In response to Shakespeares’ The Tempest, Césaire, a French poet and politician, creates his own rendition of the play called A Tempest to highlight the issues of racism prevalent during the Negritude movement, an African American movement based in France. In the original text, Prospero’s dominance over Ariel and Caliban illustrated the power of language to establish superiority. Furthermore, Shakespeare promoted English occupation through Prospero to appeal to the audience’s mentality of British superiority over the colonies. British chauvinism manifested in the form of racism in The Tempest and embed itself in English culture. In response to Shakespeare’s play, Césaire attenuates colonization and racism by reinventing The Tempest in a way …show more content…
Shakespeare endorsed colonization in The Tempest by introducing Prospero as an English noble who shares his knowledge with Caliban out of generosity, in contrast, Caliban is portrayed as a creature susceptible to vices, particularly alcohol, and inappreciative of his newfound knowledge. Supported by Queen Elizabeth I, Shakespeare created plays that glorified the history of British royalty (Richard III); therefore, his plays tended to favor the actions of the crown. In response to Shakespeare’s pro-colonialist bias, Césaire composed A Tempest in 1969 to combat the notion of African inferiority based on the European colonial perspective. Césaire grew up in poverty but received an education in Fort-de-France where he launched the magazine “The Black Student” to promote African culture. As a founder of the negritude movement, Césaire devoted his life to demonstrating and spreading awareness of African pride to his …show more content…
Caliban orders Prospero to “call [him] X… like a man… whose name has been stolen… it reminds [him] of a basic fact… that [Prospero has] stolen everything from [him], even [his] identity! Uhuru!” (15). While Shakespeare connects to his audience by advocating colonialism, Césaire does the reverse and advocates accomplishments of activists; both authors advocated popular subjects in their play to further their agenda. By discarding the name given to him by Prospero, Caliban gives himself his own voice by naming himself after a national icon. Although slave owners have diminished African culture, Césaire suggests that Africans can take back their culture by taking pride and voicing their “Africaness”. Russell West claims that “Césaire’s appropriation of Shakespeare successfully eludes assimilation because the Martiniquan dramatist knows how to exploit the subversive potential in the Bard himself”’ (2). West admires Césaire’s ability to voice the issues of the African community, but does not mention the motivation that drove Césaire to rewrite the play. However, Césaire did elude assimilation by changing the characters and implanting a different perspective in the play, yet kept to the plot of the original. A change Césaire brought to the play was making Ariel mulatto, this allowed Césaire to create meaningful interactions between Ariel and
With the semester coming to an end, many students are excited. This especially includes those who will be graduating soon. However, graduation can be seen as a bittersweet moment. On one hand, the graduates enter into a new chapter in their lives. On the other hand, they may lose communication with some of their friends. Unfortunately, this is a natural aspect of each person’s life. Everyone will experience some kind of loss in their life, whether it is person or an object. In The Tempest, Shakespeare discusses the topic of loss. While this theme is not talked about much compared to other themes in the play, it is very important since it is a theme that is included in the 1956 movie adaptation Forbidden Planet. While both works illustrate the ways people deals a loss, the later work demonstrates how the advancement in the world have affected the way modern society
Shakespeare's play, The Tempest tells the story of a father, Prospero, who must let go of his daughter; who brings his enemies under his power only to release them; and who in turn finally relinquishes his sway over his world - including his power over nature itself. The Tempest contains elements ripe for tragedy: Prospero is a controlling figure bent on taking revenge for the wrongs done to him, and in his fury he has the potential to destroy not only his enemies, but his own humanity and his daughter's future.
In literature as in life, characters are multi-dimensional beings. They possess a wide variety of character traits that make them who they are. In the Tempest written by William Shakespeare, Prospero traits resemble those of the Europeans that came during the exploration of the Americas. Thus, Prospero’s treatment of Caliban is similar to the way Europeans treated the Native Americans.
“The Tempest” is a play written by William Shakespeare in early 1600s that has been previewed in different kinds of movies, such as the one made in 2010, directed by Julie Taymor. It is a play containing themes such as; revenge, allusion, retribution, forgiveness, power, love and hatred. When it is compared to the play, there are specific differences seen in the movie, such as; Prospero is reflected as a woman in the movie. The time differences between the play and the movie and how the spirit Ariel is shown as a white man in the movie. The play starts with the story of Prospero, the Duke of Milan. He gets banished from Italy and was cast to sea by his brother Antonio. He has perfected his skills during twelve years of exile on a lonely island. Prospero creates the tempest to make his enemies’ ship to wreck and lead them to the island. Meanwhile, Antonio takes Prospero’s place and starts to make everyone believe he is the duke and makes an agreement with the King of Naples, Alonso. Besides the drama happening in the island, Prospero forgives Alonso and the others.
Leininger, Lorie Jerrell. "The Miranda Trap: Sexism and Racism in Shakespeare's Tempest." The Tempest: Critical Essays.Ed. Patrick M. Murphy. New York: Routledge, 2001. 223-229.
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...
