Female Oppression in The Tempest
During the span of Shakespeare’s life there was a drastic change in the male hierarchy with Elizabeth taking the throne and in this play the reader/viewer sees the ‘expected’ roles of women in a time before that. This might suggest that Shakespeare was trying to ‘restore order’ by writing in such a way that depicts women as objects that can be owned or, at best, solely wives and mothers. The predominant female character is brought up on patriarchal morals and is punished when she tries to rebel against them. Women are depicted as lesser than men, considering there is only one predominant female character, she is naive and usually does as she is told, and the few female characters are praised for being beautiful
…show more content…
Her father orders her around constantly, saying things such as, “Be collected.” (I. ii. 11) and “Obey, and be attentive.” (I. ii. 38) when he is about to tell her a story. She is treated as subordinate, or even as insignificant as something that can be given away. We see this when her father states: “Then, as my gift, and thine own acquisition/ Worthily purchas’d, take my daughter.” (IV. i. 13-4) Prospero is dealing with her love life and arranging her future without her consent or knowledge. Though we do see her trying to rebel against her father’s teachings. She is shown interrupting him to ask about more infomation that he isn’t giving her. She has a natural curiosity and wants to learn more. And although Prospero is scheming to bring Miranda and Ferdinand together, she does fall for Ferdinand and sneaks off to meet him. Her father is trying to teach her what being a ‘proper lady’ is all about but Miranda tends to go with her instincts and what she thinks is more ladylike. Although, more often than not, she does follow her father’s orders. She still thinks he and most men are higher ranked than she is. So she is not completely conditioned to believe everything her father has taught her but she still follows the initial