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Social Issues In Shakespeare's The Tempest

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Many social problems existed back then. A social issue refers to an issue that influences and is opposed by a considerable number of individuals within a society. It is often created by others and is something out of an individual's. Shakespeare use his play The Tempest to comment on social issues that were present in his time. Shakespeare does so by implementing these problems into the play. The Tempest is a play where a man named, Prospero, was a former duke of a land. He was exiled to an island because his brother, Antonio, usurped his dukedom. Prospero lives on the island with his daughter, Miranda attempting to reattain his title of duke. There are many causes of social issues, and it is important to view these issues on how they affect others. …show more content…

The Tempest can often be seen as a play about colonialism primarily because Prospero came to the island that belonged to Sycorax, Caliban's mother. Prospero subdued her, ruled the land and placed himself as its new ruler. He had full control over everything on the island. Caliban actually loved Prospero at first and was fine with an autonomy but not slavery as he lamented: This island’s mine by Sycorax my mother, Which thou tak’st from me. When thou cam’st first, Thou strok’st me and made much of me......and then I loved thee... Cursed be I that did so... For I am all the subjects that you have, Which first was mine own king; and here you sty me In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me the rest o’th’island. (I, ii, 331-44) He made Caliban his slave and labeled him a thing of darkness. Caliban was being dehumanized. Caliban was a symbol that stood for the countless victims of European imperialism and colonization. Like Caliban, the colonized people were disinherited, exploited, and subjugated. Caliban was used by Shakespeare as an example that was socially relevant to the ongoing colonization of other areas from

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Like English viewed Indians, Prospero viewed Caliban’s race as being “inferior” and savage, for he is a native and different from what he believes is civil. Prospero takes him under his control and teaches him the ways of what he thinks is civilized, teaching him language and chores, and eventually making him his slave. Like Douglass and slaves, he would be punished often by Prospero’s spirits for any offense such as a wrong response to just a small mistake or look. Caliban’s status/class went from being the “king” of the island that his mother left him to being a slave, just like the Indians were manipulated by the English while they plotted on how to take their land away. Caliban however can think for himself, yet others view him as inferior because of his race, thinking he has no intellect.

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This week we discussed ‘“The Tempest” in the Wilderness: A Tale of Two Frontiers’ by Ronald Takaki. In this article, the author discusses the differences between savagery and civilization. The main argument in this argument is shown in the form of examples of how the Indians and Irish were simply harmless at first when discovering the New World, but quickly made into monsters by the English men. I’m sure we’ve all learned in history of John Smith’s description of how the Powhatans cared for the sick and dying English men.

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Lee makes it clear that discoveries can shape our identity by either challenging or affirming our beliefs about ourselves and our world. The initial challenging discoveries of doubt and inner darkness can enable the protagonist to emerge wise and fulfilled, eventually rewarding them with a fully-grown depth of understanding and discernment. In the first stage of discovery the individual leaves the familiar and ventures from the ordinary into the extraordinary. The Tempest opens during a fierce storm at sea, with a royal party on board, representing Prospero’s initial

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Prospero’s Magic, the Age of Death and the 1610 Anthropocene When Prospero -- the hero in William Shakespeare’s last play The Tempest -- buries his magical books near a cliff of an uninhabited island, he sings out the first song of the “Anthropocene” at the edge of the great globe. As the Duke of Milan, he and his daughter are exiled to the isolated island for 12 years, during which process he uses his magic to enslave the natives on the island, including “ a savage and deformed slave” -- Caliban (Shakespeare 3). One may argue that the master-slave relationship shows Shakespeare’s postcolonial reflection while others may think that this viewpoint takes too far from Shakespeare’s original intention. Steve Mentz, in his essay “Enter Anthropocene, c.1610,” interprets The Tempest through lenses of the 1610

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Power play is a big theme in the Tempest. This example shows that Prospero wants to be the master, and Ariel the servant. Overall, Prospero just wants power over people. However it can be argued that Prospero changes when he says:

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In the late 19th century and into the early 20th century, the continent of Africa struggled through imperialism and colonialism from most European Countries. Shakespeare’s last individual play titled The Tempest, can be translated into a metaphor for European colonialism on Africa during the 1800’s. In this interpretation of the play, the main character Prospero represents the European conquerors, and Caliban and Ariel represent the native African people. This suggests that Prospero controls them in cruel and unfair ways. I believe that this is translation of the play is inaccurate, because although in some sense Prospero does control Caliban and Ariel, he has a valid reason to, unlike the Europeans.

