Femininity in The Tempest Essay

In this essay I will be discussing the representations of Sycorax and Miranda as embodiments of alternative versions of femininity in The Tempest. I will discuss how Sycorax is a representation of a strong, independent and feared woman, whose power and ugliness makes her an outcast to Elizabethan society and how it portrays its women, in that woman were seen as objects to possess and control, and I will also discuss how in contrast, Miranda is seen as an ideal woman of her time, through her beauty, obedience to her father, thus submissive to mans rule and through her naivety.

Using the passage in The Tempest where Prospero reminds Ariel about Sycorax, we get an impression about Sycorax, who she is and how she looks to Prospero and Ariel. Prospero Describes Sycorax as a non-white, Algiers (1.2.261), who is an old and ugly woman whose outwards appearance seems to mirror her inner malevolence. He describes her by referring to her as a Blue-eyed Hag(1.2.269) which is seen supposedly as a mark of imperfection on a woman as at that time the eyes of beauty were most frequently seen as grey or brown, thus symbolically describing Sycorax herself as being an imperfection to society. Prospero also refers to her illegitimacy of her pregnancy within the passage, which suggests lust, was hither brought with child... (1.2.269) another characteristic that is not seen as ideal in a woman.

In contrast to Sycorax, Miranda is seen as the ideal woman throughout The Tempest. Many times in the book she is referred to as a Goddess, characterised as beautiful, nave and innocent, everything Sycorax condemns in her ugliness, lack of virtue and appearance of power. Miranda further exemplifies the ideal woman by being a virgin, a woman of virtue, as stated by Ferdinand, O, if a virgin, and your affections not gone fourth, Ill make you the queen of Naples. (1.2.447-449) Where we are again reminded how Sycorax is not a virgin and is therefore seen as impure, a whore.

Mirandas obedience and submission to her father also shows stereotypical femininity of Elizabethan times as her father and Ferdinand, who represent Masculinity, seem to rule and possess her. Sycorax again enhances Mirandas view of being the ideal Elizabethan woman, as her power that she possesses contradicts Mirandas Innocence and powerlessness.

Miranda represents a kind of femininity that was the ideal, stereotypical representation of woman of the Elizabethan era, males dominated in this era and woman were seen as possessions to be controlled and they were expected to be submissive and obedient to their fathers and husbands. Miranda represents the traits that males of the time saw as perfection, mainly focusing on her beauty, obedience and naivety.

To me the reason she does represent this type of femininity is because of her upbringing and the situation she found herself being grown up in, maybe if she were still in Milan she would not be the woman she is. What deems her as the most ideal woman is because of her father, Miranda grew up doting on her father and in her naivety her father moulded her into the perfect woman, obedient, submissive and kind. She has never known any other way of doing things and she never thinks to disobey her father as she has no other influence except Caliban, which she only thinks of as an unkind, evil creature that goes against her very nature.

Sycorax on the other hand represents, according to what we know, a more present perception of femininity, which is the very reason she is out-casted by the Elizabethan society. She is a woman that although not pretty, is strong, independent and powerful, everything that is not expected in a woman. All we know of Sycorax is represented by Prospero through his knowledge so we shall never know the true representation of her. The fact that Sycorax is equal in power and magic to Prospero immediately makes him believe that she is not ideal in terms of a woman in the first place never mind her looks or her pregnancy.

Femininity is portrayed in different ways in The Tempest through Sycorax and Miranda. Sycorax is seen as not an ideal representation of how a woman should be and act like and Miranda is seen as the ideal representation of how a woman should be and act like. Both women portray Femininity in their own way but there is a direct contrast between the different femininities, one that is accepted and one that is not, Sycorax is the counter-part to Miranda and between them they split the patriarchal stereotype of woman as the white virgin and the whore.