著者

宮之原 匡子 Kyoko Miyanohara 桃山学院大学文学研究科博士後期課程

雑誌

国際文化論集 = INTERCULTURAL STUDIES (ISSN:09170219)

巻号頁・発行日

no.26, pp.81-99, 2002-07-20

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By confining the whole action of the play to an island in the sea in The Tempest, Shakespeare presented it as the place of purification or regeneration, the locus of sea-change. In this island for twelve years Prospero continued to devote himself to the study of white magic, while at the same time fostering Miranda to be a pure and wonderful woman. The mutual love at the first sight between her and Ferdinand, the crown prince of Naples, encourages to cultivate virtues of endurance and devotion. The “marriage of true minds” not only leads to the new auspicious relationship between Milan and Naples, but also brings the hope of prosperity and happiness of both countries. Experiencing distress and suffering in the island, the hateful enemies to Prospero, except for his brother Antonio, repent of their past foul acts and regenerate themselves. Prospero himself also undergoes spiritual growth, and he forgives even his incorrigible brother who usurped the dukedom of Milan and put him and his three-year old daughter to certain death. Under Prospero's theurgical power, the island becomes the place of regeneration, enabling true love of the innocent young, repentance of the wicked through suffering, spiritual growth after discovering their true selves, reconcilation of the adversaries. Thus, a hope of the restoration of peace and order once destroyed is made possible.

著者

宮之原 匡子

出版者

桃山学院大学

雑誌

英米評論 (ISSN:09170200)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.14, pp.157-178, 1999-12-20

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The wood is said to be a sacred place, where there is something of a solemn and mysterious atmosphere. In this paper I try to consider A Midsummer Night's Dream, focusing on the function of the wood in which young Athenian lovers undergo utter confusion. The young lovers enter the wood, the world of fairies, escaping from Athens, where severe laws and paternal authority govern. There they fall into great confusion because of Puck's mistake. They lose their reason, identity or judgement, act on instinct, and animal-like passions, which were suppressed in Athens, gush out. With the help of fairies they can restore themselves, recovering their identity and reason. By being released from restraints, and acting on instinct in the wood, they widen their mental vision. Shakespeare seems to regard their blind animal passions as necessary energies in the society. In the play these passions, necessary but sometimes very destructive, are put under rational control in the form of marriage, a symbol of order. After great confusion the two couples can end up as well-matched pairs with Duke's blessings, with a promise of new vitality and prosperity in Athens. Shakespeare makes this wood a blissful place by making fairies kind to human beings. In A Midsummer Night's Dream the young lovers come to be blessed after the night of folly, irrationality, madness in the wood, and a vision of concordia discorse is achieved. Though the wood becomes the place of madness or delusion for a period of time, Shakespeare makes it "the place where love finds fruition, where lovers are united or reunited, enemies are reconciled, where a happy conclusion of the story of the plays is worked out," to quote Peter G. Phialas.

著者

宮之原 匡子 Kyoko Miyanohara 桃山学院大学文学研究科博士後期課程

出版者

桃山学院大学総合研究所

雑誌

国際文化論集 = INTERCULTURAL STUDIES (ISSN:09170219)

巻号頁・発行日

no.26, pp.81-99, 2002-07-20

---

By confining the whole action of the play to an island in the sea in The Tempest, Shakespeare presented it as the place of purification or regeneration, the locus of sea-change. In this island for twelve years Prospero continued to devote himself to the study of white magic, while at the same time fostering Miranda to be a pure and wonderful woman. The mutual love at the first sight between her and Ferdinand, the crown prince of Naples, encourages to cultivate virtues of endurance and devotion. The "marriage of true minds" not only leads to the new auspicious relationship between Milan and Naples, but also brings the hope of prosperity and happiness of both countries. Experiencing distress and suffering in the island, the hateful enemies to Prospero, except for his brother Antonio, repent of their past foul acts and regenerate themselves. Prospero himself also undergoes spiritual growth, and he forgives even his incorrigible brother who usurped the dukedom of Milan and put him and his three-year old daughter to certain death. Under Prospero's theurgical power, the island becomes the place of regeneration, enabling true love of the innocent young, repentance of the wicked through suffering, spiritual growth after discovering their true selves, reconcilation of the adversaries. Thus, a hope of the restoration of peace and order once destroyed is made possible.