William Shakespeare, in his play, The Tempest, tells the story of a fictional exiled Duke of Milan. In the original play, Shakespeare casts the duke as a man, Prospero. In a modern movie version of the play, writer and director Julie Taymor casts the duke as a woman, Prospera powerfully portrayed by the very convincing performance of Helen Mirren. The play, surprisingly, requires only a few very minor line changes to substitute a woman lead for the original male role. While the actual dialogue changes are minor, the impact to the play is substantial as it totally transforms the duke and an audience’s prospective of the character. With very few exceptions, having a woman as the Duke of Milan in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, makes the duke more realistic and believable as well as an overall more sympathetic character.
In the play, Prospero, the proper Duke of Milan is usurped by his brother, Antonio, with the support of Alonso, the King of Naples. Upon being overthrown, Prospero, along with his three-year-old daughter, Miranda, are left on a small boat to die at sea. With provisions, supplies, and books provided by “a noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo” (Shakespeare 1.2.161) they are able to survive and land on an enchanted island inhabited only by an airy spirit, Ariel, and Caliban, “a freckled whelp hag-born—not honour'd with a human shape” (Shakespeare 1.2.284-285). Twelve years later, “by accident most strange, bountiful Fortune, . . . hath mine [Prospero’s] enemies brought to this shore” (Shakespeare 1.2.178-180), and by Prospero’s magic they are shipwrecked on the island. The rest of the play tells of the arranged pairing of Miranda with the King’s son, Ferdinand, Prospero regaining his title and position, and the scheming and treachery o...
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...re are very few such examples, and they have no significant impact on the play. Overall, the benefits of making a woman duke a more realistic and likeable character far outweigh any minor issues or inconsistencies. To use a variation of Shakespeare’s own words from another famous work, Prospera, thy role is [a] woman!
Works Cited
Damrosch, David and David L. Pike. The Longman Anthology of World Literature. Compact ed. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2008. Print.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Longman Anthology of World Literature. Compact ed. Ed. David Damrosch and David L. Pike. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2008. 1667-1720. Print.
The Tempest. Dir. Julie Taymor. Perf. Helen Mirren, Felicity Jones, Djimon Hounsou, Ben Whishaw, Reeve Carney, David Strathairn, Tom Conti, Alfred Molina, Russell Brand, Alan Cumming, and Chris Cooper. Touchstone Pictures, 2010. DVD.
In the comedic, yet thrilling play, The Tempest, William Shakespeare uses characters such as Caliban, Alonso, and Ariel to show Prospero’s immense cruelness and pure monstrosity. Moreover, these Shakespearean characters are also used to highlight Prospero’s change in character into a kinder and more forgiving person. Prospero starts the play out as a vengeful monster, after an illuminating moment however, his persona transforms into his true identity of a compassionate man.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Greenblatt, Stephen. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1997.
In Act I of the play, Prospero finally tells Miranda the woeful story of how she and he arrived on the island. From the beginning, Prospero plays his subjects and his sympathetic audience as pawns in his game of manipulation. He explains that twelve years ago he was the Duke of Milan, but being enthralled with his studies, he left most of the governmental responsibilities to his brother Antonio. Antonio, hungry to be "Absolute Milan" himself (1:2, p.6), proceeded to betray him with the help of King Alonso of Naples. When Miranda asks why they were not killed, Prospero sighs, "Dear, they durst not,/ so dear the love my people bore me" (1:2, p.7). From the beginning, Prospero portrays himself as a distinguished scholar and beloved leader unjustly victimized by his power-hungry brother. Who would suspect such a humble man of being psychologically manipulative? Prospero succeeds in deceiving many with this credible guise.
The Tempest reflects Shakespeare's society through the relationship between characters, especially between Prospero and Caliban. Caliban, who was the previous king of the island, is taught how to be "civilized" by Prospero and his daughter Miranda. Then he is forced to be their servant. Caliban explains "Thou strok'st me and make much of me; wo...
William Shakespeare, The Tempest, ed. Frank Kermode, with an introduction by Frank Kermode, (Arden, 1964)
Damrosch, David and David L. Pike. The Longman Anthology of World Literature Second Edition. Pearson Education, Inc., 2009.
Shakespeare, William. "The Tempest." The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1997: 3055-3106.
Solomon, Andrew. “A Reading of the Tempest.” In Shakespeare’s Late Plays. Ed. Richard C. Tobias and Paul G. Zolbrod. Athens: Ohio UP, 1974. 232.
Nesbit, E.. "The Tempest." The Best of Shakespeare: Retellings of 10 Classic Plays. Oxford University Press, 1997. n.pag. eLibrary. Web.
The Tempest. Arden Shakespeare, 1997. Print. Third Series Smith, Hallet Darius. Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Tempest; A Collection of Critical Essays, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969.
Shakespeare, William, and Robert Woodrow Langbaum. The Tempest: With New and Updated Critical Essays and A Revised Bibliography. New York, NY, USA: Signet Classic, 1998. Print.
The Tempest by William Shakespeare, is full of symbolism, imagery, and point of view; throughout the play Shakespeare uses these literary devices to convey a message of betrayal, forgiveness, and lessons learned. In the first act, Prospero uses his magic to create a storm that shipwrecks the King of Naples on the island. Like the storm, Prospero's anger is apparent; yet he never wants to do any real harm to the crew. The crew is safely washed ashore on to what seems to be the ideal utopia. Prospero is not an evil guy, he may be controlling and bitter, but only because he lost his dukedom, to his own family. The purpose for his actions essentially lead to forgiveness and a lesson learned by Antonio and Alonso. In the end everyone seems to get what they deserve.
Wright, Courtni Crump. The Women of Shakespeare's Plays: Analysis of the Role of the Women in Selected Plays with Plot Synopses and Selected One Act Plays. New York, NY: University Press of America, 1993.
Thesis: Shakespeare’s plays were performed with an all-male cast, which had a negative effect on the performances. This is because it offended many women, it didn’t offer much variety, and the actors would have to switch to male roles once their voices and bodies changed.
Puchner, Martin. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2012. Print.