Eternal Ethnocentrism

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William Shakespeare’s famous play The Tempest follows a magician-type man, Prospero, who has been cast out into the ocean with his daughter, Miranda. The deed was done by his own brother, Sebastian. Like in many of Shakespeare’s plays, power and authority were what motivated people to betray their own kin. The events in The Tempest mirror Britain’s thirst for imperialism, and how they came across all sorts of different people and terrain throughout their journeys. One of the most interesting encounters is that of Caliban and Prospero. It is a symbolic merging of the civilized and the so called barbarian cultures. Both characters believe that their way of living is superior. This idea is called ethnocentrism. By definition ethnocentrism is the belief in the inherent superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture. The ideal became one of the central causes behind the difficulty of the two cultures merging when the English invaded the Native American’s land in the 1400’s. This tale is somewhat cautionary, as it shows the positive and negative of combing cultures; which what was happening in America in the 1600’s when Shakespeare wrote this. The Requiemento, a Spanish document written at the time of Shakespeare. It was used to read on the shores of the new places the Spaniards discover. Generally, the Spaniards use the Requiremento to justify taking over the land forcefully in the name of the lord. This document could have influenced Caliban and Prospero’s relationship, as well as sharing certain mentalities that caused the trail of tears.
On this island, Prospero and Miranda encounter the natives: Ariel, described as “an airy spirit.” Prospero, using his alchemy, freed Ariel from a curse which bounded him in a tree for eternity. Th...

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...ropeans did not see them as people.
Overall, Shakespeare’s The Tempest mirrors certain themes that were carried out into the real world. From the early settlements during the time of The Requerimiento to The Tempest to the Trail of Tears, Ethnocentrism has led to violence and dehumanization. The ways that the natives were treated because of their different lifestyles makes it harder and harder to come together and live as one. The old saying goes, “people are set in their ways” and that holds true. Both parties, in their belief that they are better, refuse to compromise and communicate. In The Tempest, this theme led to rape and slavery. In the New World, the theme led to death and hundreds of years of discrimination. Shakespeare is known for being a wise man and pulling from universal and eternal themes for his plays and sonnets, and ethnocentrism is one of them.

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