(no subject)
Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have's mine own,
Which is most faint. Now 'tis true
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardoned the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands.
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant;
And my ending is despair
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free. (5.1, 1-20)
Shakespeare's The Tempest
I really like this soliloquy, as well as the song that's made from it by Loreena McKennitt, but after reading some more about Prospero's last lines, I realize that this soliloquy can be seen as a plea from God -- not, as I've noticed many people have been doing, as proof of Shakespeare being Catholic, but as an application to our modern world and my Ivan-Karamazov POV.
"Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have's mine own,
Which is most faint."
As a scientific society, we're no longer as reliant on superstition and quaky beliefs in saints and miracles as people of the past. Jesus did perform a few miracles, but he stopped before he could enslave the population with grand feats of providing bread to everybody, or raising every other corpse from the dead, etc. Thus, God's own strength lies solely in faith -- which, deprived of the solid power of miracles and firm backing of scientific proof, can be seen as "most faint."
"Now 'tis true
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardoned the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands."
In The Tempest, Prospero was stuck on the island after he lost his fortunes, blabla... (No, I haven't read the play itself.) So now he's saying that he can either be stuck here on the island or sent to Naples. Since he has pardoned the person who deceived him, he wishes not to be stuck on this island. He needs the audience to set him free by clapping. In the metaphorical context, God made the world and defeated Lucifer. (Did He ever pardon Lucifer? Well, God is merciful, and Lucifer is still a pretty cool guy, eh?) That grand act was enacted in the Bible, just as Shakespeare's play was done on stage. However, the morals of the Bible will come to nothing unless we, the readers and recipients of God's message, clasp our hands together and pray -- that is, embrace his teachings. Though God's might is limitless, he can't force us to believe in Him. So we -- as people, individuals -- have the ultimate power of "releasing" him, of furnishing our souls with faith, or of rejecting him.
"Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant;
And my ending is despair
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free."
Prospero says that the audience's breath (cheers, etc.) must fill the sails of his project, which was to please (entertain the audience), or else it will fail. Now that he lacks spirits to enforce, art to enchant, he'll end in despair unless he's relieved by a prayer that assults mercy itself and frees all faults. As you (the audience) would wish to be pardoned from crimes, let your indulgence set him free (ensure the fruition of the play's endeavor). So in the God metaphor, the gentle breath is a heartfelt prayer, which indicates the sincere faith that God needs for His world and word to work. He admits that, despite the calamities he sent down (tsunamis, anyone?), his main goal was always "to please" -- he loves humanity, and still has humanity in his heart. But how can humanity have faith in such a cruel God? He now lacks the arts and spirits of ancient times (ie miracles). Without them, He will end in despair. But the answer that will "set him free" is that we pray and have faith. Continuing the theme of the mutuality of power, God needs our faith to exist, for his project to be fruitful. But there's more. These prayers ask for mercy -- but for whom, and for what purpose? "As you from crimes would pardoned be" -- these prayers are for the audience/sinners, to pardon us for our sins; but they may have a double meaning: that God is asking us to forgive Him (with a mercy that "frees all faults") for all the seemingly terrible and inexplicable things He's done; and to keep faith.
Well, 'tis food for thought.
And what strength I have's mine own,
Which is most faint. Now 'tis true
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardoned the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands.
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant;
And my ending is despair
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free. (5.1, 1-20)
Shakespeare's The Tempest
I really like this soliloquy, as well as the song that's made from it by Loreena McKennitt, but after reading some more about Prospero's last lines, I realize that this soliloquy can be seen as a plea from God -- not, as I've noticed many people have been doing, as proof of Shakespeare being Catholic, but as an application to our modern world and my Ivan-Karamazov POV.
"Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have's mine own,
Which is most faint."
As a scientific society, we're no longer as reliant on superstition and quaky beliefs in saints and miracles as people of the past. Jesus did perform a few miracles, but he stopped before he could enslave the population with grand feats of providing bread to everybody, or raising every other corpse from the dead, etc. Thus, God's own strength lies solely in faith -- which, deprived of the solid power of miracles and firm backing of scientific proof, can be seen as "most faint."
"Now 'tis true
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardoned the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands."
In The Tempest, Prospero was stuck on the island after he lost his fortunes, blabla... (No, I haven't read the play itself.) So now he's saying that he can either be stuck here on the island or sent to Naples. Since he has pardoned the person who deceived him, he wishes not to be stuck on this island. He needs the audience to set him free by clapping. In the metaphorical context, God made the world and defeated Lucifer. (Did He ever pardon Lucifer? Well, God is merciful, and Lucifer is still a pretty cool guy, eh?) That grand act was enacted in the Bible, just as Shakespeare's play was done on stage. However, the morals of the Bible will come to nothing unless we, the readers and recipients of God's message, clasp our hands together and pray -- that is, embrace his teachings. Though God's might is limitless, he can't force us to believe in Him. So we -- as people, individuals -- have the ultimate power of "releasing" him, of furnishing our souls with faith, or of rejecting him.
"Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant;
And my ending is despair
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free."
Prospero says that the audience's breath (cheers, etc.) must fill the sails of his project, which was to please (entertain the audience), or else it will fail. Now that he lacks spirits to enforce, art to enchant, he'll end in despair unless he's relieved by a prayer that assults mercy itself and frees all faults. As you (the audience) would wish to be pardoned from crimes, let your indulgence set him free (ensure the fruition of the play's endeavor). So in the God metaphor, the gentle breath is a heartfelt prayer, which indicates the sincere faith that God needs for His world and word to work. He admits that, despite the calamities he sent down (tsunamis, anyone?), his main goal was always "to please" -- he loves humanity, and still has humanity in his heart. But how can humanity have faith in such a cruel God? He now lacks the arts and spirits of ancient times (ie miracles). Without them, He will end in despair. But the answer that will "set him free" is that we pray and have faith. Continuing the theme of the mutuality of power, God needs our faith to exist, for his project to be fruitful. But there's more. These prayers ask for mercy -- but for whom, and for what purpose? "As you from crimes would pardoned be" -- these prayers are for the audience/sinners, to pardon us for our sins; but they may have a double meaning: that God is asking us to forgive Him (with a mercy that "frees all faults") for all the seemingly terrible and inexplicable things He's done; and to keep faith.
Well, 'tis food for thought.