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Post by Ennui on Dec 6, 2004 8:10:13 GMT -5
Another Shakespeare allusion I'd hitherto missed in TRR...referring, like the Prospero, to Shakespeare's last great play, the Tempest.
Prospero is the banished Duke of Tragedy, a magician who usurps rule of an island from the witch Sycorax and her son Caliban, and then arranges for all his enemies to be shipwrecked there during a storm. All that you probably know.
But what you might have missed is that Stephano is a character in the same play. Stephano is a drunken butler in the service of Alonzo, one of Prospero's enemies. He comes ashore and encounters the fool Trinculo and the savage Caliban. Together they plot to kill Prospero and rule the island, but only succeed in getting drunk and making fools of themselves.
An interesting guise for Olaf, a genuine murderer in earnest who kills the "magician" figure Monty. But there are similarities. Stephano and Olaf are both arrogant braggarts who put on airs and like to order people around. They're also both drunkards. Caliban and Trinculo might even be compared to the troupe, if rather tenuously, as Caliban is much cleverer than any of the henchmen-almost an Olaf in himself.
Other comparisons can be made. Prospero frees all the spirits under his control at the end of the Tempest; the reptiles are all freed at some point after the Reptile Room. In this case Ariel, the chief spirit and rightful ruler of the island, is perhaps parallel to the Incredibly Deadly Viper.
But of most note is the way Stephano and his followers are ultimately manipulated, frightened and defeated by Prospero. Might the ship play a similar role in Olaf's defeat? Or has she already done so, by spiriting away Lemony to safety rather than whisking the Baudelaire to their doom?
Discuss.
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Antenora
Detriment Deleter
Fiendish Philologist
Put down that harpoon gun, in the name of these wonderful birds!
Posts: 15,891
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Post by Antenora on Dec 7, 2004 7:50:40 GMT -5
It's possible that the ship has played a role in Olaf's defeat and/or Lemony's rescue.
I now wish to discuss another character named Prospero, one from the Edgar Allan Poe story The Masque of the Red Death. This Prospero creates a sanctuary for his knights and ladies, to protect them from the Red Death, a terrible plague. The inhabitants of this beautiful castle think they are safe, but during a masked ball the Red Death enters. It kills Prospero first, when he tries to strike at it with his dagger, and then kills everyone in the castle.
Prospero builds a seemingly perfect world that cannot endure--a false utopia. Could this also be connected? Is the ship a false sanctuary? Or am I just floating random theories?
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Post by Ennui on Dec 7, 2004 7:56:57 GMT -5
Lord...I'd completely forgotten about that Prospero. Perhaps in some way the machinations of Mr Poe will lead to the ship's destruction. That runs counter to the rather optimistic conclusions I drew on examining Prospero and Stephano in the Tempest.
One thing seems clear-we will see the Prospero again (probably in book the thirteenth) and she will be crucial.
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Post by Dante on Dec 7, 2004 10:11:34 GMT -5
Since the couple who own the Prospero apparently assisted with the Incredibly Deadly Viper, and the I.D.V. is probably the only trained reptile not in Olaf's possession, then the Prospero will probably come into play at some point when the reptile collection plotline ties back in. Hmm... Perhaps it will be in Book the Thirteenth, when at least one Baudelaire will be spending some time on the sea.
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Post by Ennui on Dec 7, 2004 14:20:45 GMT -5
And if the Prospero reappears in Book the Thirteenth, it accords with my Unfortunate Cycle theory, as presented *flourishes* here- asoue.proboards10.com/index.cgi?board=future&action=display&thread=1100546795But back to the main, and more unusual, topic: the matter of Stephano. Does my parallelling Olaf as a successful Stephano, Monty as Prospero, and the Incredibly Deadly Viper as Ariel work? I think there's something in it. Monty's house is eerily like the houses of many magicians I've encountered; Coriakin's house in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader particularly, which seems magical because of its strange mundanity. It fits many of the conventions: secluded in green countryside, mysterious, and with the snake hedges, vaguely threatening. The glass Reptile Room, the secrets of the library, and the secret passage add layers of illusion and confusion to the house. If you haven't read the Tempest, by the way, do so! It's my favourite out of the comedies, certainly. If the Prospero does turn out to be the ruin of Olaf/Stephano in the final chapter of the Baudelaire chronicles, (whether or not she is destroyed from within-by a Poe?-like in the Masque of the Red Death) then the Count will have reason to regret the irony of that particular false name.
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Post by SnicketFires on Dec 7, 2004 21:22:51 GMT -5
It's possible that the ship has played a role in Olaf's defeat and/or Lemony's rescue. I now wish to discuss another character named Prospero, one from the Edgar Allan Poe story The Masque of the Red Death. This Prospero creates a sanctuary for his knights and ladies, to protect them from the Red Death, a terrible plague. The inhabitants of this beautiful castle think they are safe, but during a masked ball the Red Death enters. It kills Prospero first, when he tries to strike at it with his dagger, and then kills everyone in the castle. Prospero builds a seemingly perfect world that cannot endure--a false utopia. Could this also be connected? Is the ship a false sanctuary? Or am I just floating random theories? Geez. I just read that story, too. Why did I not see that connection?