Through The Tempest play, William Shakespeare weaves together a tale that is characterized by anti-colonialist sentiments. Prospero - the deposed Milan Duke - adopts a colonialist mentality by treating his colleagues as slaves who have no rights. Characters who suffer mistreatment under Prospero include: Ariel - the spirit creature; Ferdinand - the Naples Prince; and Caliban - Sycorax’s son. Prospero possesses much magical power which he uses to oppress his compatriots. Consequently, Prospero is portrayed as a colonial tyrant who abuses his immense power. Anti-colonialism feelings are especially evident through the actions, utterances and disposition and of Caliban, Miranda, Ferdinand and Ariel. To illustrate, Caliban berates Prospero for the former’s forced labor. Likewise, Ariel protests Prospero’s reluctance to release the former as earlier agreed. Miranda also expresses her dissatisfaction with Prospero’s unfair imprisonment of Ferdinand. Similarly, Ferdinand appears to challenge Prospero’s authority by briefly stopping dragging timber so as to flirt and chat with Miranda. The foregoing four characters exhibit conduct that highlights their displeasure with Prospero’s colonial-style authority over them. From the preceding expose, it can thus be concluded that Shakespeare’s The Tempest play is about anti-colonialism based on its depiction of Caliban, Miranda, Ferdinand and Ariel’s opposition to Prospero’s oppressive authority.
"Negritude, originally a literary and ideological movement of French-speaking black intellectuals, reflects an important and comprehensive reaction to the colonial situation of European colonization" (Carlberg). This movement, which influenced Africans as well as blacks around the world, specifically rejects the political, social, and moral domination of the West. Leopold Senghor, Leon Damas, and Aime Cesaire are the three pioneers of the revolution. The founder who expresses his ideas more broadly, though, is Cesaire, who uses literary works to express his viewpoint on colonization. An excellent example of such a tactic is his play, A Tempest, which is a revision of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Both Shakespeare and Cesaire accentuate the greed of Europeans in their plays. However, Cesaire is more obvious in his approach to exposing it. A comparison of the two plays demonstrates that Cesaire's version, written in the late 1960's, is written as a confrontation of Shakespeare's play. He is attempting to comment on the corruption of Colonialism and the European domination of the New World through such strategies as making seemingly minor changes, switching the main character role, and altering the storyline itself.
Through a historical lens, Shakespeare’s The Tempest revolves around the evolving times of England during the Tudor Dynasty in 1552-1603. During those times Queen Elizabeth I was the newly appointed ruler of England after her half-sister, the previous ruler had died. This new change was the new beginning for England. It allowed many opportunities to arise such as a new stock company, provisions for the poor, and a chance for many to explore the world with their new wealth. To thank and impress their new Queen, many set sail to conquer new lands. Similar to history, The Tempest did contained a few curious Englishmen and their king discovering new land but the exact location is unknown. At the time of Shakespeare’s
In her essay “Shakespeare's Tempest and the Discourse of Colonialism,” Deborah Willis argues that the play takes on a much more complex and complete identity concerning the aristocracy of colonialism, and she presents the idea that Caliban as the “other” (Willis, p.277) isn’t inherently wrong but rather misguided in readings. While her article brings up important issues concerning the reading of The Tempest, she ignores the vastness and all-consuming nature of colonialism. Her essay helped me to conclude that I perceive The Tempest as not only being solely about colonialism, but all of the issues featured in the play being tied back to colonialism, including those that Willis emphasizes aren’t as important or are ill-founded.
Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest is set on a mysterious island surrounded by the ocean. Here the magician Prospero is ruler of the isle with his two servants Caliban and Ariel. Caliban is the abrasive, foul-mouthed son of the evil witch Sycorax. When Prospero was shipwrecked on the island Prospero treated him kindly but their relationship changed when Caliban tried to rape Prospero's daughter, Miranda. Caliban then became Prospero's unwilling servant. Caliban serves his master out of fear Prospero's wrath. Prospero's other servant Ariel is a graceful spirit who has courtesy and charm. Ariel has put her services at Prospero's disposal out of gratitude for his kind actions towards her. Prospero saved Ariel from the confinement of Sycorax who held her prisoner.
The role of language in Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest” is quite significant. To Miranda and Prospero the use of language is a means to knowing oneself. Caliban does not view language in the same light. Prospero taught Caliban to speak, but instead of creating the feeling of empowerment from language, Caliban reacts in insurrectionary manner. Language reminds him how different he is from Miranda and Prospero, and also how they have changed him. It also reminds him of how he was when he wasn’t a slave. He resents Prospero for “Civilising” him, because in doing so he took away his freedom.
The Tempest, by Shakespeare, offers the reader a variety of themes. The one theme that stands out the most is that of colonialism. During the time of Shakespeare, many European countries such as Spain, France, and England, were expanding their borders by taking over less developed countries, referred to as colonies. During this time of exploitation, there was skepticism concerning the possible success of the colonies. While some scholars believe that the play is about the Americas, I argue that the play reflects on colonialism in general and how it is destined for failure which is shown through the character’s relationships throughout the play.
Shakespeare employs the sea voyage in act 1 as a historical allusion to the age of discovery during which colonialism was spurred on by expansionist ideologies. Caliban’s harsh emotive language and parenthesis “I loved thee, and showed thee all the qualities of the isle.... cursed bet that I did so” establishes the notion of exploitation reflected in the axiomatic relationship between Caliban and Prospero, master and slave. Within the imperialist construct, Caliban’s subjugation to the civilised Prospero is justified, wherein Caliban’s characterisation as a “freckled welp, hag-born...not honoured with human shape” echoes supercilious European attitudes towards natives of the “New World”. Shakespeare utilises a parody of the colonialist role in the parallel plot of Trinculo and Stephano as they encounter Caliban to reiterate the link between physical discoveries and exploitation despite simultaneously satirising colonial theory.
There is a fine line between one man’s Utopia and another man’s Dystopia. Conceivably the furthermost expressive of Shakespeare’s interpretations of colonialism is bestowed in the character of Caliban. He does not appreciate the activities of Prospero as a “missionary” who attempts to improve his life. Caliban is undoughtily in conflict with the authority that now governs him. His hatred concerning his conqueror and master is recognized as a legitimate reaction displayed among the colonized.