How do the child figures in The Tempest' contribute to our Essay

How do the child figures in The Tempest' contribute to our understanding of Prospero as a Renaissance leader - Essay Example Thus they contain down-to-earth characters who appeal to the working classes, side-by-side with complexities of plot which would satisfy the appetites of the aristocrats among the audience† (Geraghty, 2002). The progress of mankind can be traced through numerous different venues, not the least of which is humankind’s identification with and understanding of what constitutes the supernatural. These ideas of the supernatural are reflected in the way in which the various characters of these works interact with the world of the supernatural as it relates to the self. At the same time, it has been suggested in a number of different ways and in a number of different cultures that the fundamental nature of the parent can be seen to some degree in the fundamental nature of the child. This nature can also be revealed to some extent in the various ways in which the parent relates to the child. Literature, in telling us stories of different people, can often reveal much more detail regarding what is meant when one refers to a particular character type such as the renaissance man by how this figure is revealed through his or her relationships with others, particularly those who are most dependent on them. To illustrate how this might occur, it is possible to look to the child-like characters in William Shakespeare’s play â€Å"The Tempest† to gain an understanding of the renaissance man as he is represented in the figure of Prospero. The term Renaissance Man is often thrown around as if it should be widely understood by those within hearing. It is used in statements such as â€Å"Jim is a true Renaissance Man,† and thus presented as self-explanatory. A film featuring the name â€Å"Renaissance Man† was created in 1994 that sheds some light on the term as the actor Danny DeVito struggles to teach relatively uneducated military recruits how to think by having