Explore the theme of rightful authority in The Tempest

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Tabitha Scott   13N   English Essay: Rightful Authority in The Tempest    2008-10-07

Explore the theme of rightful authority in ‘The Tempest’ by William Shakespeare.

The theme of rightful authority prevails throughout Act One. It affects the relationships between the characters and dictates the outcomes of the situations that Shakespeare creates. Particularly central is the power struggle between Prospero and Caliban which many post-colonial critics have labelled as the struggle between natives and invading forces.

Prospero is stripped of the power he held in civilisation when his brother Antonio usurps his position. Shakespeare presents Prospero’s tale in a way where the audience may feel inclined to sympathise with him, however midway through his tale it becomes apparent that perhaps Prospero was right to lose his throne as his priority was his magic and not his people. On the island Prospero rules with unquestionable authority, a strength not apparent in his ruling of Milan.

 Prospero’s magic becomes a useful power when he is banished to a small island. It enables him to hold power over the only native; Caliban. At first Prospero shows love and kindness towards Caliban who shows them the islands resources in return. Miranda and Prospero teach him language giving him the freedom to express himself. He is sensitive to Ariel’s songs and his own language is poetic at times. Yet this image is contrasted with Shakespeare’s presentation of Caliban as monster, a ‘thing of darkness’, and the offspring of a witch Sycorax and the Devil. He is described as ‘ungrateful’ since Prospero and Miranda do ‘everything’ for him and Caliban returns their favour by making sexual advancements on Miranda. This ingratitude is enough justification for Prospero to enslave Caliban and torment him with invisible spirits.

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From Caliban’s point of view Prospero is an ungrateful tyrant. It was Caliban’s island long before they arrived; “The Island’s mine by my mother Sycorax”, and it was Caliban who taught the newcomers how to survive in the foreign environment. To Caliban a union with the island’s only eligible bachelor is entirely ‘natural’ and he is deserving of it. It is possible that if Caliban were shaped like Ferdinand he would be more accepted as a possibility for Miranda. Shakespeare presents the common belief that appearance was a measurement of a person’s ability to be good, and thus Caliban is ...

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