Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The abuse of power in the tempest by Shakespeare
The significance of nature imagery in the tempest
The abuse of power in the tempest by Shakespeare
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The abuse of power in the tempest by Shakespeare
Villains come in all shapes and sizes, but some sneak up on us and we'd never expect them to be one. Sometimes It takes a lot in a someone's life to make them a villain, such as jealousy and parents having a favorite child. Then, that resentment builds up to hatred and if that person is iniquitous at heart, it is almost a matter of time until they decide to do something drastic to remove the emotion and pity themselves for their "hurt". A few major components to being named a fiend is being egotistical and full of hate for things other than power. This seems to be the case in "The Tempest", for Antonio. Throughout the play, we see him make rash decisions that are always in his own interest. He convinced Alonso that Prospero was an ill fit to hold the position of the duke. Also he bribed him so that he would exile Prospero, just so he could take his place. This was all because Antonio was envious of Prospero's title and was desirous to take it for himself. In such he created an unscrupulous plan to discard Prospero, treating him as if his life did …show more content…
Also he was basically raised animalistic so you can not blame him for trying to free himself because he has never understood what he did was wrong because he was not taught what is acceptable in a society. He is only going off of primal instincts and when Prospero took those away, he is obviously going to be reckless. Thus making him seem like a villain, but he had just lost everything he knew and his island was uprooted from his control. Another thing is Caliban wouldn't have even been in the picture, let alone an issue, if it wasn't for Antonio who cast Prospero onto the island where he was. Caliban was fine being in solidarity and Antonios' actions are what portrays Caliban as a rapscallion even though he unnerved after Prospero shows
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
Another way that the treatment of Caliban by Prospero is similar to the treatment of Native Americans by the Europeans is the adaptation of the language. When the Europeans came to the New World they forced the Native Americans to learn their languages and live according to the European culture. People who had spoken one language all their lives, now had to learn another. They had to live by customs they have never heard of even before. In the Tempest, Prospero does this also. When Prospero came to the island he forced Caliban to learn the language that he spoke. Caliban had to adapt to a style of living that he had never experienced before. Caliban had to change completely to adapt to the life forced upon him.
The first design hurdle that needs to be conquered right off the bat is how the magic will be depicted. In a film, CGI takes care of this tricky aspect of the play. However, in a stage adaptation, this will have to be tweaked. If Furman did The Tempest, lighting design would produce of many of these effects. I envision Robert’s original plan for Pillowman, with a scrim that allows either shadow-like projections, or shadow puppets for Katurian’s stories as a perfect solution for scenes in the Tempest involving magic. Instead of taking an actor and giving him/her extensive prosthetic makeup, there should instead just be a voice actor that plays Ariel. On stage, Ariel would be seen as a shadow on the scrim, instead of a living entity.
Caliban is rude, crude, ugly and lazy. Speaking in a psychoanalytic manner, Caliban is going to be remembered as bitter and obsessed with sex. This sexual desire is going to be coincided first with thoughts of his mutation-- a feeling of inadequacy-- and then more significantly with the absence of his mother. That he had no parents on which to form an Oedipal complex and knows only who his mother was (nothing is mentioned of his father) makes for interesting observations on how he deals with sexuality. We learn that he does not deny that Prospero is the only barrier between him and the rape of Miranda. It is clear that he has developed only so far as Freud’s theory of id, with small touches of the superego. Caliban’s development of the superego is evident only when he does not wish to receive Prospero’s pinches and cramps. He is otherwise all for anything that will bring him pleasure. Being free of Prospero, fulfilling his sexual desires with Miranda and drinking liquor are all on his menu.
The multicultural history of Colonial Virginia, contained a development in a now prosperous country. It didn’t come with all perks though. Suffering and discrimination became a big foundation to build during colonial Virginia. This issues caused severity and despair. Starting there was just hard enough especially during the Jamestown. Altogether these choices made happen during the early 1600’s shaped and developed America.
