The Tempest Comparative Essay

In many adaptations of novels, authors will purposely alter characters to fit their motives and messages which will still hold the original but also portray a deeper underlying meaning. In Shakespeare’s, The Tempest, the characters Ariel and Caliban are seen as slaves to the powerful Prospero and they complete his every wish in order to someday gain freedom. In contrast, in Aime Cesaire’s A Tempest, Ariel is portrayed as the loyal slave and Caliban is depicted as the evil aggressive slave that must be taught how to be civil. In The Tempest and A Tempest, the master-slave relationship is seen with Prospero at the upper hand but Cesaire uses these characters to show colonialism and exploitation rather than workers. Ariel is one of the major

Even though there still is a slave-master relationship, it is almost similar to a friendship or agreement rather than abuse. Ariel chooses to take the passive way out of his enslavement and will complete any task his master asks of him, for example when Ariel states, “All hail, great master! Grave sir, hail! I come to answer thy best pleasure, be ’t to fly, to swim, to dive into the fire, to ride on the curled cloud. To thy strong bidding, task Ariel and all his quality (Shakespeare I.ii. 225-228). Ariel will complete these tasks for his master because he understands the absolute power of Prospero and possible fears for the outcome if he does not. On the other hand, in Cesaire’s A Tempest, Ariel is seen as the slave commonly referred to as “Uncle Tom”. This means that Ariel chooses to receive the maltreatment in hopes of being freed. This differs because before, Ariel did not understand the abuse but rather felt in debt. Cesaire decides to give more focus to Ariel’s character to show how his slave-master relationship is an example of how house slaves were treated in comparison to field slaves. When

In Shakespeare’s The Tempest Caliban is given the role of the villain who is aggressive, gross, and inappropriate. Prospero teaches Caliban how to speak and read which is seen as a gift rather than trying to rid Caliban of his identity. Caliban meets his enslavement with wickedness but ultimately is portrayed as powerless. After arguing with Prospero, Caliban states, “I must obey, His art is of such power, it would control my dam’s god, Setebos, and make a vassal of him (Shakespeare I. ii. 447-450). Caliban is seen falling under the command of his master and despite their rage toward each other, Caliban continues his obedience. The image that Shakespeare portrays of Caliban is one of an aggressive native that needed to be helped by Prospero rather than the one who was colonized. In comparison, Aime Cesaire uses the master-slave relationship between Caliban and Prospero to show how some slaves did not choose the quiet route and constantly tried to defy the authorities. Caliban, in A Tempest, was a representation of a field slave because of his harsher treatment and more confrontational language. Another important change is that Caliban’s true identity is seen more in Cesaire’s adaptation especially 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. You talk about history… well, that’s