Social Order

William Shakespeare, in his play The Tempest, uses social order, with particular reference to 17th century gender stereotypes to explain the nature of the main character, Prospero. Prospero is master of the three other main characters, with whom he shares very different relationships. Miranda, his daughter, represents the stereotypical "submissive female" of Elizabethan times who didn't resist; she accedes to everything Prospero says. As a result, Prospero exerts a sort of passive control in relation to Miranda, easily exercising power over her. Caliban, on the other hand, represents the complete opposite of Miranda, fitting an unbridled male role that represents deviation from power. Because of Caliban's digression, Prospero commands him with sheer anger and contempt, an aggressive form of control. Fitting between the roles of Caliban and Miranda is Ariel, Prospero's servant. Ariel, a spirit who is never assigned a gender, represents the middle ground between male and female and is thus treated by Prospero with a mixture of aggressiveness and passiveness. This assertive control results in a paternalistic relationship between Prospero and Ariel. Despite these differing relationships, Prospero utilizes each and every character to reach his ultimate goal: the advancement of his political position in Milan.

There is one common aspect to all of Prospero's relationships in the play: he exploits every character, despite his attempts to hide this fact. For example, Prospero utilizes Caliban as a slave, making him cut wood:

"Hag-seed, hence! Fetch us in fuel, and be quick, thou'rt best, to answer other business--shurug'st thou, malice? If thou neglect'st, or dost unwillingly what I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps, fill all ...

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... have been felt between Prospero and Miranda, and instead accents a more symbolic father-son relationship. The coincidental assigning of gender roles to Miranda and Caliban and the lack of such on Ariel gives us a hint to either Shakespeare or Prospero's view of the male-female dichotomy. Shakespeare, through Prospero, may be trying to tell the reader that distinctions between male and female are useless and that the only reason the characterization of each "child" in the play is different is the way in which Prospero treats them, according to the same gender norms present in England at the time the play was written.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Ed. Stephen Orgel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987.

Hulme, Peter. "Prospero and Caliban." The Tempest. eds. Peter Hulme and William H. Sherman. New Your & London: Norton, 2004. pp. 233-43.