Prospero’s Magic, the Age of Death and the 1610 Anthropocene
When Prospero -- the hero in William Shakespeare’s last play The Tempest -- buries his magical books near a cliff of an uninhabited island, he sings out the first song of the “Anthropocene” at the edge of the great globe. As the Duke of Milan, he and his daughter are exiled to the isolated island for 12 years, during which process he uses his magic to enslave the natives on the island, including “ a savage and deformed slave” -- Caliban (Shakespeare 3). One may argue that the master-slave relationship shows Shakespeare’s postcolonial reflection while others may think that this viewpoint takes too far from Shakespeare’s original intention. Steve Mentz, in his essay “Enter Anthropocene, c.1610,” interprets The Tempest through lenses of the 1610
…show more content…
The “Orbis Spike” specifies that the Anthropocene, as a geological epoch when human activities begin to take the dominant role in changing the earth in a global scale, starts at the year 1610 (Lewis and Maslin 171, 177). Mentz draws upon Lewis and Maslin’s “Defining the Anthropocene” and Prospero’s speeches from The Tempest to define “the Orbis Spike” as “an age of death” (2). In this essay, I will respond to Mentz 's essay with two passages from The Tempest to argue that the 1610 Anthropocene is indeed “an age of death” as Mentz proposed not only due to the depopulation of human especially the natives from the “New World”, but I will also add that human’s awareness on the limitation of the technology and inevitability of death both lead us to thinking about our position in the Anthropocene that we are the
This week we discussed ‘“The Tempest” in the Wilderness: A Tale of Two Frontiers’ by Ronald Takaki. In this article, the author discusses the differences between savagery and civilization. The main argument in this argument is shown in the form of examples of how the Indians and Irish were simply harmless at first when discovering the New World, but quickly made into monsters by the English men. I’m sure we’ve all learned in history of John Smith’s description of how the Powhatans cared for the sick and dying English men.
Ray Lankester’s Degeneration: A Chapter in Darwinism (1880) puts forward the theory of evolutionary degeneration, a theory which H.G. Wells expanded on in his own novel, The Time Machine (1895). Wells’ presentation of mankind’s degeneration, the Eloi, reveals the cultural anxiety of how mankind, having prospered beyond the drive of necessity, could adapt into a more vulnerable state. Many critics have focused on Wells’ overt allegorical warning to humanity not to degenerate into the Eloi, however, I argue there is a much more immediate anxiety that runs throughout the text in the presentation of the Time Traveller himself. The Traveller is an experiment of Lankester’s theory, in that he finds himself ousted from a condition of security. The
‘The Tempest’ and ‘Hagseed’ trace Prospero/ Felix’s pursuit of recompense using disparate forces; magic and the theatre. The opposing literary forms, both provide an omniscient perspective. The play's dialogue presents events in the 3rd-person and Prospero’s omniscient soliloquies and asides expand upon this perspective to reflect his interior thoughts, “... Thou shalt be pinched… each pinch more stinging/ Than bees that made ‘em.” The harsh prosed rhythm of Prospero’s dialogue magnifies his brutal magical quest for rectification.
Both characters are considered as rebellious savages that are controlled, Caliban by Prospero and John by the World State. The Tempest can be interpreted as a play about colonialism because when Prospero arrived at the island, he imposed his own rules and put Caliban under slavery, just as Europeans when they took possession of the lands of Americans and enslaved them. From this point of view, Prospero and the World State are very similar because they both use their power to control over people and to preserve their own stability (Prospero using his magic and the World State using soma).
“A Tempest” is as a derivative of Shakespeare ’s play “The Tempest” by Aime Cesaire. Cesaire makes a number of alterations in his adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”. These alterations have been made in order to outline the change in time eras between the two playwrights’ time of existence and to illustrate the great social change that occurred in these periods, mainly colonialism by the West, the subsequent theme of the quest for freedom as well as the theme of power that resonates throughout the play. This essay aims at exploring the similarities and to draw attention to the alterations made by Cesaire in “A Tempest” and the subsequent effects of these alterations on the audience.
The Theme of Nature and Civilization in The Tempest The Tempest, written by William Shakespeare, mostly takes place on a magical island Prospero got exiled to, but it shows a clear divide between nature and civilization. The play starts with Prospero and Miranda living in exile, and through this play, Prospero tries to go back to Milan, where he used to be the duke. When Alonso, the king of Naples, Antonio, the usurping Duke of Milan, and other nobles are caught in the tempest and arrive on the island, they soon realize that the traditions and rules that are applied in the man’s world do not exist on the island, where everything is natural. Although the wildness and civilization have a clear divide, the play shows a theme of different nature, which is the characters’ identities. Even though physical nature cannot be civilized, it can help humans to recognize their nature.
