The Tempest Research Paper

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Shakespeare’s The Tempest shows many similarities to colonialism and imperialism. I believe Shakespeare’s purpose of The Tempest was to show how colonialism and imperialism can negatively affect a place it has taken over. While both productions show this well the Utah Valley University production shows this better. The costumes and characters are more real in this version and that adds to how these themes are portrayed.
In the play Miranda does not want to look at Caliban and is afraid of him because he looks different. When Prospero came to the island he taught Caliban about his language and culture and now treats him as a slave. Now Caliban does all the manual labor. Prospero has also imprisoned Ariel into his service and promises Ariel freedom once but goes back on his word and says he will free Ariel later. Ariel has become Prospero’s servant and like everyone else, Prospero manipulate Ariel to get what he wants. Throughout the play Prospero’s way of manipulation and ruling over the island and its inhabitants show similarities to colonialism and imperialism. …show more content…

Ariel was portrayed like a magical monkey with human qualities. Her entrance to the scene showed how mystical she is. When she questioned Prospero and he yelled at her, Ariel shrunk down and it showed how dominant Prospero is. Caliban is shown to look very monstrous in this version but seems more misunderstood. You feel more pity for him than anything else. The Prospero in this version did not seem as outwardly threatening. He was good at manipulating the people around him but he never showed a display of power over his servants besides reminding them what they owed to

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