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Post by Uni-Brow on Dec 15, 2004 20:40:04 GMT -5
Shakespeare also uses the name Stephano in his play "The Merchant of Venice" Although its used as a minor character (Some servant who doesnt play much of a part) Mr. Snicket also uses the name "Ophelia" as a town, whereas Shakespeare uses that as a character name in his play "Hamlet"
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Post by Ennui on Jan 31, 2005 7:58:37 GMT -5
Further credence is given to this parallel of mine-Daniel Handler said in an interview with the Independent that the Voyage of the Dawn Treader had been one of his favourite chilhood books. Annoyingly, I have to pay money to access the article, so you'll just have to take this fascinating gem of info on trust...
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Post by RockSunner on Jan 31, 2005 22:46:19 GMT -5
But of most note is the way Stephano and his followers are ultimately manipulated, frightened and defeated by Prospero. Might the ship play a similar role in Olaf's defeat? Or has she already done so, by spiriting away Lemony to safety rather than whisking the Baudelaire to their doom? Discuss. Ennui, I hope you're not saying that the voyage of the Prospero that took Lemony to safety (either the one right after he lost his theater critic job, or the one after his "funeral") was the same one that would have taken the Baudelaires to Peru with Count Olaf. They can't possibly be the same voyage, and any attempt to make them the same destroys any reasonable timetable for the series, including the one you gave in another recent thread. Ships can make more than one trip, and I count three: 1) In LSUA pp. 96-98 and 109-111, Lemony was instructed to leave the country on this ship. He may or may not have done so. The ship was scheduled to leave at 8:00pm sharp from Daedalus Dock, but it left early. 2) In TRR the Prospero voyage to take the Baudelairs to Peru was to leave at 5:00pm from Hazy Harbor. According to the map on pp. 149-150 of LSUA, Hazy Harbor is nowhere near Daedalus Dock. 3) In LSUA pp. 5-7, Lemony is writing at 4:30pm, expecting the arrival of the Prospero in "a few minutes" at a "fogged-in" harbor. He has read his own obituary (p. 3), which refers to him as "author of A Series of Unfortunate events," (which means that the series been published). He complains that "The Daily Punctilio has never been a reliable newspaper, not when I worked there as part of an undercover assignment, not when that terrible reporter began to write about the Baudelaire case..." (The Punctilio didn't start writing about the Baudelaires until TVV). I don't think any of these three voyages are the same. The first is near the time of the schism, the second during the time of SOUE, and the third after Lemony has published his books.
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Post by PJ on Jan 31, 2005 23:26:39 GMT -5
All that you probably know. Actually... I didn't. Also, I think that although Handler used the names Stephano and Prospero, I doubt he will actually write his books to make them act the same way as they do in the Tempest. I mean, he doesn't do this any where else (like klaus killing Sunny or anything) I think its neat, but that is all. There will be no further parrallels.
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Post by Ennui on Feb 1, 2005 2:18:59 GMT -5
RockSunner...point taken. My crime wasn't as heinous as all that though; I was thinking of Lemony's second voyage being the same as the Baudelaires' potential voyage. I agree Lemony's first voyage is way, way out. Still, agreed.
PJ...hmmm...let's just wait and see. There are worse ways of making predictions than looking at sources and inspirations, that's for sure...
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Post by PJ on Feb 1, 2005 2:21:13 GMT -5
There are also better ways. But we shall see. I personally doubt it, but who knows. While we are waiting, lets speak of our favorite coke types. I like Cherry Coke the most, I must admit... Edit: To my dismay, I have found something that supports your argument is that in the picture of the Prospero on page 111 of the UA we can clearly see that the figurehead of the ship is a statue of a man (who looks like shakespeare) writing on some paper.
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Antenora
Detriment Deleter
Fiendish Philologist
Put down that harpoon gun, in the name of these wonderful birds!
Posts: 15,891
Likes: 113
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Post by Antenora on Mar 13, 2005 8:17:14 GMT -5
This is Shakespeare. Compare to the Prospero figurehead. Shakespeare is one of the noble writers who has inspired(or even been part of) VFD, so his likeness would be a logical adornment for a VFD-owned ship.
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Post by PJ on Mar 13, 2005 16:19:50 GMT -5
Yeh, like I said..... There are (I think) two pictures of the boat, and you can see Shakespeare on both of them.
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Post by SnicketFires on Mar 13, 2005 20:13:19 GMT -5
Yeh, like I said..... There are (I think) two pictures of the boat, and you can see Shakespeare on both of them. Yes, one's in TRR, page 91, and the other is in the UA, page 111.
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