Thank you for this, Macy! I appreciate it. Hope you’re doing well!
TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA - Pick a Shakespeare you know nothing about and try to guess at the plotline.
So in an attempt not to embarrass myself from lack of knowledge (because y’all i can’t even begin to tell you what I think these problem-plays might be about hehehe), I’m going to guess that Two Noble Kinsmen is fairly similar to Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale? Might be wrong though? Need to read it. But I also enjoyed @ardenrosegarden‘s post about Measure for Measure, because same. (Oh also now that I think about it - I’m saving All’s Well That Ends Well to the end and I’m guessing that Bertram is a dick and Helena has to suffer because of it y’know?)
THE TEMPEST - Which play do you cry the most about? Why?
I was crying about the Princess of France from LLL today because of her whole arc. I just... can’t put it into the precise words, but if you know you know. I will also happy cry at points in this play too, or cry from laughing so hard (4.3. anyone??).
ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL - Which ending do you like best of the plays?
Henry VI Part III - we know exactly where that shit is headed and talk about creepy? I kinda love it though.
I just finished reading The Merchant of Venice for the first time and ahhhh I loved it so much. My local Shakespeare company near my university was doing an online reading with none other than the iconic Patrick Page from Hadestown as Antonio and to hear him yell “most heartily I do beseech the court / To give the judgement” just sent shivers down my spine because it’s Patrick Page. Also I cried at Antonio’s “say how I loved you, speak me fair in death” like I can think of very few bromances greater than Antonio and Bassanio. Also I will ship Portia and Bassanio til the end of time. (Obviously there are other things about this play which need greater attention to detail - Shylock in particular - but to give some first impressions, I loved it).
“I’m on your side” for some Gloucester boys content?
Omg thank you for waiting so long you know it takes me 5 million years to answer asks so thank you!! I will always and forever enjoy writing about my boys ❤️ (Hope you’re doing well!)
“I’m on your side!” Edmund ran after his brother, who decided to turn upstairs after he had grown exhausted from conversation. “Please, Edgar. Can we just talk about this?”
Edgar turned around. He was pale again and looked as if he were about to be ill.
“We’ve already talked about it,” he said, then almost to himself. “I can’t go back there. To the...with Lear... I can’t... I... can’t,”
“I know,” Edmund finally caught up, halfway up the flight of stairs. He was out of breath, though he wasn’t sure why. “I know and you don’t have to go back,”
“Then what do you suggest I do?” Edgar crossed his arms. “Dad will barely look at me. I can’t stay here,”
“Go with Albany,”
“What?”
“Go with Albany,”
“And beg him for a place to sleep? Forget it,” Edgar turned back away, though Edmund noticed some color back in his face. He started walking back towards his room, which he barely left as is. Edmund had to begin following again.
“He won’t say no,” Edmund finally said before his brother turned the door handle. Edgar stopped.
“How do you know that?” Edgar asked, cynicism creeping into his voice. It was one of the only times Edmund heard his brother sound so bitter.
“Because he’s a friend,” Edmund said. “He cares about you, Edgar,”
There was a pause. Edgar became pale again and he turned around, his eyes disinterested, drained.
“Can we talk about this later?” Edgar asked, his voice strained. “I’m tired,”
Edmund stepped back a little on the stair, exhaling, about to retort though the sickly visage his brother wore cut him short. He was on Edgar’s side now; he needed to act like it.
“Yeah, okay,” he said. “Whatever you need,”
Another pause. It would be days before he would see Edgar again, he knew. He would send someone up tomorrow to make sure that his brother was okay, still breathing, still functional. Their father wouldn’t do it. Edgar was dead weight to him now.
“Thanks, Edmund,” Edgar said, and paused before adding, almost under his breath. “I’ll think about it. About Albany,”
Edmund then smiled a little, so did Edgar. Just like they did when they were young. All to quickly, Edgar turned around, looking nearly about to faint, and closed the door behind him.
Thank you for this! Life is a mess right now so I appreciate you for waiting :)
❤ Favorite Male: Henry VI (but I also love George of Clarence - and my personality is like if you took both of them and put them into one person, that’s me).
❤ Favorite Female: Margaret of Anjou (though Eleanor Cobham deserves an honorable mention - I wouldn’t say that she’s my favorite in these plays, but I do like her outside of the plays, mostly because of @nuingiliath‘s gorgeous and never-ending dedication to her - it’s inspiring).
