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Comparing The Tempest And Lasse Hallstrom's Film Chocolat

626 Words3 Pages

“Imagination. A journey of the mind”. Imagination transcends all facets of reality allowing us to embrace the limitless progenies of the mind, value new perspectives and assess our own worth in life. Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Lasse Hallstrom’s film ‘Chocolat’ are a testament of how imagination influences the perspectives of individuals.

In The Tempest an imaginary land is created far from the veracity of the sublunary world. It is adept that the play commences with the tempest, foreshadowing imminent anarchy. This paradoxical distortion however, leads to renewal. Prospero, the providential father manipulates events on the island through his ‘art’ and embarks on a journey of introspection, forgiveness, magnanimity and love through his imagination. His yearning to avenge his usurpation is challenged by the love of Miranda and Ferdinand, teaching him that ‘the rarer action is in virtue, than in vengeance’. This explicitly shows his mental amelioration and the broadening of his mind to reconcile. Prospero’s self- assessment is further evident when he remarks that ‘this thing of darkness I acknowledge mine’, thus metaphoric for Prospero’s recognition of his limitations. Introspection leads him to surrender the ‘art’ and …show more content…

Vienne, a single mother is an enticing figure whose arrival to the town is preceded by a ‘sly wind’, much like The Tempest. She plays Prospero’s role as she catalyses a change in people through her efficacious chocolates, challenging them to steer away from social paradigms. Red is symbolic of the exotic nature of Vienne’s imagination. However, her nomadic disposition reflects on her imagination which is instead used as escapism. She recognises the abuse of her powers at the cost of others around her and like Miranda; she too is exposed to reality and surrenders her imagination to sustain the natural

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In addition to Caliban, Prospero's yearning for vengeance also creates internal issues for himself. After Ferdinand and Miranda announce their marriage, Prospero claims his "rejoicing / At nothing can be more," because he must "perform / Much business appertaining," (Shakespeare, 95-99). Usually, a father focuses more on his daughter getting married, however Prospero can only focus on his plans for vengeance. Some believe that the characters internal struggles were caused by the wrongdoers, and not a lack of forgiveness; however, at the end of the play, after Prospero becomes a more virtuous character, his conflicts with his brother and Caliban are resolved, clearly showing that their focus on vengeance is what caused the internal struggles.

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