“Explore the presentation of authority and inferiority in ‘The Tempest’”
Shakespeare has staged a play that explores the human hierarchy of the Elizabethan era. At the time dominance of one person over another was part of a system, which kept the society going. The social hierarchy consisted of the educated, kings, bishops, lords and noble men at the top of the hierarchy, with the working class peasants at the bottom. Everyone had a fixed status in society. However this is all physically displaced on the island, as there is no social structure and it is uninhabited and tropical. Shakespeare sets his plays mainly in Italy; however in ‘The Tempest’ he has placed a group of civilised people into an unshaped and uncivilised society. In a way he has challenged the view that such a hierarchy works on a wild island. ‘The Tempest’ is seen to be a play that Shakespeare aimed at the arrogant King James I. Instead of supporting the king’s views of being ‘God’ he staged something that presented power as unpredictable and easily lost. In fact, by challenging the Elizabethan hierarchy Shakespeare has given an indirect warning of the dangers that may face the king. Nevertheless, we know that even on the island there is a hierarchy, which comprises of Prospero being superior and Caliban being inferior.
How characters gain and loose authority in ‘The Tempest’ is seen as being very transient. The authority the characters have is not set in stone nor will they have it forever. However we know that Alonso King of Naples is the most authoritative figure and Caliban the most inferior in the play. We first see how unstable authority is within the hierarchy right at the beginning of the play. “Do you not hear him? You mar our labour keep your cabins!” We see here how the boatswain has adopted the role of authority even though he is of an inferior status. We know this from the way he addresses the noble men. The punctuation shows that the boatswain is shouting. He is able to move from inferiority to authority because he has something that the noblemen above him do not. The question asked by the boatswain is to make a point, as he knows that they cannot do anything. He shows them as being ignorant and stupid; the question is quite insulting, sarcastic and sharp. It was very unlikely that noblemen would talk in that manner. Even if the noblemen do not agree or see themselves as being inferior to the boatswain, they need him to save them all from dying even though this may all change after the storm. Antonio gained authority from his brother who once had ultimate authority, and now does not but rules over an uninhabited island. Caliban as a native authority but gave it away, he also transfers his master from Prospero to Trinculo.
