Discovery can be motivated by many different factors, including need, wonder and curiosity, it has the power to transform the discoverer and their world, if the individual allows such discovery to change their former attitude. Discovery is both a physical and metaphorical device used as a catalyst for growth. The ideas that discovery is transformative, controlled by the character and is used by composers of written work is explored with William Shakespeare 's play ‘The Tempest’, through the characters of Prospero, Miranda and Antonio, as well as Charles Dickens novel ‘Great Expectations’ and Aisling Walsh’s 2015 film adaptation of ‘An Inspector Calls’.
The Tempest is set upon a fantastical island, where a storm is created by the protagonist
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Prospero allowed himself to progress from the knowledge he gained during his discovery and therefore he and his broader world were able to develop. Antonio, on the other hand did not allow himself to discover anything and in the process he remained envious, remorseless, as he was at the start of the play, but now also titleless. This is displayed in the behaviours of the occupants of the Birling household in An Inspector Calls. After their revelation of the fictitious Inspector Goole; Sibil, Arthur and Gerald readily believed they were not the causation of a girl’s death and celebrated, firmly denying their impact on individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds on the grounds that the man they had met was not a real inspector. Sheila and Eric contrast to their peers in that they are saddened and touched by the revelations brought forward by the inspector. The young Birlings realise their impact upon the world, and realise that even though the man they had met was not a real inspector, their actions were real. Both Prospero and Inspector Goole drive the characters in the story together, encouraging them to discover things about themselves and the world. Inspector Goole intends for the Birling household to realise their impact on the lives of others, and thus makes them discover their own privileges, personalities and flaws. He believes the Birlings need to discover their ignominious actions for them to change how they treat people, much the same as Prospero intends to shame his brother and king for their actions. Neither Prospero nor Inspector Goole can control the outcome of their actions but the discoveries they place for the other characters in their own worlds impact each person differently. The binary opposition between the older Birlings and Gerald in An Inspector Calls, and the Birling children displays how the personality of a person could be the factor in