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756 Words | 4 Pages

1- What makes Miranda a central character in the play? What process must she undergo? What virtues does she possess that make success likely? Miranda is a hero “The Tempest.”

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Many years ago, there were people known as slaves that would be forced to do as their told. Of course, the slaves preferred to be free, but their owners would not allow it. In the play, "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare, includes a few characters that would be classified as slaves. Throughout the play, a spirit named Ariel, had to obey his every command no matter how cruel it was to others. Ariel didn 't serve because he wanted to, but because he was forced just like an average slave.

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And on a steak that you’ve sharpened yourself”. The threat of being whipped and magic forcibly induces Caliban to do Prospero’s bidding. Caliban’s allusion to Malcom X when he states, “Call me X. That would be best. Like a man without a name. Or, to be more precise, a man whose name has been stolen.”

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”(The Tempest 1.2.285-286). Prospero, arguably erroneously so, would have believed from the onset that he was a better and more civilised man than

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Both characters are considered as rebellious savages that are controlled, Caliban by Prospero and John by the World State. The Tempest can be interpreted as a play about colonialism because when Prospero arrived at the island, he imposed his own rules and put Caliban under slavery, just as Europeans when they took possession of the lands of Americans and enslaved them. From this point of view, Prospero and the World State are very similar because they both use their power to control over people and to preserve their own stability (Prospero using his magic and the World State using soma).

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Unlike Shakespeare’s other main characters, he is much more enigmatic. In they play Prospero is portrayed as the rogue who seeks revenge on his brother Antonio for his treachery. In this Shakespearean comedy it becomes clear that Prospero is the heart of power on the island. Evidently Prospero has been wronged by his brother’s usurping which he could not control and now uses his magic as a tool for controlling the events that occur on island throughout the play. The theme of power in this play is hugely significant as it clear that the violence interrogated in this play is in relation to power and the abuse of that power by the protagonist.

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1470 Words | 6 Pages

As the play begins, it seems as if the massive tempest is simply a random occurrence, catching the mariners and nobility by chance. However, as the act continues, Shakespeare reveals that the tempest was actually the work of Prospero and his ghostly servant Ariel, who stirred up the seas and set fire to the masts (1.2, 193-194). This establishes Prospero as the executor of a mess of ‘coincidences’ ranging from Ferdinand stumbling upon his daughter Miranda to King Alonso and his party walking directly into the former duke’s cell. Though Prospero may have the same control over the English language as the other characters, Caliban points to his specific source of power. He says, “… for without [his books] /

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The various ways Shakespeare dramatizes and explores power, allows us to obtain a richer impression of the theme of power in The Tempest. Government and authority both carry out important functions in the play. It is the subject of government that initiates the events in the play and it is also the foundation of the progression throughout the play. Prospero is the fundamental piece in the play concerning governance because he used to be the Duke of Milan, but loses his title to his brother Antonio when he devotes too much of his time learning magic rather than ruling his people and seeing his obligations through: “The government I cast upon my brother, [a]nd to my state grew stranger, being transported [a]nd rapt in secret studies,” (p.10). This is also the cause of Prospero and his infant

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1123 Words | 5 Pages

In comparison, the inconsistency between diction depicts the power dynamics observed in the play. Shakespeare often uses Prospero’s servant, Ariel and slave, Caliban to portray the differences in the hierarchy of the play. As observed by the audience Prospero often uses threats and insults to communicate and assign task to Caliban, hence “...tonight thou shalt have cramps, side stitches that shall pen thy breath up. ”(I.ii.325-326) Prospero threatens Caliban with pain after his refusal to do work, because he feels as if the isle belongs to him due to the fact that it was inhabited by his mother first.

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