The Tempest can be seen as a play about reconciliation, forgiveness, and mercy. However, while it is clear that the theme of forgiveness is at the heart of the drama, it is unclear to what extent mercy is given. An examination of Caliban and Ariel and their representations of Prospero’s struggle illustrates that there is little, if any, true forgiveness and reconciliation in The Tempest. Prospero’s actions from the beginning of the play seem to contradict his ultimate aim to forgive those of have wronged him. Prospero seizes the opportunity for revenge with the help of his magic and good fortune.
The Tempest by William Shakespeare is projected to be written in 1610-1611 and is first performed in November 1611 and it is also believed to be the last play that Shakespeare has written alone. The play is largely engaged on the theme of power whether it be bad or good. Power is demonstrated in various ways in The Tempest, it can be seen as the characters desire power amongst each other, the power over slaves and men, the power of love and lastly the supernatural power of magic. These forms of power is witnessed through governance and possession in the play as well. Shakespeare depicts this power predominantly through Prospero who seems to have the greatest extent of power in the play.
The Tempest can often be seen as a play about colonialism primarily because Prospero came to the island that belonged to Sycorax, Caliban's mother. Prospero subdued her, ruled the land and placed himself as its new ruler. He had full control over everything on the island. Caliban actually loved Prospero at first and was fine with an autonomy but not slavery as he lamented: This island’s mine by Sycorax my mother, Which thou tak’st from me.
Unlike Shakespeare’s other main characters, he is much more enigmatic. In they play Prospero is portrayed as the rogue who seeks revenge on his brother Antonio for his treachery. In this Shakespearean comedy it becomes clear that Prospero is the heart of power on the island. Evidently Prospero has been wronged by his brother’s usurping which he could not control and now uses his magic as a tool for controlling the events that occur on island throughout the play. The theme of power in this play is hugely significant as it clear that the violence interrogated in this play is in relation to power and the abuse of that power by the protagonist.
The Aquila Theatre Company performed The Tempest by William Shakespeare at Harding University on February 23rd, 2015. The Tempest is about a man named Prospero who twelve years ago escaped to an island with his baby daughter after his brother, Antonio, usurped his position as Duke of Milan. However, according to Prospero, fortune sent the opportunity to seek revenge when a boat with his brother on board wrecked near the island. Throughout the story, many different events unfold among the various characters, but at the end, Prospero forgives his brother and all of those who try to stop him from the plans he devised at the beginning.
A tempest is typically known as a violent gale that can rival a tornado or hurricane in intensity and raw power. However, most English majors and literature enthusiasts associate the term “tempest” with one of Shakespeare’s final plays: The Tempest. Focusing on a revenge plot for banishment, the play’s main character, Prospero, utilizes his smooth tongue and magical properties to gain revenge on his past king and brother for stealing his dukedom away. Though this plot sounds like a fantastical story of revenge and retribution on the surface, deeper themes of rest underneath its waves as this play has been known not only for being one of Shakespeare’s final theatrical releases, but for being Shakespeare’s supposed love song or ode to the theatre.
As the play begins, it seems as if the massive tempest is simply a random occurrence, catching the mariners and nobility by chance. However, as the act continues, Shakespeare reveals that the tempest was actually the work of Prospero and his ghostly servant Ariel, who stirred up the seas and set fire to the masts (1.2, 193-194). This establishes Prospero as the executor of a mess of ‘coincidences’ ranging from Ferdinand stumbling upon his daughter Miranda to King Alonso and his party walking directly into the former duke’s cell. Though Prospero may have the same control over the English language as the other characters, Caliban points to his specific source of power. He says, “… for without [his books] /
In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Prospero is a learned sorcerer and has dominion over the Mediterranean island and his two servants, Caliban and Ariel. For Caliban, offspring of the witch Sycorax servitude is natural, for he does not understand the concept of freedom. Prospero enslaves Caliban and keeps him overpowered using magic frighten him or subdue him. Ariel is in thrall to Prospero, who rescued him from the “cloven pine” (1.2.330) to which he was imprisoned by the witch Sycorax.
In comparison, the inconsistency between diction depicts the power dynamics observed in the play. Shakespeare often uses Prospero’s servant, Ariel and slave, Caliban to portray the differences in the hierarchy of the play. As observed by the audience Prospero often uses threats and insults to communicate and assign task to Caliban, hence “...tonight thou shalt have cramps, side stitches that shall pen thy breath up. ”(I.ii.325-326) Prospero threatens Caliban with pain after his refusal to do work, because he feels as if the isle belongs to him due to the fact that it was inhabited by his mother first.