Prospero Around The Island example essay topic

The Tempest was first written around 1610 and was first printed in the 1623 Folio, where it was the opening play. The Tempest reflects Shakespeare's society through its relationships with its characters. Men viewed themselves superior by race, financial status, and gender. The Tempest is a play about power in its various forms such as nature and man. The Tempest is a romance filled with magic and supernatural interventions. Caliban, a native of the island is robbed of his kingly status once Prospero and his daughter came to live on the island.

Caliban is the deformed son of Sycorax who was a cruel witch. Prospero and everyone else on the island view Caliban as an uncivilized beast. Caliban was actually educated by Prospero but he is seen as a stupid monster because physically he is different from everyone else. "Nobody has a good word for Caliban: he is a born devil to Prospero, an abhorred slave to Miranda, and to others not obviously his superiors either in intelligence or virtue he is a puppy headed monster, a mooncalf, and a plain fish" (Frye, 1959, p. 16) He is forced to serve Prospero and when he rebels he is physically punished. Even though Caliban is portrayed as a detestable, wild, immoral beast, I see him in a different light. Caliban is insecure and wants to be loved.

"Thou stock " st me and make much of me; woulds't give me water with berries in't; and teach me how to name the bigger light, how less, that burn by day and night; and then I lov'd thee, and show'd thee all the qualities o' th' isle, ... For I am all the subjects you have, which first was my own king" (I, ii, 334-354). The reason that he is rebellious is because everyone puts him down. He has a lot of anger and resentment towards Prospero because Prospero enslaved him even though he was the only native of the island and showed Prospero around the island. He tries to do things right and longs for acceptance but no one will give him a chance and everyone just uses him. Trinculo and Stefano use him to become kings of the island when in all reality Caliban is smarter than those drunken fools.

Caliban realizes his mistake when he says "What a thrice-double ass was I to take this drunkard for a god, and worship this dull fool". (V, i, 299-301) Prospero accuses him of trying to rape Miranda but one has to understand that he's a male, Miranda is beautiful and he's lonely. Caliban tries to justify his crime by stating "I had peopled else this isle with Caliban" (I. ii. 353-354). He feels that the island is his by rights and that Prospero enslaved and betrayed him and if he could have children they could rule the island once more.

Caliban is treated much like the African Americans were treated. He too is sick of living a life of servitude and wants his freedom. Women also fell victim to a hierarchal society. They were believed to be less equal than men. They were considered a man's property or object. Alonso's daughter Claribel was used like a contract on a business deal when she was married to the King of Tunis, which is an African nation.

This marriage was merely for the benefit of Alonso, the duke of Milan, and his lords. This idea is clear when Sebastian says " 'Twas a sweet marriage, and we prosper well in our return" (II, i, 77-78) Miranda is clearly depicted as an object by her father, Prospero. He manipulates her life situations and even her love life by his magic and spells. Prospero demonstrates this when he states, "Then as my gift and time own acquisition worthily purca's take my daughter" (IV, i, 14-15) Obviously, in Shakespeare's society women didn't have any rights and hardly a voice in their own future. They were used as objects for the gain of other men and were there just for the pleasure of men. In Shakespeare's time and culture financial status played a major role in a person's social classification.

Kings, Dukes, and earls were thought to be superior to other people even to the members of their own race. Even the law enforced rules that distinguished the nobles from the commoners through their clothes, hair and privileges. Shakespeare gives us a taste of this society through the interactions between Sebastian and Antonio with the Boatswain and the sailors. When Sebastian says, "A pox o' throat you, bawling, blasphemous, uncharitable dog" (I, i, 39-40) he reveals that he sees himself as superior to the sailors and he feels they owe him something. Antonio is just as rude to the mariners when he says, "Hang, cur, hang you whoreson insolent noisemaker. We are less afraid to drown than thou art" (I, i, 41-42) He's implying that because he is a nobleman he has a better chance of getting into heaven than the mariners.

Even though these men were of the same race they weren't treated the same because of their financial status, inferior bloodline, and stature. In The Tempest, the use of power and supernatural intervention is a key role in the play. Prospero is the center of power and plays the dual role of man and god. Prospero controls events throughout the play with magic and manipulation. Right from the beginning, he brings a bout a storm which threatens to bring the sailors to their doom.

We also find that the tempest was the intention of Prospero to set up his daughter with Ferdinand and to regain his dukedom. Caliban, Miranda, and Ariel are three of Prospero's victims. Caliban and Ariel are Prospero's slaves. Ariel was freed from Sycorax's curse by Prospero and therefore, serves him. Ariel is an airy spirit and doesn't seem to mind serving Prospero but he also expects his freedom for all his help and trustworthiness. When Ariel reminds Prospero about his freedom, "Let me remember thee what thou has't promised which is not yet performed me" (I, ii, 242-243) Prospero gets annoyed and answers, "Dos't thou forget from what torment I did free thee?" (I, ii, 251-252) Miranda and Ferdinand fall in love at first sight much like in Shakespeare's other plays such as Romeo and Juliet although Miranda falls in love at first man.

This is also Prospero's dirty work. Miranda knows her father's power when she pleads to not enslave Ferdinand. Prospero treats Caliban like dirt. He made the native of the island a slave and makes him work hard or he gets punished. Prospero seems to think that his sense of justice and goodness is so accurate that if any of the other characters disagrees with him then they are wrong and he " ll use his power to manipulate the situation.

Prospero is like a tyrant and also much like the Europeans who enslaved natives from countries that they conquered. The Tempest is a romance play. It has a few of the qualities that Shakespeare repeats throughout his plays. He includes in it the romantic idea of love at first sight through Miranda's and Ferdinand's situation. One also sees the same concept in Romeo and Juliet and in The Taming of the Shrew with Hortensio and Bianca.

He also starts the play with a storm. He uses the same idea in Twelfth Night. The play contains the "comedic" happy ending with a family reunion. We see this again in several plays such as Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, and Measure for Measure. American culture is built upon the declaration that "All men are created equal". This as I have discussed is not the case in Shakespeare's day.

One tries to abide by it in the American culture but one would only be ignorant to not agree that it still exists. There are people that truly try their best to treat everyone equally just as Gonzalo felt that the mariners was as equal as he was and Ferdinand loved Miranda even though he knew that she was merely a maid. The people that ruin it are people that monopolize the country like Prospero, greedy and fickle people like Antonio and Sebastian, and just plain low-lives like Stephan o and Trinculo. One would think that after all these years the world would mature and learn from their mistakes yet, instead we give it pretty names and hide the truth from the public. There is always a constant war or battle being fought about a culture's differences. The bottom line is that all men are created equally and should be treated accordingly.

No one should be bullied or threatened and the violence has to stop and it will because if man doesn't end it a greater power will and no one should have to see that day. Shakespeare's culture and our culture may appear very different but they are actually very similar and it's sad that after all these years we, as intelligent human beings, haven't learned how to get along. I really enjoyed this play. It was full of action and imagination. This play taught a lesson about society.

The characters were great and they all had such different and interesting personalities. This play was my favorite play just like it was for the people of Shakespeare's day and I highly recommend everyone to read it.

Bibliography

Frye, N. (1959).
Introduction to The Tempest. Baltimore: Penguin Books, Inc. Wells S. & Taylor G., (1988).