“To cause paralyzing anxiety, is the dream of power. . .”

Is this true?  To have power, do you need to make everyone feel anxious?  According to the author of this essay about Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the answer is “Absolutely.”  The play is about an exiled Duke who wants to return to power, even though he has no army, … Read More

“He wanted revenge. He longed for it. He daydreamed about it.”

Is there a person on earth who hasn’t daydreamed about revenge? It’s easy to relate to a person who wants to get even, which is the basic story line in Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood. It’s based on The Tempest by Shakespeare. In both stories, the central characters have an … Read More

“What’s past is prologue”

At first glance, this line from Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest” suggests that history repeats itself.  This view is written in stone – literally – on the base of the National Archives’ sculpture.  The Harvard Gazette and the University of Chicago Magazine use this quote in articles about the ways … Read More