Brave New Worlds

In "The Tempest", by William Shakespeare, Miranda is amazed by all the people on the island, now living in peace. She says,"Oh wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here!", after she gets married to Ferdinand and sees all the people that survived the tempest, which was caused by her father, Prospero. Our "brave new world" would have three virtues to make it great. Many of the virtues in "The Tempest" and our ideal world are exactly the same.

The people on Prospero's island were all angry, sad, or frightened, as they did not know what had actually happened to them. The shipwrecked travelers were quick to make peace with Prospero. Prospero's kindness, even after what they did to him, made the travelers forgive him easier, after they realized what they had done. the thibgs Prospero had taught them about their true selves made them eager to accept him back. Prospero introduced Miranda to the sight of another human being, Ferdinand, who she later married. Prospero taght Ferdinand how to prove to Prospero that he was worthy of Miranda. Prospero forced Ferdinand to do manual labor; he could have given up, but he kept working for Miranda. Prospero reunited Ferdinand with his father, Alonso, proving to Alonso that Prospero does not want to harm them. Alonso realizes the wrongness of his actions in the past, and resigns from his dukedom. Alonso appologizes to Prospero. In the end, everyone lives in peace.

If our world is ever to become a "brave new world", there are three virtues it must possess. The first is devotion. Without devotion, nothing would ever get done. Devotion is what makes life worth living. The second is unity. Unity is what binds us together. Without unity, the world would plunge into endless chaos. the world would cease to exist. The third is loyalty. Without loyalty, there would be no unity. Loyalty and unity are a package deal, you can't have one without the other. Our world would never achieve this, however, because we are too different and can't agree on everything, so there would be arguments, the arguments would turn into fights, and the fights would turn into wars; there would be no end until everything was dead.

Prospero's island achieved this goal. Our world cannot. We can try, but we will never succeed. our world can still get a lot-and I mean a lot- better, but it will never be ideal for everyone.

Music

Music is magic. In my life this is true. In "The Tempest", by William Shakespeare, this is also true. It is true in everything it touches, the air, the trees, the mountains, the sea, the people, the animals, everything.

In "The Tempest", Caliban is put into a trance by music. Caliban explains music as "sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not." He tells this to Stephano and Trinculo when they are frightened by the misterious music coming from nowhere. Caliban loves the music, even though he does not know where it comes from. Caliban says music puts him into a trance, saying music "will make [Caliban] sleep again." Music to Caliban is like a sleeping potion. It takes him away from his pain in the beauty of sleep. In his trance, Caliban thought "the clouds would open and show riches." Music is so sweet, so pure, that even if he has no money, it makes him rich. Caliban is mystified by music, he is hypnotized. Caliban is amazed by the sounds carried by the air.

In my life, music, depending on what kind of music it is, effects me in different ways. If the music is about happy things, it will get me motivated. If I have a lot of homework, and I'm feeling too tired to do all of it, listening to happy music passes the time, and keeps me awake. Time seems to fly by, and it puts me into a trance, making me think I'm doing my work much more quikly than I actually am. If the music is quiet and slow, it helps me fall asleep. If I have just had a drink with caffiene in it, listening to slow, quiet music helps me calm down. If I'm just having trouble falling asleep, music helps me sleep. If I listen to Rock music, I get energized. If I just woke up, and have to play sports, listening to Rock wakes me up and gets me focused. If I'm sick, and don't feel like getting up and doing anything, Rock gives me the energy to do so. Music helps me get through life without exploding.

Different types of music have different effects, helping me do different things. Listening to Rock, slow and quiet, and happy music help me along through my life. I think the tempo of music would affect Caliban the same way it affects me. In Shakespeare's time, there weren't as many types of music, but I think that Caliban would agree with me when I say,"music rocks."