❤ Favorite Pairing: Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou - they are fascinating to watch together. I think about that one scene where Margaret is mourning over Suffolk and Henry just shrugs her off like every single day. They are some of the most estranged parents in the canon and my brain can’t stop thinking about it.
❤ Least Favorite Character: It might be Humphrey of Gloucester ahhhhh but it might also be Catesby? Ahahah idk!!! I don’t think much about my least favorite characters - the only Shakespearean character that I would like to fight is Marc Antony so I don’t hate these characters whatsoever. If I had to put them in an order though they might rank lower just because I like other characters more.
❤ who’s most like me: As I said before, Henry VI and George of Clarence in one body yep that’s me. I like it call it the chaotic kid with a 4.0.
❤ most attractive: That Henry VI fancast as Callum Turner is pretty nice won’t lie. Also as an intense woman, I just relate to Margaret so much so I’d love an academic, sweet bookworm for a partner.
❤ three more characters that I like: Warwick (he’s my favorite side-lord in the Wars of the Roses - everyone’s got a favorite and if you don’t you’re lying), Edward IV (he’s just like... out here and just the sheer frat boy energy is unhinged), Edward of Westminster (poor bby boy he’s just caught in the middle of his parents’ issues and can you imagine ahhhh)
Thank you so much for the ask, Macy! I always love to talk about my son hehehe. I’m going to tag @princess-of-france too if she’s interested! (I know it’s been a while since we’ve done King Lear stuff on here…)
do I like them:
My darling angel boy I love him to the moon and back
5 good qualities:
independent, artistic, empathetic, gentle (but absolutely feral when he needs to be), honest
I adore him in King Lear, and in L.E.A.R. I’m having to do some fixing with TEP, (which is why I haven’t been posting about it, but I haven’t forgotten it!)
otp:
Edgar x Albany (otp: where have you hid yourself? - these two absolutely need one another, especially post-play, and there is so much that they can learn from one another. I don’t think I’m ever going to stop crying about these two).
Edgar x Cordelia (otp: thou dearest best of men - [get ready for my TEP headcanons:] I like to think of them as England’s hope. They were going to pull the country out of the mess that Lear inherited, the mess that he made worse, they were going to make it better. That’s what they wanted, but God knows it would’ve never worked. These two take notes from one another in their actions, and it’s what ends up destroying them. Cordelia takes a stand against Lear after Edgar tried it all those years ago. Edgar sees Cordelia in armor and decides it’s time to take justice on the wrongdoings of his brother. And back in King Lear land [from the actual play] - I’d argue that Edgar’s first step into civilization after running away is joining Cordelia’s army. He comes back to the world for her, and guess who’s on the other side? Albany - the man he thought he could trust, and you can bet that drives an immovable wedge between them.)
brotp:
Edgar x Edmund (do they destroy each other? Absolutely, but your Gloucester family sitcom idea has restored my faith in humanity and I’m going to write it one of these days watch me >-<)
ot3:
Edgar x King Lear x The Fool (aka: your favorite pals to spend time with while braving out a storm - no but really, at this point in the play, everything is getting displaced, and Edgar (of all people) replaces the fool in this filial relationship and it’s just one more odd pairing that makes the night even more chaotic.)
notp:
Edgar x Goneril (lol we were talking about this a whillleee back - it’s been 5ever since I’ve written for this play - but these two definitely have some things in common, and Edgar totally drives a wedge between her already struggling marriage with Albany - and he drives a wedge between her affair with Edmund. I could see her taking agency to hurt him in some way after she’s been so hurt all her life. She knows he’d never blame her, and I don’t know if she would be able to bring herself to do it.)
best quote(s):
“He sent me to Princeton to find myself. But it was a waste of time and a colossal waste of money because you can’t find what doesn’t exist. I was hollow. I was air. I was nothing, so I found nothing.” - Edgar; L.E.A.R. (Act I) - (by the lovely @princess-of-france - the word ‘nothing’ is so powerful in King Lear and Claire has done such a wonderful job with Edgar’s character, pairing him with Albany was perhaps one of the most heartbreaking and yet most perfect ideas I’ve ever had the privilege of coming across. Hope you don’t mind me using your quote, Claire, but it’s so perfect for our darling Edgar.)
