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Literature has always been a source of exploring the world and the history of mankind. Two literary works of roughly the same age written by Daniel Defoe and William Shakespeare use the concept of slavery, race, and class in their works The Tempest and Robinson Crusoe. These two works have a common theme that can be found in both compositions; the problem of class, race, and slavery underlies the themes of servantship and slavery. The master-servant relationship in Robinson Crusoe is healthier compared to Prospero’s master- servant relationship because of the way that Crusoe addresses the issue of slavery, race, and class.
In the works by Defoe, Crusoe is shipwrecked and ends up on a deserted island where he spends nearly thirty years in solitude and is destined to meet a man who would become his faithful servant and slave name Friday. When Friday first encounters Crusoe; Crusoe saves him from being eaten by other cannibals “[…] and he came nearer and nearer, kneeling down every Ten or Twelve steps in token of acknowledgement for my saving his Life.” (Defoe, 223) The relationship between Crusoe and Friday is a unique type of bond. Friday seems to be very grateful to Crusoe for saving his life. He willingly becomes a servant to Crusoe, “kneeled down to me, seeming to pray me to assist him, […] and he became my servant.” (Defoe, 218) Crusoe’s attitude towards Friday is warm and inviting “I smiled at him and looked pleasantly, and beckoned to him to comes still nearer: […] (Defoe, 234). Teaching Friday English provides Crusoe with a conversational partner “[…] and having taught him English so well that he could answer me almost any question, I asked him […]. (Defoe, 234) Friday is a “servant” in the conventional sense of the world...
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...ased the tension between the masters and their servants. John Robert Moore explores the similar traits of the two stories and finds the evidence for the statement above in the ways how both Prospero and Crusoe are getting ready for their return to the civilized society: while the magician asks for his hat and a rapier, Crusoe simply dresses into the other clothes. (Moore, p. 52)
Works Cited
Defoe, Daniel. The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. S.O. Beeton, 1862. Print.
Jericho, Jeremy. William Shakespeare's “The Tempest.” Barron's Educational Series, 1986. Print.
Moore, John Robert. The Tempest and Robinson Crusoe. The Review of English Studies January 1945, 21(81): 52-56. Print.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Nelson Thornes, 1988. Print.
Wheeler, Roxann. “My Savage,” “My Man”: Racial Multiplicity in Robinson Crusoe. ELH Winter 1995, 62(4): 821-861. Print.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Longman Anthology of World Literature. Compact ed. Ed. David Damrosch and David L. Pike. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2008. 1667-1720. Print.
The Tempest by William Shakespeare is one of the most relevant and studied plays of the Elizabethan period among scholars, from both, ancient and actual times. One of the many readings that have prevailed suggests that the play’s protagonist, Prospero, and his two su-pernatural servants, Ariel and Caliban, can work as a single psychological unit is constantly discussed by the academics. This reading is not new; it has been considered for longer than the idea of The Tempest as an autobiographical allegory, being first proposed by Thomas Campbell in 1838 (Yachnin).
Solomon, Andrew. “A Reading of the Tempest.” In Shakespeare’s Late Plays. Ed. Richard C. Tobias and Paul G. Zolbrod. Athens: Ohio UP, 1974. 232.
Hulme, Peter. "Prospero and Caliban." The Tempest. eds. Peter Hulme and William H. Sherman. New Your & London: Norton, 2004. pp. 233-43.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square Press, 2004.
Snider, Denton J. "A review of The Tempest." The Shakespearian Drama a Commentary: The Comedies. (1890). Rpt. Scott. 320-324.
Clark, W. G. and Wright, W. Aldis , ed. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Vol. 1. New York: Nelson-Doubleday
The issue of Slavery in the South was an unresolved issue in the United States during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. During these years, the south kept having slavery, even though most states had slavery abolished. Due to the fact that slaves were treated as inferior, they did not have the same rights and their chances of becoming an educated person were almost impossible. However, some information about slavery, from the slaves’ point of view, has been saved. In this essay, we are comparing two different books that show us what being a slave actually was. This will be seen with the help of two different characters: Linda Brent in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Frederick Douglass in The Narrative of the life of Frederick
When Crusoe meets Friday, he is joyous for having found someone he could finally make his slave as he had been previously. Although not fully envious of Robinson Crusoe, Friday is found stuck in between two worlds. One, where he thinks of Robinson as his friend and the other where he wonders why he is being treated as a slave, and not for his own personal benefit. Robinson’s views are purely of self-profit as he describes his dreams: “to think that this was all my own, that I was King and Lord of all this Country indefeasibly, and had a Right of Possession” (Defoe 72). This passage explains the belief of Robinson Crusoe in the feudal system and the use of hierarchy to promote bourgeois values upon a population. The character of Robinson Crusoe is then used in Green Grass, Running Water in a satirical manner when Thought Woman explains to Crusoe that Robinson Crusoe himself would not enjoy his own company as he is seen as a white supremacist with no place on native land: “But I don’t want to be Friday, says Robinson Crusoe. No point in being Robinson Crusoe all your life, says Thought Woman. It wouldn’t be much fun” (King 295). Furthermore, this remarks insists that Friday was never a true friend to Crusoe when he also states: “it has been difficult not having someone of color around whom I
Abrams, M.H., et al. ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. 2 Vols. New York: Norton, 1993.
In literature as in life, characters are multi-dimensional beings. They possess a wide variety of character traits that make them who they are. In the Tempest written by William Shakespeare, Prospero traits resemble those of the Europeans that came during the exploration of the Americas. Thus, Prospero’s treatment of Caliban is similar to the way Europeans treated the Native Americans.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Greenblatt, Stephen. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1997.
Nesbit, E.. "The Tempest." The Best of Shakespeare: Retellings of 10 Classic Plays. Oxford University Press, 1997. n.pag. eLibrary. Web.
Abrams, M.H., ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 1993.
William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest tells a story involving unjust acts, and Caliban trying to take over Prospero’s power of authority, Prospero’s mission to was to build righteousness and honesty by returning himself to rule. The idea of justice and injustice that the play works toward seems extremely independent meanwhile the impression of the play shows the view of one character who controls the purpose and fate of others.