Essay Comparing The Tempest And Margaret Atwood

William Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ (1611) and Margret Atwood’s ‘Hag-Seed’ (2016) explore thematic concerns such as how imprisonment can stem from the desire for revenge, the want of power and control and how metatheatricality can convey reconciliation. Discussed through the perspective of the dangers and outcomes of the human condition, allows these texts to converse presenting the different forms and contexts between ‘The Tempest’ and its hypotext, ‘Hag-Seed’ as well as highlighting how this text aligns and collides with ‘The Tempest’.

Shakespeare and Atwood both explore the dangers of the human condition within their respective texts and discuss how the nature of revenge can consume one’s identity, leading to both moral, physical and

Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ follows Prospero’s relationship with power and control displaying the essential establishment of the Great Chain of Being controlling status within the Jacobean society of ‘The Tempest’. “If thou more murmur’st, I will rend an oak/And peg thee in his knotty entrials till/Thou hast howled away twelve winters” shows the peak of Prospero’s power and control through Shakesphere’s use of vivid imagery conveying the brutality of the power dynamic between Prospero and Ariel. The use of enjambment further highlights Prospero’s lengthy reign and irrational decision making showing the lengths he will go to to sustain his power and control dynamic. Prospero’s power and control has strongly influenced his art of magic, which he used throughout his reign but only understood its full effects once Ariel manipulates him, appealing to his humanity, and then using his art to gain redemption. “I’ll break my staff,/Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,/And deeper than did ever plummet sound/I’ll drown my book” uses metaphor to convey the relinquishment of power that results in liberation from the spiral of revenge, power and control. Shakespeare’s use of monologue assists the audience in understanding the effects of the liberal arts theory on Prospero’s redemption, magnifying this specific outcome of the human

As ‘Hag-Seed’ follows Felix’s everchanging journey of power and control in an influential society, it contributes to his desire for revenge and sees himself within Prospero. “Careful, he tells himself. Hold it together. Prospero’s always in control. More or less.” uses intertextuality to convey Felix’s want to duplicate Prospero’s power and control and his idolisation of Prospero. Felix’s idolisation of Prospero is shown through the power dynamic between Felix and the Fletcher Correctional Players as Felix tries to replicate the dynamic and chooses to play Prospero in his production ‘The Tempest’, being both the director and actor. Through this he finds redemption within his art, acting and directing, aligning with ‘The Tempest’. "under these conditions I pardon all of you and we'll let bygones be bygones" Atwood’s use of idiom shows Felix’s relinquishment of power and putting it beside him. This collides with Prospero’s relinquishment of power because Felix puts conditions on his redemption which does not fully allow Felix to let go of his want for power and control therefore not possessing the full effects of the liberal arts theory that Shakespeare has shown in ‘The Tempest’ sparking a textual