“Poor Tom hath been scared out of his good wits.” - Edgar; King Lear (4.1.) - (I believe that this is the one time in the play that the word ‘scared’ is said, and to hear it now, from Edgar, looking at his blinded father, who has no idea who he is, that is powerful. It’s such a raw moment, because it’s not really Tom talking in the moment, it’s Edgar. Edgar is scared out of his good wits. He’s absolutely terrified. What on earth has happened to his father? Who did this? Why did they do this? He can do nothing but stare and hope for an answer. He’s absolutely powerless.)
head canon:
Get ready for angst, kids.
Edmund’s (especially before he joined the army) was prone to fainting when exposed to too much physical or even emotional pain. It was delicate constitution he got from his mother, and he hated it. He got picked on by the other boys at school. He got called weak, and Edmund is anything but weak. Edgar, on the other hand, has never fainted before in his life. He’s incredibly strong, given the sometimes fragile state of his mind. His breaking point is wayyy past the normal person’s breaking point, and sometimes Edgar wishes that he could just drop out and have his body tell him to let go.
Thank you for this, lovely! (Pushing off my history class reading to tomorrow because my brain is too fried to do any work right now...)
8- What classes are you taking right now?
1) Love, Lust, and Desire in the Pre-Modern World (ENG 394)
2) Medieval Lit in Translation (ENG 315)
3) Late Victorian/Edwardian Young Adult Literature (ENG 426)
4) The Human Event (HON 272)
5) Modern Britain (HST 367)
6) Concert Band (MUP 444)
Totals up to 16 credit hours! (Which happens to be about how many hours that I’m in class a week)
32- Describe your favorite teacher/professor and why you like them.
I’ve got two!
My Shakespeare professor from last year is great. He’s this older Scottish man who came to my university after teaching there for a while, and it was like his second semester here when I took his class. We both got our first experience doing honors projects that semester (I worked on one while he supervised), and he put up with my obnoxious acting (which has apparently got around to other professors in the department - which makes me laugh). He’s been so kind to take me under his wing as someone who is interested in studying Early Modern Literature and Shakespeare. I’ve been lucky to have discussions with graduate students as a freshman about The Winter’s Tale - which was so fun and I’ll never forget it, because I was the only undergraduate. He’s also been really kind to offer to write a graduate school rec letter for me (and I’m only a sophomore like ahhh!), and I’m hoping that his Cambridge background is gonna help me get into some good graduate schools >-<
I also love my Victorian lit professor this semester. She was the professor I worked on my Ariel project with last semester, and has been really kind in engaging with my interests and treating me like a mature scholar. She was the one who told me that our department generally “doesn’t get a lot of outstanding students” - which I think about a lot, for positive and negative reasons, but said that she was advocating for me as a young scholar. People around the English department generally love taking her classes, and she truly takes the time to get to know her students. I’m planning to work with her again on a project concerning Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, The Black Arrow, which is set during The Wars of the Roses.
37- Worst study habit and how are you working on it?
It’s really difficult for me to focus! There’s something about this semester that’s been a little odd, and I’m not settling in as fast as I normally do, which is a bit frustrating. Sometimes I have to force myself to work for 25 minutes on a timer and then take a five minute break, which helps, but I really don’t like working that way for some reason (even though it helps with my productivity a little bit). Lofi music also helps sometimes too, but I’ve still got a long way to go in figuring this one out. (Any tips on focus would be greatly appreciated).
Hey, local English major who has somehow never read Wilde in her life here, first of all I need to get on that but second of all I would love to hear more about your plot/ideas for the Lady Windermere's Fan prequel and how you got inspired for it! Your creativity never ceases to impress me, this project seems like so much fun.
Thank you so much for this, Macy! (And thank you for all your kind words, I really don’t deserve friends like you). And tagging @princess-of-france because writing projects (I hope you’re doing well!)
(Enjoy a Stephen Fry as Oscar Wilde gif…)
The Selby Roses is a working title for a prequel to one of Oscar Wilde’s comedy plays, Lady Windermere’s Fan, that I’ve been working on for roughly a month - the project has just begun, and the road will be long, but I’m excited to go on this journey with it!
