliban curses at Miranda and Prospero, explaining that this was his island and that when Prospero arrived, he was kind to Caliban, that he and Miranda taught Caliban to speak, and in turn Caliban showed Prospero the qualities of the island. However, after Caliban attempted to rape Miranda, Prospero enslaved him. Prospero threatens Caliban with torture should he not follow his orders, so Caliban obeys.  
+
+This scene introduces key characters and establishes some of the themes and motifs of the play like revenge, imprisonment, magic, power, and exploitation. It also brings Prospero's enemies close, allowing him to start his revenge.  
+
+---
+
+### Analysis: Plot Impact  
+
+**My Thoughts**  
+Gonzalo's aid ("providence divine" and his provisions) establishes him as a future ally, explaining how Prospero maintained his power (through saved books) and survival on the island.  
+
+The isolation of Ferdinand ("The King's son have I landed by himself") is strategically significant. It's a deliberate separation suggesting Prospero's larger plan involving Miranda, as we see him orchestrating potential future relationships and alliances.  
+
+Prospero's reference to his "zenith" and "auspicious star" reveals this is carefully timed planned revenge. Astronomical imagery means he's been waiting for this moment for years and adds urgency to the plot's timeline.  
+
+---
+
+### Analysis: Larger Issues  
+
+**Colonialism**:  
+Through the power dynamics between Prospero and his servants, particularly in his claim over the island and the inhabitants; the language of exploitation. The history of displacement and occupation on the island.  
+
+**Political Play**:  
+Prospero's lost position, his commanding language; hierarchical relationships.  
+
+**Education and Knowledge**:  
+Multiple references to learning and books, particularly with Miranda.  
+
+* The scene presents a complex power hierarchy where Prospero acts as a colonial ruler.  
+* His treatment of both Ariel and Caliban represents different types of colonial relationships: Ariel as the "assimilated" servant promised eventual freedom, and Caliban as the subjugated native.  
+* The language of ownership over the island parallels colonial narratives of "discovering" and claiming inhabited lands.  
+
+**Political Play**:  
+* The emphasis on books over dukedom suggests knowledge as a form of alternative power.  
+* Prospero's exile transformed his power from political to magical, but he maintains the same authoritarian tendencies.  
+* His interactions with servants mirror his former role as duke, showing he hasn't truly left his political past behind.  
+
+---
+
+### Analysis: Themes in the Scene: Power Through Imprisonment  
+
+Paired quotes reveal how Prospero, despite condemning Sycorax's cruelty, threatened Ariel with the same punishment she used.  
+
+Parallel between the "cloven pine" and threatened "oak" suggests power corrupts all who wield it.  
+
+Timeframe mentioned in both quotes ("twelve winters" / "a dozen years") emphasizes cyclic nature of oppression.  
+
+The paired threats and punishments reveal a dark irony in Prospero's character. While he condemns "the foul witch Sycorax" (321) and her cruelty, he employs similarly brutal threats: "If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak / And peg thee in his knotty entrails till / Thou hast howled away twelve winters" (349-351). This parallel suggests how power corrupts even those who have experienced its abuse.  
+
+The scene establishes a complex web of imprisonment operating on multiple levels:  
+- **Physical imprisonment** manifests in the island itself, where Prospero and Miranda arrived "by providence divine" (197).  
+- **Magical imprisonment** appears in Ariel's bound service, emphasized when he must "answer thy best pleasure" (272).  
+- **Psychological imprisonment** emerges through Miranda's controlled education, as Prospero boasts "Here have I, thy schoolmaster, made thee more profit / Than other princes can" (212-213).  
+- **Political imprisonment** underlies all, referenced in Prospero's lost "dukedom" (208).  
+
+The cyclical nature of imprisonment becomes evident through parallel punishments:  
+- Sycorax "did confine thee... Into a cloven pine, within which rift / Imprisoned thou didst painfully remain / A dozen years" (329-332).  
+- Prospero threatens identical confinement: "I will rend an oak / And peg thee in his knotty entrails" (349-350).  
+- This cycle extends to Caliban, whom Prospero calls "poisonous slave" (374) and commands imperiously: "Come forth, I say" (375).  
+
+The language of imprisonment evolves from literal to metaphorical bondage. Ariel's physical confinement in the "cloven pine" (330) transforms into spiritual servitude, emphasized in his plea: "Let me remember thee what thou hast promised, / Which is not yet performed me... My liberty" (291-293). Prospero maintains control through constant reminders of past imprisonment, suggesting psychological manipulation: "Dost thou forget / From what a torment I did free thee?" (314-315).  
+
+The power dynamic sustains itself through memory and threat, exemplified when Prospero declares "I must / Once in a month recount what thou hast been, / Which thou forget'st" (343-345). This calculated reminder keeps Ariel's rebellious spirit subdued.  
 Hmm, well I guess the fact that I've gotten Beeminder [permanently ingrained](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/temporary-bee-tatoo/9848/7?u=brennanbrown) is a good enough reason to finally update my Beejournal. Which means it's already doing a good job of being a commitment device unto its own, hah! Time for a long overdue diatribe.
 
 I know I said multiple times throughout my journal that I never wanted to stop no matter what, but there are a few reasons that I did end up stopping anyways.