Conwest Renaissance and the Antiquity
The Tempest
Shakespeares The Tempest is about a dissolving society and a new kind of social order that moves not out of the world, but from an ordinary to a renewed vision of nature. Prospero takes the society of Alonsos ship, immerses it in magic, and then sends it back to the world, restored as it was originally. Prospero has committed error, has suffered wrongs, and has struggled against them. He goes against struggles on the island as well, and these conflicts move Prospero towards the realization of the renaissance ideal. Shakespeare also takes the idea of a utopian society and shows how it can change depending on each persons experiences and perspective.
The Tempest is a Renaissance drama. The play embodies many Renaissance ideas and philosophies of Shakespeares Europe. The play emphasizes the different in duties for rulers and subjects, the zest for learning, practical living and the debate about the free will of man. Prosperos failure as a duke is the type of error people who lived in the Renaissance would take note of. He was clearly not an efficient or competent ruler, and the philosophers of the
time, especially Locke, emphasized the need for competent and wise rulers. He lacks practical interest in the day-to-day affairs of his people; something Locke would have condemned him for doing. Prospero has an opportunity in his new island to create his ideal utopia. Prosperos ideal state is a reflection of what society at the time believed to be a utopia. It was an easy experience, void of manual labor, with a majority of time spent on the pursuit of greater knowledge. At the end of the play, Prospero's utopia lies in his desire to be free from the stage as he requests, "release me from my bands with the help of your good hands"(Act V, 9-10). However Prospero is unable to escape responsibility as he has control over the whole island, which is why it is he who requests the audience's applause at the end. Ariel's utopia also consists of being free, however he wishes to be free of Prospero as a master, and wants to be "as free as mountain winds" (Act I, 19-20). Prospero grants him this freedom and therefore he finds a "utopia" on the island. This was a time where scientists such as Galileo and philosophers such as Locke, Hobbes and Descartes fueled The Enlightenment. However, the view of Antonios utopia is the picture of evil. His evil intensions and deceitful gain of power fueled by egocentric views were what people of the time would have labeled as a dystopia, the opposite of a utopia.
The class structure of the Tempest is similar to Renaissance society. The Monarch, Prospero, is the leader and no one disputes his rule. The Dukes and Duchies, Ferdinand and Miranda, are below the Monarch. Then, there was the professional working class and merchants, Alonso and the other members of the ship, who were held in high esteem. Finally, the working class, who were at the lowest level of society.
Mirandas utopia consists of a populated world with many other humans in it. Miranda has been kept in isolation on an island for her whole life, so due to this experience, her ideal state would be a place filled with many different people since it is something she has little experience with. When Miranda comes in contact with other beings she is amazed and overcome by her new discovery. While watching the demise of the ship she claims, Had I been any God of power, I would have sunk the sea within earth or ere (Act I, 10-11) this shows her desperation to save something so magical and alien to her. In the closing scene, Miranda exclaims rather naively, How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world/That has such people int (Act V, 183-184). The irony is fueled by how the whole scenario has not been based on truth or scientific discovery but rather, an illusion and destructive actions coined by her father, Prospero.
Mirandas role in the play, along with Ferdinand, is to unite enemies (Prospero and Alonso) which links in Ferdinands utopia which represents true love. Ferdinand therefore finds a utopia on the island, because in marrying Miranda his life changes for the better. However, even his view of Utopia is
somewhat skewed as he views Miranda as an item he posses, Shes mine. I choose her, (Act V, 195-196) he states when discussing her identity.
Other characters, however, have different version of their utopia. Calibans utopia changes throughout the play and Gonzalos utopia seems somewhat confusing as he has two ideas that seem to contradict each other. What is taken from this is that the view of Utopia does not remain stagnant; it is a constant changing process depending on ones life experiences and perspective. Caliban is the offspring of the devil and a witch. He represents a creature of earth, not the heavens. While Ariel acts from reason and rationality, Caliban acts from instinct, like an animal. Prospero makes Caliban his slave, but Caliban is not pleased with being a servant. Prospero attempts to teach Caliban the etiquette of the European man, but Caliban loves the freedom of nature and shuns the way of God. Ariel and Caliban represent the two states the philosopher Rousseau and Locke refer to in their treatises on government. Locke and Rousseau, who both come to different conclusions, discuss the State of Nature and the State of Man. In the State of Nature (Caliban) man is free to do as he pleases, like the animals. However, in order to rise above the animals, man must enter into a social contract with each other, this is when Man enters the State of Man. Ariel represents the latter state. Rousseau claims that by all men giving up their freedom willingly, they gain a free and just society. Locke claims man needs to exit the state of nature for protection against foreign enemies and to live in harmony. They both believe humans require other humans; this idea is key to an ideal state.
Caliban's version of a utopia changes as the play progresses. At the start of the play, as the relationship between himself and Prospero is revealed, we are told that Caliban wanted to reproduce, by attempting to rape Miranda, and "people else this island with Calibans"(Act I, 352). An aggressive act fuelled by animalistic or egocentric needs. However, by the end of the play, his utopia and character consists of wisdom and grace as Prospero passes on responsibility and ruler ship of the island to him. Again this shows he has found a "utopia" on the island.
Gonzalo's seems to tell of two forms of his utopia. He wants a world in which grace and free will are present, however, he says he would have an egalitarian state, one with no ruler, and "no sovereignty"(Act II, 149) , but he would have to be ruler on it to enforce all his rules. Hence it seems evident that all worlds require a ruler, even Gonzalo's egalitarian world. An example of this is on the ship during the tempest, there is no ruler and the ship divulges into total chaos. He goes onto say he wants a level-headed ruler, one not swayed by emotions, but he is only saying this to try to cheer up Alonso after he thinks he has lost his Ferdinand. His utopia's therefore seem to contradict each other and are seen, in the modern day, as comic and totally unattainable.
Shakespeare uses the Tempest as a social commentary showing that there is no true utopia. The myriads of characters in the play all have different experiences
that lend to different versions of an ideal state. The end of the play is a form of utopia where everyone seems at peace with his or her being. The ending celebrates the reconciliation of the characters from instances in their past. The play starts in chaos with the representation of a horrific storm and then restores itself with the theme of reformation and restoration.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Ed. Horace Howard Furness. New York, Dover, 1964. Print.
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