Quickly before I get into The Selby Roses, I’ll give a quick synopsis of LWF if you’d like some context. On Lady Windermere’s 21st birthday, news is brought to her that for the past six months, her husband has been giving enormous sums of money to a mysterious woman by the name of Mrs. Erlynne. In a moment of desperation, her husband invites this woman to his wife’s birthday party. Is Lord Windermere having an affair? And how will the young Lady Windermere handle it if he were? In one dazzlingly disastrous night, our characters confront love, loss, lust, misguided intentions, confessions, drunken fights, and some terrible confusion about a particular fan. You can click here to see the cast of the 2018 Vaudeville production try and summarize it in under one minute!
A line in Act IV of LWF prompts the story of The Selby Roses: “Let us go to Selby. In the Rose Garden at Selby the roses are white and red.” A highly fond memory of Lady Windermere’s that reminds her of the root of her love for her husband, and thus sets the stage for our prequel play.
Set in the summer of 1888, The Selby Roses tells the story of the budding romance of Lord Arthur Hudson and Lady Margaret Kendal (our eventual Lord and Lady Windermere in LWF). The play begins the day of a country party out in the Windermere’s country home in Selby. Arthur’s father, having been diagnosed with a terminal illness, wishes to see his eldest son married before he dies. All is in order for Arthur’s courtship of the charming Lady Emma Carlisle, but a mysterious Lady Kendal arrives at the party and takes Arthur’s heart unexpectedly. However, Arthur is not the only one smitten by her, and even if she loves him in return, love isn’t their only obstacle. The night spins into one of chaos, a Victorian high-society Wars of the Roses where a woman’s heart becomes as valuable as a kingdom. Hearts will be won, lost, broken, but all is fair in love and war…
The main cast is as follows (I’ll indicate original canon characters vs new characters). I’m going to leave them under a cut so this post doesn’t get too long!
Women:
Lady Margaret Kendal (19 y/o) - (Lady Windermere in LWF). Invited by Alexander to the party without the permission of his parents. Bold, spirited, highly principled, although she is rather sheltered. She finds herself confused between several lovers who cross her path over the evening, but finds consolation in becoming friends with the other women.
Alice Hudson, Marchioness of Windermere (50s) - Arthur and Alexander’s mother, a good friend of the Duchess of Berwick. She intends for this courtship between Arthur and the Duchess’s daughter to go smoothly, but runs into several distractions set up by her sons and their friends. Witty, honest, somewhat overprotective and dotes on her boys. (prequel add-in: the line “you fancy because I have no father or mother that I am alone in the world, and that you can treat me as you choose” from Lady Windermere in the original play gave me the idea that Arthur has at least one living parent by the time LWF rolls around, unlike his wife.)
Lady Julia Kendal (40s) - Margaret’s aunt and governess. She has raised Margaret ever since the child was eight years old, raising her with Puritan ideals, hoping she’ll be different than her nearly scandalized parents. She comes to the party with Margaret, and wants her to stay away from the men, but love will have a way. (She is mentioned by Lady Windermere in LWF, but is never seen in that play).
Margaret Erlynne (late 30s/early 40s)- This infamous woman of LWF doesn’t appear until the end of The Selby Roses, clearly to make her intentions with the Windermere household in Oscar Wilde’s play, but also to recount on her past mistakes and regrets.
Laura Ford (early 20s) - (Lady Plymdale in LWF) University student in London, she attends the party on her own while her brother takes care of her ailing mother at home. She has been offered a proposal several times by Lord Albert Plymdale, but she finds her heart pining for the Byronic writer, George Dumby. It’s been like that for years, how could tonight possibly change anything? Bold, mature, incredibly smart, but her heart is absolutely aching.
Lady Beatrice Marley (20 y/o) - Arthur and Alexander’s cousin, Alice’s niece. She becomes a good acquaintance of the young Lady Kendal along with the other women of the play who help her go after the hopelessly lovestruck Arthur. She finds herself being chased around by Dumby, who finds her to be his new muse. Kind, sharp, with a charitable spirit. (An add-in. There was no particular line in the play that inspired her creation, but rather Dumby’s somewhat womanizing character and his relationship with Laura prompted me just as well.)
Arabella Carlisle, Duchess of Berwick (50s) - (Duchess of Berwick in LWF) Like Alice, she intends for the night to run smoothly and for Athur to make a proposal to her daughter by the end of the night. However, she gets caught up in the younger generation’s antics to turn that notion completely upside-down. Gossipy, somewhat of a control freak, highly talkative.
