Caroline Burlingham
Mr. H. Salsich
English
February 24, 2009

Brand New Worlds:
An Essay on Serenity and Its Cause in the Shakespearian Play, The Tempest

When I think of “Happily Ever Afters,” I think of fairy tales with a princess and a prince. Not once did I think of Shakespeare and his play The Tempest. The plot of the play is based on revenge, betrayal, and brokenness, but, as strange as it is, this play has a fairy tale ending. An ending with marriage, peace, forgiveness and harmony, all of which are achieved through the discovery of one man’s virtues.
A woman named Helen Keller once said, “When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us,” which is how I would describe the series of events that have taken place in The Tempest. When Prospero saw his dukedom, his door, begin to close and slip away, he focused on the negative, revenge. What Prospero did not choose to see was opportunity, a chance to do right. Considering the fact that his brother left him to die with his three year old daughter and he then became trapped on a magical island, Prospero became powerful for the wrong reasons. (Periodic Sentence). In the end of this story, Prospero gets what he wants. He uses his magic to draw his brother to the island and then used it to torture him. It was at that moment that Prospero realized his mistake. In this play, Miranda speaks of peace, harmony, and “How beauteous mankind is,” which, in my opinion, was achieved by Prospero’s forgiveness and release of magic. Forgiveness is key in these moments; it is what sets Prospero free. It released him from the revenge and anger that acted like a dormant volcano inside him for the past twelve years. In the end, he began to see that when that door closed, another opened containing something bigger, better, and more powerful than the one before; tranquility and happiness.
In real life, it is going to take a lot of time, effort, and assiduous (FAST) people to change a world like ours into “A brave new world.” Our world, currently, is corrupt and disappearing before our eyes, but with some love and care, we could turn things around. Recently people have begun to notice our environmental problems and taken action. When people find a cause worth caring for, they should do anything to fix it and think of the positive, such as Gonzalo. Another virtue that I think is necessary is integrity (FAST). People need to be honest with themselves and others in order to achieve peace. Our world is based on lies, considering all wars, misunderstandings, and hatreds are based on rumor, belief, and dishonesty. (Loose Sentence) Lastly and perhaps most importantly, is forgiveness. In The Tempest it was this virtue that brought mankind together. I believe that if one is able to forgive themselves and perfidious (FAST) people, such as Prosper did, one can accomplish anything. With these three virtues, life would be fair, life would be worth living, and we, the people, would never look past those doors that Helen Keller spoke of; it would be a “Brave new world.”
For now, life isn’t fair, life isn’t honest, and life isn’t forgiving, in fact, some could argue that it’s the opposite. Our world isn’t much different than the one in the start of The Tempest, however this play isn’t about negativity, but what can be achieved through it. Life may start off badly for Prospero and Miranda, but in the end, they get their “Happily Ever After.” One thing I have learned through this play, is that it only takes one person to make a difference.