MIRANDA:
O, How strange it strikes me that I almost never
Recognize how or when I fell into slumber.
The home I know runs like an ever ticking
Clock: perfectly on schedule all around me.
The creamy morning sun rises above
The abrupt, non wavering, horizon
At precisely the time that the clouds
And heavens part, as theater curtains, to
Unveil the spectacle of their nature.
The creatures stir, rustling the foliage,
As audience members scrambling back
After a restful intermission.
Nothing here runs on a physical tick tock
Clock. I could never read one if I tried,
Having no knowledge of that ticking in my
Life. O but I do possess knowledge of
The real’ty around me, which seems to be
Unchanging. One does not need a King’s learning
To be wise about the ground and sky around them.
Ah, but my world seems to tick off right pace.
I do not wake with the creatures or the sun,
But instead I wake with my father’s call.
Sometimes I don’t even hear the sound of
His yell. I only hear the inaudible
Whisper of his will. My tock comes
Before my tick. How, I can never know,
But I seem to be distanced from the patterns
And real’ty of the nature surrounding me.
O, how I wish to be one with the steady sun
And the heavens and the crawlers,
Instead of lying, caged, in an
Unpredictable reality.
What Gods oversee a whole ticking world
With A tocking woman? The force
Which moves me seems demonic, in nature.
Rather than a consensual pattern,
I am hypnotized against will,
Not cognizant of my next move,
But still cognizant of my next thoughts.
That demon may not control my musings.
But if the demon controls my ticking,
How may he not control my mind’s talking?
I must rebel against my demon’s bidding---
But first, I must awake. I hear my father’s
Whisper.
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Once I decided to choose the creative writing option for this assignment, the first character that jumped into my mind to explore was Miranda from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. As a Shakespearean actor of nine years, I’ve always wanted to play her character and explore her psyche, so I decided to take this chance to do just that. Some of the roles I love to take on by Shakespeare are his more underdeveloped female roles. Just because they are underdeveloped, many readers and actors perceive and portray them as weak and submissive, however, there is evidence in each of Shakespeare’s texts that proves just the opposite for each of these female characters. My favorite part of tackling these characters is figuring out their inner monologue through some of their quieter, less developed moments by using Shakespeare’s subtle textual clues. Miranda is under full control of Prospero’s dark magic for the majority of her life. Prospero yearns for complete control, even if it means destroying the natural and real world Miranda knows by using his manipulation, making her life seem almost entirely fabricated (as seen in the controversy over whether Prospero’s manipulation of Ferdinand and Miranda’s love makes their romance any less real or authentic). We have also seen controversy over the true power of Prospero’s magic, and I wanted to incorporate this into my creation of Miranda’s inner monologue. I wanted to write from her perspective, exploring the possibility that Prospero’s magic is never strong enough to completely control another human being’s thoughts, only their actions (as seen, also, in Ariel and Caliban’s mental disobedience). Though, in Shakespeare’s text, Miranda seems to be completely entrapped by Prospero’s magic, bending to its every request, I wanted to explore a state in which she could subconsciously recognize Prospero’s manipulation and be subconsciously cognizant of the fact that her reality may not in fact be a reality at all. I also chose to write in iambic pentameter, switching purposefully between perfect iambs, feminine and masculine endings, trochees, etc. to symbolize the hills and valleys of her internal struggle with her reality.
Of course, the inspiration for my title came from Miranda’s line “Your tale, sir, would cure deafness” (Temp. 1.2.107). My piece explores whether or not Miranda is actually “deaf” to the manipulation and strings being pulled around her. Some of the lines that subtly prove Miranda’s inner strength include her endearingly witty, “Sweet lord, you play me false…/ Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle, / And I would call it fair play” (Temp. 5.1.170-4). Though lines such as, “How many goodly creatures are there here! / How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world / That has such people in’t,” give Miranda a child-like naivety and innocence, her burning curiosity prompted me to want to look deeper into how far this curiosity extended (perhaps extending to my piece on whether she subconsciously recognized Prospero’s manipulation). (Temp. 5.1.183-5) The heated exchanges in Scene 1.2 between Miranda and Caliban prove her strength, then immediately after, she succumbs to Prospero’s magic. I hope to connect this deep curiosity and strength to her possible subconscious knowledge on her role as puppet. Creating this piece gives me some incredible insight into the strength and intelligence that Miranda possesses: important, three-dimensional attributes which Shakespeare doesn’t ignore completely but rather keeps very subtle and open for interpretation. Though she is often portrayed as naïve, innocent, and completely under her father’s influence, giving her this power makes me realize that there may be an underlying, subconscious negativity she feels towards her father. I choose to keep her a bit innocent by recognizing her father’s control but not connecting it to the demon she believes controls her reality. That hatred she may bear towards her father may arise from an even deeper subconscious connection between those two pieces for her. Rather than complete worshiping of him because of his knowledge, she may possess some of her own, giving her the right to subconsciously question his dominion over her. In my interpretation, Miranda loses a bit of the innocence and perfect female attributes favored in Shakespeare’s time. However highlighting these subtleties of strength, which Shakespeare included, allows me to paint her as a much more well-rounded, self-aware, modern woman. Though Shakespeare’s Miranda may not have very much worldly knowledge, my interpretation gives and highlights her subconscious moral and emotional sense and knowledge, which should be seen as inherent in every human being, regardless of world experience.