Emma Carlisle of Berwick (20 y/o) - The third youngest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Berwick. She is the intended lover of Arthur Hudson. However, she finds herself falling more and more in love with his younger brother, Alexander. Over the course of the night, she must choose between love and honoring her parents’ wishes, all the while making sense of these obnoxious men and avoiding scandal. She is charming, highly attractive, a free-thinker, independent. (An add in: the line “but I think that a mother who doesn’t part with a daughter every season has no real affection” from the Duchess of Berwick in the original play inspired the idea to give the Duke and Duchess six wonderfully bright daughters, and one son who makes himself an intentional failure).
Ida Carlisle of Berwick (18 y/o) - The second youngest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Berwick. The first of the women that Lady Kendal befriends. She is incredibly bright, catching on quite fully to the antics of the men (especially her own brother’s). (an add-in)
Men:
Arthur Hudson, 5th Marquess of Windermere (early 20s) - (Lord Windermere in LWF) This party is thrown so he may propose to the Duchess’s daughter by the end of the night, but he instead falls for Lady Kendal. He employs his godfather, Lord Augustus, and his best friend, Cecil Graham to create a distraction so that he is able to speak with her. He’s not the only one with the same plan. Tense, shy, nearly incapable of saying “no”. (Although most Victorian men don’t get married until their late 20s or early 30s, I decided to make Arthur younger as he is the only one of his friends in LWF who is married.)
Edward Hudson, 4th Marquess of Windermere (50s) - The elderly Lord Windermere who wishes to secure a future for his family line before he dies. He hopes that his son will choose Lady Carlisle, insisting that his wife be his son’s constant chaperone. Somewhat terrified for his own death, wants everything to be in control. (an add-in).
Alexander Hudson (early 20s) - Arthur’s younger brother by a year and a half. Alexander finds himself absolutely head over heels for Lady Carlisle, the woman that his brother is meant to be marrying. He employs Dumby and the young Henry Carlisle to help keep up a lie that he is someone else for the evening in order to avoid the Duchess, who would rather have her daughter marry anyone but him. Unlike his brother, Alexander is charming, outgoing, mischievous, and handsome beyond compare. (an add-in: Arthur is so incredibly worried all the time, I thought it would be funny to give him a brother who is his total opposite).
Gerard Kendal, 3rd Earl of Kendal (deceased - mentioned in name only) - Lady Kendal’s father. He committed suicide before the play began over the loss of his first wife, Margaret’s mother. His suicide was swept up by Lady Julia, his sister, to look like it came of natural causes, even though she knows the truth, she keeps it from Margaret to maintain reputation. (he is also mentioned in LWF, being the namesake for the Windermere’s son, and said by Margaret to have “really died of a broken heart”).
Cecil Graham (20s) - (same character in LWF) Employed by Arthur to keep his mother away from him, along with Lord Augustus. He is a member of the House of Commons, and a great friend of Arthur. The two went to Eton together as well as to Trinity College, Oxford. Gossipy, witty, thinks he knows more than he actually does.
George Dumby (late 20s) - (simply known as “Dumby” in LWF) Employed by the younger Hudson and by Lord Darlington to keep up two separate distractions. Finding the prospect amusing, he takes on the challenge. He also becomes tangled in his own love life, deciding to flirt with Lady Beatrice Marley while the true love of his life, Laura Ford, slips from his grasp. Having also met Arthur and Cecil at Oxford, Dumby is reimagined in this play as a writer with a Byronic complex, having come to high society through the success of his novels. He is adventurous, eloquent, mischievous, but also incredibly lost.
Lord Augustus Lorton (late 40s/early 50s) - (same character in LWF) Employed by his godson to distract his sister, the Duchess, from paying much attention to her daughter during the course of the evening, which works well in Alexander’s favor. A little slow, likes to indulge, but he always has good intentions.
George Carlisle, 3rd Duke of Berwick (50s) - (mentioned in LWF) His daughter, Emma, is intended to be married to Arthur Hudson. He is somewhat intimidating, tough, over-protective of his daughters’ reputations, feels somewhat emasculated because he has a poor excuse for an heir.
