Storytime! *Final Project Story Idea*

Alright, so I've been doing a lot of reading of the ideas that others have posted for a story for the final project. I must say, I really enjoyed them. I liked where they were going with them. They definitely got my juices flowing, and I got some ideas of my own. Granted, I took bits and pieces of what others have written about and sortof compiled them into what I thought would be a fun interpretation and how it all fits together. So here it goes!



Alright, so to begin, we start with Andrew's idea about having the main character be Puck. Definitely a good place to start, I think. So, I was doing some research, particularly about our idea of maybe basing our story off of some other well known story, and backing into it that way. So here's what I came up with. I did some research on the movie Aladdin, and found a lot on the story that movie was originally based on. It's based on an Arabic tale about a young peasant boy, who is recruited by a sorcerer (believing that he is his uncle, and is going to be given a chance to work for a merchant). But this sorcerer is merely planning to use the boy to retrieve an oil lamp from a booby-trapped cave. In the story, he gets trapped inside the cave, with the lamp and with a ring that the sorcerer gave to him. He inadvertently rubs the ring and awakens a genie, who helps him leave the cave. Later, at home, his mother is cleaning the lamp and a second genie appears. With the help of this genie, the boy becomes rich and powerful and marries the princess, and builds a magnificent palace. Later, the sorcerer returns and is able to trick the man's wife into giving him the lamp, and he awakens the genie, making him steal the palace and other riches. Eventually, Aladdin is able to retrieve everything the sorcerer takes and defeat him, and lives happily ever after.

So, with this story in mind, I was thinking of doing something with some similar plot aspects, but changing it up. I thought Puck could be a servant boy, who is recruited by Oberon (the sorcerer) under the impression that he will be given the opportunity to have a better life. He is taught some of Oberon's magic, and learns a little from him. But, Oberon sets him up to steal something from the Emperor (whom I was thinking could be Duke Senior from As You Like It). Unknowingly, he is led to a portion of the palace and is sent in to retrieve whatever this object is (something valuable or magical) and while he is there, he runs into the Emperor's daughter (Rosalind from as you like it) and falls hopelessly in love with her. Here, we could incorporate a speech from as you like it. Puck declares his passionate love for Rosalind and that he would die if it should go unrequited, who replies with this, which we could play around with:

"No, faith; die by attorney. The poor world is almost six thousand years old, and in all this time there was not any man died in his own person, videlicet, in a love-cause. Troilus had his brains dashed out with a Grecian club, yet he did what he could to die before, and he is one of the patterns of love. Leander, he would have lived many a fair year though Hero had turned nun if it had not been for a hot midsummer night, for, good youth, he went but forth to wash him in the Hellespont and, being taken with the cramp, was drowned; and the foolish chroniclers of that age found it was Hero of Sestos. But these are all lies. Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love."


Here, she basically tells him, that men don't die from heartbreak. They are more likely to die from worms or to be hit over the head. Puck is upset, and leaves, misunderstanding that Rosalind was not denying the existence of love, and she was in fact flattered by what he said. She just is an extreme realist, and does not believe that love could kill a person.

Puck returns to Oberon, upset, giving him the artifact and acting cross. Oberon asks what is bothering him, and when Puck tells him that he has been rejected, Oberon makes light of it and says that he should put it out of his mind, and proceeds to teach him a little more about magic. Not long after, Oberon sends Puck into the marketplace where he runs into Rosalind, who is there looking for him. (The entire village is being searched for the stolen treasure while this is going on) She sees him and goes to him, telling him that she has been thinking only of him since they met. Shocked, he is overjoyed that she returns his feelings. Just then, the guards are searching the place where he is living (and Oberon has disappeared, though Puck is unaware of that fact) and they find the stolen good. They arrest him, and Rosalind is in horror that he has stolen from her father, and she does not want to believe that he did it.

Puck is thrown into the dungeon, but while he is there, he calls on the magic that he has learned. (Perhaps he has a magic ring that Oberon has given him) and he is able to escape. He is transported to an island, where he meets none other than... Prospero! Who has spent years on the island, refining his magic and escaping his troubles. He is an old man, filled with regret, and when Puck tells him his story, Prospero basically is like... Why did you leave, if you are innocent, and if you have love? (There can be some pretty epic speeches given here, we'll just have to look through some of the texts) He talks some sense into Puck, who then returns to the palace and tells the Emperor the truth. Oberon is found and put into prison, and Rosalind and Puck are happily married, Puck to be the successor to the throne.

Also, I really liked Emily's idea about having a chorus character. Maybe we could somehow insert a narrator, or storyteller. Or just have someone who relates stories between characters. I'm not exactly sure how we would incorporate it, but I think there are definitely possibilities and I think it's a good idea.

Alright, well, I have to go to bed but I will probably post again later about some more ideas I have! Please feel free to post some feedback, let me know what you think!