The Tempest Colonization

William Shakespeare’s, The Tempest, was written about a ship, full of nobility, that arrived on a remote island. Just that thought, brings up the question of colonization and whether The Tempest was written as a report on the colonization of the Americas. From the very beginning of the play, it was evident that the story could mirror colonization when the characters on the ship are introduced. Also in that first scene, references to a tempest which parallels William Strachey’s, A True Reportory, a report on colonization. Within The Tempest, the characters build relationships that also parallel colonization such as Caliban’s relationship to Prospero and how it models a ruler and a slave. Gonzalo establishes a utopian society which creates a perfect world and is very similar to montaigne's perfect society. With this evidence it can be proven that Caliban’s relationship with Prospero and the other ideals presented in the play are parallels to colonizing the Americas.

The play

In Act II Scene 1 Gonzalo establishes his society. He says, “I’ th’ commonwealth I would by contraries Execute all things. For no kind of traffic. Would I admit. No name of magistrate. Letters should not be known. Riches, poverty, And use of service-None” (II.1.140-144). Here, Gonzalo establishes his society that parallels what is known as a utopian society. With a “perfect world” type of feel, Gonzalo’s society is one where every man is equal and nothing about their life is public. This is very similar to Montaigne’s words in Of Cannibals when he says, “here is always the perfect religion, there the perfect government, there the most exact and accomplished usage of all things. They are savages at the same rate that we say fruits are wild” (Montaigne). This is another establishment of a perfect world that Shakespeare clearly used as