Henry Carlisle of Berwick (early 20s) - The only son of the Duke and Duchess of Berwick, Henry has taken to a life of indulgence and riot. He attends Magdalen College, Oxford. He is employed by Alexander Hudson to keep up a lie about his identity for the night, and he is also employed by Lord Darlington to keep Lady Julia distracted, only adding to the game of antics for the night, which is highly appealing to him. Incorrigible, riotous, the youngest man in the play, somewhat of a follower. (he is mentioned as the Duchess’s son in LWF, but not given a name, so took liberty to do so).
John Vernon, 13th Baron of Darlington (late 20s) - (Lord Darlington in LWF) A good friend of Arthur’s, having met him the previous summer through a mutual friend. Believing that Arthur is meant to be wooing Lady Carlisle, John pursues Lady Kendal, but finds himself against Lady Julia. He employs Dumby and Henry Carlisle to keep her distracted. Never takes himself seriously, except around those that he cares about. Somewhat of a casanova.
Taylor (40s-60s) - Lord Windermere’s valet. He is able to catch on quite well to Alexander and Arthur’s affections and decides to aid on his own for the cause of love, at the possible risk to his reputation and his job. Polite, gentle, knows what’s right and what’s wrong. (an add-in: his eventual replacement is Parker from LWF).
And that’s it for now! I’ve got a couple of excerpt posts drafted, so I will share those in due time! I hope you enjoyed, or were at least mildly amused :) Thank you for your constant support! Best wishes:)
I don't know if you're still at the airport but: Fave book as a kid? Least favourite Shakespeare play so far (if you had to pick)? Best book you've read for school? Also, I'd love to hear even more about your tempest project sometime!
Hi! Got back home safe and sound - and thank you so much for this! Your asks are absolutely wonderful:)
Fave book as a kid?
Here’s the very funny thing - I actually hated reading as a kid. I hated books. I just *heavy sigh* did not enjoy it whatsoever. Up until high school, I wanted to be a biology major or do something with sciences in education. My first favorite book didn’t come up until senior year of high school, and that was Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - (he has an incredibly interesting biography - like hit me up if you ever need or want some Aldous Huxley facts/trivia, I’m your girl).
Least favorite Shakespeare play so far?
Titus Andronicus. Ahhh, I’m so sorry to everyone who likes that play, I wish I could like it, I really do. Maybe if I go into some more research about it I might like it a little bit more, but if I had to choose a Shakespeare play to never read again, it would be that one.
Best book you’ve read for school?
This semester, I just finished reading The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells and I loved it. I didn’t like it at first, but by the time I finished it I was in love. It’s a very easy read, relatively short, but the three main characters are absolutely fascinating. There’s the narrator, Edward Prendick (who is ME - we have so many things in common it hurts me a little), who gets rescued from a lifeboat that he was the only survivor on - after an episode where he contemplates cannibalism - , and he is absolutely terrified when he sees what’s going on on this island he’s been brought to, so much so that it’s traumatic for him for the rest of his life. Montgomery, who rescues him, gay alcoholic who has found friends in these animal-human hybrids, and comes into fatal moral contention with Prendick. And then there’s Moreau, who is a vivisectionist trying to create human beings from animals, and at one point stabs a knife into his leg to prove that pain exists because it does and we shouldn’t put feeling into it, and like I wish I had that kind of confidence in life. I absolutely adore books that delve into the psychological and this one does not disappoint. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. (Also, like if you decide to watch the 1996 movie, just know that they took the book and like threw it into the ocean and disregarded everything, but it’s like so bad that you can’t look away either so... watch at your own risk? >-<).
ProjectAriel?
So my Tempest project this semester (which I am still in the research phase of) is exploring Ariel’s place in The Tempest from a few different standpoints (right now - I’ll probably fine tune it later once my research becomes more specific). One that I’m going to dig a little deeper into is the idea that he might represent a romanticization of the pre-colonial past. I’m also interested in his use of magic in comparison to Prospero’s, and if (if they do) these magical characters compete with each other in any way, and why they do, or do not - which might lead me into research about faeries. It was interesting to me that Prospero and Sycorax have some competition for the island and they share the ability of magic, whereas Ariel has magical qualities, he is the most indigeneous character on the island, yet he does not claim power in the same way that Prospero does - which could lead into the idea of the pre-colonial past and the idea that Ariel is very similar to the character of Friday from Robinson Crusoe (the sort of benevolent indigenous character). It sounds really ramble-y but that’s everything that’s going on in my brain at this point. I’m planning to really dig in this weekend and next week.