Caliban is the id, the one who seeks instant gratification and has no concern for morality. Everyone has a love-hate relationship with the id because it is the part of the psyche that seeks biological necessities, however, it is also the part which can create socially unacceptable impulses. Prospero and Caliban initially had a loving relationship with each other; the relationship with the id is fostered because of biological needs. Prospero is forming a strong connection with the id but it takes over when Caliban “didst seek to violate / the honour of [Prospero's] child” (1.2. 347-348). Caliban acts based on the biological necessity of reproduction and this parallels the socially unacceptable circumstances that occur when one lets the id take control in one’s life. The ego must counteract this impulsive behaviour; Prospero decides to cage Caliban to prevent him from acting impulsively again. However, completely abolishing the id is never an option. The id is the embodiment of biological necessity thus it is impossible to live without it. This idea is paralleled in The Tempest because Prospero cannot simply rid himself of Caliban, the one who provides the food and wood which sustains life. This is a visual representation of the necessity of the id in the human psyche. This love-hate relationship between Prospero and Caliban exemplifies the dangers
In Shakespeare's time, the social order was as powerful and rigid as law. Shakespeare provides an example of this social structure in his play, The Tempest. In the course of his play, the reader sees superior men dominating lesser beings on the basis of race, financial status, and gender. Not all upper class are completely corrupt, however. We see a semi-virtuous hero in the character of Prospero. Prospero has every reason to feel superior and exercise his social power, yet he doesn't always treat others disrespectfully. Although he does have some sense of charity, Prospero is still a good example of the social condition of the time.
Caliban is treated in a highly demeaning manner since Prospero is a man of magic and has infinite power to control Caliban in every aspect. It is seen early on in the play the amount of control that has been placed over Caliban, to the extent that memories make him cringe and satisfy all of Prospero’s needs. Prospero is obviously the Duke of that island similar to how he was Duke of Milan before being usurped and banished to the island, which is Caliban’s home. In general, the relationship of Prospero and Caliban is a model of early colonization into the New World considering Caliban is it’s only inhabitant. In reality, colonization is the chief reason slavery was implemented which was to maintain laborers in order to prosper in the New World.
Prospero appears to be a ruthless tyrant that strikes fear into Caliban to make him work but further on in the text we learn that this is not the case. Caliban's foul-mouthed insults,
Caliban is described as “naturally evil”. Despite any efforts, his nature cannot be changed. His natural evil in The Tempest will always triumph any attempts to change him. His relationship to an evil witch made him naturally evil and will forever be who he truly is.
If this was true, however, Shakespeare would have portrayed Caliban, a symbol of the repressed native, as a much more innocent and sympathetic character. While Caliban does have a special connection to the island, evident by the poetic and heartfelt language he uses when describing it, he is not simply a helpless native being oppressed by an unreasonable colonizer. Prospero treats Caliban with kindness and respect at first, until Caliban attempted to “violate the honour of” Miranda, Prospero 's daughter and the symbol of purity in the play, by trying to have sexual intercourse with her. Caliban is also unapologetic about the incident, as shown in act I scene ii, in which he laughs at the matter and wishes Prospero had not stopped him so he could have “peopled else This isle with Calibans.” This paints Caliban as an immoral character that is undeserving of the audience’s sympathy. When people today look at the colonial period through a postcolonial lens, they find many things wrong morally with the treatment of natives. However, this was not the message Shakespeare was trying to convey in 1611 when he wrote the
The Tempest was written in 1610 by William Shakespeare. Now I ask, how could it relate to the new world when it was written centuries back. Such as the treatment of Caliban, the indigenous slave, is compared to racial attitudes in the 17th century. Other relations include more that compare characters to important parts of the new world, as well as very specific explanations that trace over to new world ocurrances. Here is how Shakespeare’s The Tempest relates to the new world.
The Tempest by William Shakespeare, among other themes, is a play very centered around rivalries, an important one being the one between Prospero and Caliban. As one would naturally expect, the triumphs and failures of the ongoing conflict yield different reactions for the two different characters. The conflict illustrates a dichotomous view of the way in which people respond to failure or defeat. Whereas Caliban responds to defeat instinctively with furious acts of retaliation, Prospero reasons that when those kinds of acts are examined under the scope of logic, they appear to be unlike that of a noble and therefore, should not be undertaken.
Caliban is evil is the fact that he tried to rape Miranda, Prospero’s daughter as states by Barbara Fuchs in her article Conquering Islands: Contextualizing the Tempest where it says, “Caliban’s attack on Prospero’s daughter once more genders the colonizing impulses” (61). This suggests rape and it is not inhuman and it shows that Miranda is not the first woman who this has happen to. It not right, it’s evil. Caliban’s character in this book is horrible in the things that he does, he starting off has an evil monster that was born from an evil parents and he goes around causing trouble wherever he goes. As a servant, he does evil deed and by himself he is evil.
One of the reasons for Caliban’s defiance towards Prospero is the fact that he believes the island that they are on to be his, but to have been stolen by Prospero. “This island’s mine by Sycorax my mother, / Which thou tak’st from me'; (1.2.331). Caliban feels as though he has been taken advantage of. When Prospero first comes to the island, he is kind to Caliban, and in return, Caliban shows him the secrets of the island.