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revision notes on the character of Miranda in The Tempest
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revision notes on the character of Miranda in The Tempest
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1. ‘Miranda’s eagerness to grow and change is of great dramatic value to the play.’ How farand in what ways do you agree with this view of the role of Miranda in The Tempest?
The answer is in itself a response to a critical view, but may make reference to the views
of other audiences and readers and discuss changing critical views of the play over time.
Answers should be informed by an understanding of contexts, which can include both
historic and contemporary performances of the play.
Miranda’s back-story, thrown out of a Court at Milan when just three years old, seems
to ensure adaptability.
In the scene where Prospero treats us to his long retrospective narration she interjects
carefully calculated prompts, keeping the audience as well as herself up with the
progress of the story.
Her humanitarianism in her first scene is directed protectively at the shipwrecked
mariners, and with appropriate shock at the depravity of her uncle’s actions. After a
restoring sleep, she wakes and through the ‘fringed curtains of her eyelids’ sees the first
of several brave new worlds, a young prince who, she seems to know instinctively (and
in spite of horrendous mock opposition from her dad) is the most eligible bachelor (for
her) among the princes of Italy. In the log-gathering she is Ferdinand’s help-meet, fresh
as morning, plighting her troth in no time while he serenades her to the ‘top of
admiration’. In the Masque she is a noble, patient audience (not like the courtiers in A
Midsummer Night’s Dream). She welcomes Prospero’s friends back to civilisation as if
she were stepping back with them into Eden (‘Brave New World’), and, with Ferdinand,
she embodies all the hope for the coming time beyond the play, whereas Prospero will
meditate a good deal of his time on his approaching death. Many will see Miranda as
embodying wider themes of faith, charity and forgiveness, and it does not matter if
discussion often focuses on her interaction with other characters.
The indicative content is intended to indicate aspects of questions which may feature in
candidates’ answers. It is not prescriptive, not is it exclusive; examiners must be careful to
reward original but well-focused answers and implicit as well as explicit responses to questions.
Additional Notes:
the Tempest presents Miranda as a representation of female virtue. Miranda is typically viewed as
having believed herself to be subordinate towards her father. She is loving, kind,
and compassionate as well as obedient to her father and is described as "perfect and peerless,
created of every creature's best". She is, furthermore, the only female character within a cast of
strong male figures, and much of her interaction on stage is dominated by the male figures around
her. Miranda's behaviour is completely dictated by Prospero, from her interactions with Caliban to
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