Tempest

[Bluenose1]

Hello

How would you translate 'We are the stuff that dreams are made of?'

Thanks

[Poetaster]

It's pretty self explanatory, what do you mean 'translate' exactly?

[Pompey Bum]

Nous sommes de l'étoffe que les rêves sont faits.

[Lykren]

人間は夢で作った物です。

[Clopin]

^ Bullies

[Pompey Bum]

人間は夢で作った物です。

Well done, Lykren! :)

[Eiseabhal]

A sinne tha bruadairean deante

[Lykren]

Well done, Lykren! :)

Thanks, Pompey. I just looked up a real translation of the phrase and as I expected, it's rather more complicated. Mine back translates very literally to 'As for humans, made with dreams things are.'

Whereas the the more accurate version, as far as I can understand, becomes in English: 'Dreams with be made as, such we those appearing things are.'

So, not really well done :/

[Bluenose1]

Hello

Thank you for your replies.

I really meant simply it. 'We are the stuff that dreams are made of?' We are who we are - human beings - but whose dreams? We are the products of whose dreams?

Thanks.

[Pompey Bum]

Hi Bluenose! I responded in detail on the other thread you started.

[Bluenose1]

Hello Pompey Bum

Thanks for your reply, but I can only see messages 3 in what looks like French (?), and 6.

Blueie

[Pompey Bum]

Hi Blueie! Didn't you start another thread in which you asked the same question in a slightly different way? I left a detailed response on that thread.

EDIT: Here it is: http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?82181-Tempest

And here's what I said:

Welcome to the site, Bluenose, and please forgive our high spirits on the other thread. The quotation is actually: "We are such stuff as dreams are made on." It is from William Shakespeare's The Tempest, spoken by the magician Prospero. As usual with Shakespeare, it may be taken on more than one level. On the the dramatic level, that is, in the story Shakespeare is telling, Prospero is informing the audience of a spirit drama he has conjured up that the show is over:

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

On another level, Shakespeare is commenting on the illusory nature of theater, in which the great palaces and temples--and even the familiar characters--are, in fact, insubstantial visions that "dissolve" when the curtain falls. Note "the great globe itself" which may be a reference to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Some think The Tempest was the last play that Shakespeare wrote independently, and that Prospero, who retires from magic at the play's end, is a somewhat autobiographical character. If so, the passage is quite poignant. It is as if Shakespeare is saying to his own audience: Well, I'm glad you enjoyed my plays, but it was all illusion, and now it's time to move on. Of course he said it better--he's Shakespeare.

On the third and most profound level, Shakespeare is commenting on the illusory nature of life itself, with "great globe" now referring to earthly existence, which "shall dissolve/And, like this insubstantial pageant [that is, Prospero's show] faded,/Leave not a rack [that is, not a ruin or trace] behind." At that point comes your quote: "We are such stuff/As dreams are made on"--we, too, are illusions destined to fade like dreams--"And our little life/Is rounded with a sleep." And our lives end with--death? The sentiment is not faithful in a religious sense, but neither is it atheistic. "A sleep" may imply further dreaming, and since "We are such stuff/As dreams are made on," who knows?

I hope that was helpful.

[Bluenose1]

Brilliant reply. May I also suggest this?


We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep

These are gods speaking?

[Bluenose1]

Or this:

'We make our own dreams'

This man drives me crazy! heheheh

Thanks for everything

[Pompey Bum]

Brilliant reply. May I also suggest this?

Thank you, Blueie. Yes, feel free to use the ideas, but please don't copy them word for word. The important thing is that you understand. Perhaps you can add a few ideas of your own, too.


These are gods speaking?

No, the verses are spoken by Prospero, a magician, who has conjured up spirits to act in a play. Prospero makes the speech when the drama ends (rather prematurely).

[Bluenose1]

You are referring to Shakespeare within the confines of his drama. I am referring to applying that sense of drama in a wider context:

'We make our own dreams'

That is the essence if you were to apply in an everyday - I think?

[Pompey Bum]

You are referring to Shakespeare within the confines of his drama. I am referring to applying that sense of drama in a wider context:

'We make our own dreams'

That is the essence if you were to apply in an everyday - I think?

Okay. I mean, for me, in the broader context it is more like: life is but a dream. But as I said, it's important to follow your own ideas on this. Go with what it says to you. :)

[Bluenose1]

you are a kind soul - Bunnies are lovely. Why that intimidating fella?

[Pompey Bum]

Thank you. Alas, my bunny rabbit is a denizen of Uncanny Valley. But only half his face is intimidating. And that half is just looking after the kind half. :)