William Shakespeare, in his play, The Tempest, tells the story of a fictional exiled Duke of Milan. In the original play, Shakespeare casts the duke as a man, Prospero. In a modern movie version of the play, writer and director Julie Taymor casts the duke as a woman, Prospera powerfully portrayed by the very convincing performance of Helen Mirren. The play, surprisingly, requires only a few very minor line changes to substitute a woman lead for the original male role. While the actual dialogue changes are minor, the impact to the play is substantial as it totally transforms the duke and an audience’s prospective of the character. With very few exceptions, having a woman as the Duke of Milan in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, makes the duke more realistic and believable as well as an overall more sympathetic character. In the play, Prospero, the proper Duke of Milan is usurped by his brother, Antonio, with the support of Alonso, the King of Naples. Upon being overthrown, Prospero, along with his three-year-old daughter, Miranda, are left on a small boat to die at sea. With provisions, supplies, and books provided by “a noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo” (Shakespeare 1.2.161) they are able to survive and land on an enchanted island inhabited only by an airy spirit, Ariel, and Caliban, “a freckled whelp hag-born—not honour'd with a human shape” (Shakespeare 1.2.284-285). Twelve years later, “by accident most strange, bountiful Fortune, . . . hath mine [Prospero’s] enemies brought to this shore” (Shakespeare 1.2.178-180), and by Prospero’s magic they are shipwrecked on the island. The rest of the play tells of the arranged pairing of Miranda with the King’s son, Ferdinand, Prospero regaining his title and position, and the scheming and treachery o... ... middle of paper ... ...re are very few such examples, and they have no significant impact on the play. Overall, the benefits of making a woman duke a more realistic and likeable character far outweigh any minor issues or inconsistencies. To use a variation of Shakespeare’s own words from another famous work, Prospera, thy role is [a] woman! Works Cited Damrosch, David and David L. Pike. The Longman Anthology of World Literature. Compact ed. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2008. Print. Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Longman Anthology of World Literature. Compact ed. Ed. David Damrosch and David L. Pike. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2008. 1667-1720. Print. The Tempest. Dir. Julie Taymor. Perf. Helen Mirren, Felicity Jones, Djimon Hounsou, Ben Whishaw, Reeve Carney, David Strathairn, Tom Conti, Alfred Molina, Russell Brand, Alan Cumming, and Chris Cooper. Touchstone Pictures, 2010. DVD.
Damrosch, David and David L. Pike. The Longman Anthology of World Literature Second Edition. Pearson Education, Inc., 2009.
In the comedic, yet thrilling play, The Tempest, William Shakespeare uses characters such as Caliban, Alonso, and Ariel to show Prospero’s immense cruelness and pure monstrosity. Moreover, these Shakespearean characters are also used to highlight Prospero’s change in character into a kinder and more forgiving person. Prospero starts the play out as a vengeful monster, after an illuminating moment however, his persona transforms into his true identity of a compassionate man.
Solomon, Andrew. “A Reading of the Tempest.” In Shakespeare’s Late Plays. Ed. Richard C. Tobias and Paul G. Zolbrod. Athens: Ohio UP, 1974. 232.
Nesbit, E.. "The Tempest." The Best of Shakespeare: Retellings of 10 Classic Plays. Oxford University Press, 1997. n.pag. eLibrary. Web.
In Act I of the play, Prospero finally tells Miranda the woeful story of how she and he arrived on the island. From the beginning, Prospero plays his subjects and his sympathetic audience as pawns in his game of manipulation. He explains that twelve years ago he was the Duke of Milan, but being enthralled with his studies, he left most of the governmental responsibilities to his brother Antonio. Antonio, hungry to be "Absolute Milan" himself (1:2, p.6), proceeded to betray him with the help of King Alonso of Naples. When Miranda asks why they were not killed, Prospero sighs, "Dear, they durst not,/ so dear the love my people bore me" (1:2, p.7). From the beginning, Prospero portrays himself as a distinguished scholar and beloved leader unjustly victimized by his power-hungry brother. Who would suspect such a humble man of being psychologically manipulative? Prospero succeeds in deceiving many with this credible guise.
Thesis: Shakespeare’s plays were performed with an all-male cast, which had a negative effect on the performances. This is because it offended many women, it didn’t offer much variety, and the actors would have to switch to male roles once their voices and bodies changed.
William Shakespeare, The Tempest, ed. Frank Kermode, with an introduction by Frank Kermode, (Arden, 1964)
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Greenblatt, Stephen. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1997. 3055-3107.
Shakespeare, William. "The Tempest." The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1997: 3055-3106.
The Tempest by William Shakespeare is a pastoral tragicomedy written in 1611 during the renaissance period. The particular context that Shakespeare intended and the audience interpreted when the play was written are different to the audience interpretation today. The ideas we understand from viewing the play today are different to the ideas the first audience understood from viewing the play 400 years ago. For example, the derogatory manner in which Shakespeare portrayed women may seem unacceptable in a modern play. The various meanings in The Tempest demonstrate the difference in the distinct readings found in the text today and the meanings simulated by viewing the text from a historical context.
Puchner, Martin. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2012. Print.
As we all know, gender inequality is a social issue that has been addressed over the years and has however, given rise to other issues such as misogyny, feminism, male sovereignty, female oppression and criticism, and the list goes on. Most times, especially during the Elizabethan era, before feminists began to fight for their rights as women, women were viewed as substandard when compared to men and they were classified more as possessions rather than as people. These gender biased opinions were developed under the reign of Queen Elizabeth and Shakespeare’s explicit exhibition of this fact in his plays can be traced to the circumstances at which the society was at that time. Shakespeare shared this opinion and had few female characters in his works and even when he did have them, he portrays them as either “deceivers”, for example Cleopatra in “Anthony and Cleopatra” and Cressida in “Troilus and Cressida” or better still, he just cuts off the female role in the plays. Even if it appears as though Shakespeare exhibited a form of short shrift towards women in his works, we are however in no position to judge his beliefs concerning whether or not he had a hatred for women because it might just appear so because of the occurrences in the time at which he made his works, a time where the unsympathetic treatment of women was just a customary trend. We are however, uncertain as to whether Shakespeare’s display of sexism in The Tempest is intentional or not. However, I personally think most times it is unintentional, because sometimes he presents his female characters very outstanding roles, just like Miranda.
Wright, Courtni Crump. The Women of Shakespeare's Plays: Analysis of the Role of the Women in Selected Plays with Plot Synopses and Selected One Act Plays. New York, NY: University Press of America, 1993.
The Tempest by William Shakespeare, is full of symbolism, imagery, and point of view; throughout the play Shakespeare uses these literary devices to convey a message of betrayal, forgiveness, and lessons learned. In the first act, Prospero uses his magic to create a storm that shipwrecks the King of Naples on the island. Like the storm, Prospero's anger is apparent; yet he never wants to do any real harm to the crew. The crew is safely washed ashore on to what seems to be the ideal utopia. Prospero is not an evil guy, he may be controlling and bitter, but only because he lost his dukedom, to his own family. The purpose for his actions essentially lead to forgiveness and a lesson learned by Antonio and Alonso. In the end everyone seems to get what they deserve.
Shakespeare, William, and Robert Woodrow Langbaum. The Tempest: With New and Updated Critical Essays and A Revised Bibliography. New York, NY, USA: Signet Classic, 1998. Print.