Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises ...

[Janet]

I find myself thinking ... again ... about Tenerife in terms of Prospero's isle in Shakespeare's The Tempest, and particularly Caliban's lines:

Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open, and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked,
I cried to dream again.Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not.

Now Caliban is a native of the island, which has been "invaded" by Prospero. Prospero is a magician, and even though a "good" one, he "enslaves" Caliban ... really he enchants him. In particular Caliban has been made to dream of riches, which turn out to be just a dream.

And yet, Caliban started off on by demonstrating clearly that he is the villain, really - not a good idea to try to rape the daughter of a powerful magician. But of course he didn't realize how powerful Prospero was at the time .....

So apart from the play being about the art of drama and stagecraft, in a literary sense, anyway, it is also about the confusion of enchantment. Who is the real villain? Are they one as bad as the other? Doesn't Prospero abuse his power? And yet isn't it for Caliban to set the moral tone, since it's his island, after all .....

This is the sort of thing I used to like to do in tutorials, with Greek plays, admittedly, at the time, but I find it fascinating. Please do feel free to ignore it completely if it doesn't "enchant" you ..... 

[Nova]

I just wish I had actually read The Tempest so that I could contribute.  It's on my to-do list

I love those lines too, you're right, it is very Tenerife.  Here too there are those who believe themselves good yet abuse their positions and manipulate others, and those who seem content to assume baseness and moan that everybody else has it in for them 

[Delderek]

I just wish I had actually read The Tempest so that I could contribute.  It's on my to-do list

I love those lines too, you're right, it is very Tenerife.  Here too there are those who believe themselves good yet abuse their positions and manipulate others, and those who seem content to assume baseness and moan that everybody else has it in for them 

Nova, |=0|2(_)^^ 633X That's a bit philosophical for 5 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon

[Perikles]

So, Del - when is the right time for philosophy?