In The Tempest, written by William Shakespeare, Miranda is the daughter of Prospero, former Duke of Milan. They were both exiled to an island, where they have lived with the company of each other, along with Caliban, Prospero’s slave, for twelve years. The word “Miranda” means admired in Latin, and the character Miranda is admired by many characters such as Caliban, Ferdinand, and her father. Not only is she admired, but she also looks at the world with appreciation and admires everything. Most editors and readers of The Tempest view Miranda as an innocent, young, selfless girl, but there are context clues that show she is cunning and selfish.
Miranda in The Tempest is usually described as sweet, intelligent, and hopeless romantic. In the beginning of the play during the tempest, Miranda watches helplessly as the ship sinks. Miranda begs her father to stop the storm: “If by your art, my dearest father, you have / Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them” (I. ii. 1-2). She wants him to stop torturing the people and to keep them safe. This shows Miranda’s caring side, even though she does not know the people, she wants them to be safe. When Ferdinand becomes a slave to Prospero and has to carry wood, Miranda says “If you’ll sit down / I’ll bear your logs the while. / Pray give me that; / I’ll carry it to the pile” (III. i. 23-25). In this quotation, she shows the reader that she is willing to do anything for someone she cares about. She wants him to stop doing the chores because she is afraid that he will hurt himself, yet she says that she will do it instead. She is willing to injure herself for others around her to be safe. Prospero told Miranda to stay away from Ferdinand, but she defies her father because she loves Ferdin...
... middle of paper ...
...u have / Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them” (I. ii. 1-2), Miranda wants her father to stop the storm so that the passengers of the ship could locate to the island. If that happened, there would always be a possibility that rescuers could aid the stranded passengers of the ship and take Miranda with them.
Sweet, innocent, and generous Miranda was admired by many characters and thought to be young and pure. She is willing to do anything for people she cares about, and she cared about people, even if she does not know them personally. Not only selfless, Miranda is described as cunning and a bit selfish. She criticizes Caliban about his disrespect towards people, something out of character for her. Her love with Ferdinand could be forced, as she would have an ulterior motive to get off the island. Miranda has two different sides: one selfless, one selfish.
Shakespeare uses symbolism in this scene to help create meaning and emotions from the audience, in the form of archetypes. The symbol of Miranda’s virginity, symbolizes Miranda’s purity and innocence. Miranda
Miranda first meet, Ferdinand wants to make Miranda his queen and Miranda feels that "there's
William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, one of Shakespeare’s final plays and debat-ably his final play ever written, focused on man’s gluttonous desire for power. Power manifests itself in “The Tempest” in many different ways, including the exploration of the power of betrayal, the universal desire for power between men. The power of a mas-ter over his slave, and the power of magic and illusion. Although this is clear, many in-terpretations over time have changed regarding the theme of power, which has resulted in questions as to whether power in the play is represented as good or bad. Shakespeare pre-sents these forms of power in different ways. Namely, through his character Prospero, who was once the duke of Milan but was betrayed by his brother, Antonio, and Alonso, the king of Naples. Prospero was kidnapped and left to die on a raft at sea, but Prospero and his daughter survive because Gonzalo leaves them supplies and Prospero’s books, which are the source of his magic and power. Prospero and his daughter Miranda arrive on an island where Prospero takes control after the witch dies. Also on the island is the spirit, Ariel, and the witch’s son, Caliban. Prospero appears to hold the majority of the power throughout the play.
Shakespeare's play, The Tempest tells the story of a father, Prospero, who must let go of his daughter; who brings his enemies under his power only to release them; and who in turn finally relinquishes his sway over his world - including his power over nature itself. The Tempest contains elements ripe for tragedy: Prospero is a controlling figure bent on taking revenge for the wrongs done to him, and in his fury he has the potential to destroy not only his enemies, but his own humanity and his daughter's future.
During Shakespeare's time social classification was much more rigid than today and some members of society were considered superior to other members. Shakespeare provides an example of this rigid social structure through his play, The Tempest. Shakespeare illustrates how superior men differentiated themselves from lesser beings on the basis of race, financial status, and gender. Through the character of Prospero, Shakespeare provides and example of one, who had reason to feel superior, yet treated others equally and with the respect due to them.
The first difference between the play and the movie “The Tempest” is; the protagonist Prospero, the Duke of Milan, is played by a female character named Prospera in the movie filmed in 2010, directed by Julie Taymor. He is a complex character in the play however the personality that Shakespeare created was slightly changed in the movie. The key point of this gender difference is to highlight the role of women’s empowerment over the last two hundred years. Taymor’s movie is making a statement on how Prospera’s power is limited for the island, she is still able to empower throughout the text sexually,...
Leininger, Lorie Jerrell. "The Miranda Trap: Sexism and Racism in Shakespeare's Tempest." The Tempest: Critical Essays.Ed. Patrick M. Murphy. New York: Routledge, 2001. 223-229.
In The Tempest, Art is that which is composed of grace, civility, and virtue. It is represented by Prospero, the other members of the nobility who belong to the court party and their servants. The world of the court is synonymous with the world of art in the play. In contrast, Nature is bestial, brutish and evil and manifests itself in the form of Caliban and the natural world. With two such extremes brought together, debate between the two is inevitable.
The Tempest portrays women as beings that accept the ideal role that they are expected to take on by the request of the men. The way Miranda is portrayed; as a goddess, maid, or virgin, is what she makes herself to be. The play does not give women the voice that they deserve, it makes them out to be prized possessions for men to brag about and share. From a feminist prospective, The Tempest portrays an Elizabethan society that doesn’t give women a voice, but rather ways on how to be the ideal woman for men to possess.
In the 1600s, married women were expected to do anything for their husbands. Husbands were urged to be good heads of their families and to treat their wives with kindness and consideration. The woman were considered to be the 'weaker vessel ' and thought to be spiritually weaker than men and in need of masculine guidance. During this time, women were treated as inferior being who were meant to look after the house and were to children . Women were treated with little dignity. In “The Tempest,” William Shakespeare was able to show the oppression of women throughout the play. Scenes with Prospero and Miranda have shown significant hidden evidence to prove that the colonial era was a time of female oppression. Shakespeare uses Prospero as an
Secondly, Miranda also serves as the ultimate fantasy for any male who (like Ferdinand) is a bachelor. She is extremely beautiful, she is intelligent, and she has never been touched (or even seen) by another male. Shakespeare makes Miranda even more desirable by including the fact that she has never seen or even talked to another man (with the obvoius exception of Prospero). Miranda personifies the ultimate source of good in the play, and provides the ultimate foil for the evil character of Caliban. When Ferdinand is forced to chop wood by Prospero, Miranda offers to do it for him. Finding a woman this humble in the world of Shakespeare is almost impossible. One does not have to look farther than her last line in the play to realize her purpose in the plot. Miranda states "O wonder! / How many goodly creatures there are here! / How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world / That has such people in't" (Tempest,5.1,185-7) Through this passage and many of her others Miranda shows a positive attitude which is almost uncanny when compared to the other characters.
During both periods, the men were the leaders and the females were their inferiors. Prospero and Miranda, the father and daughter in William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, are an example of a relationship between a father and daughter in Elizabethan England, however they were slightly different from the norm of their period. Prospero had to do everything for Miranda since she had no known mother and they were on a deserted island, she was unable to go to a household of a relative, which was a commonplace during this time. Prospero is in complete control of Miranda. He raises her in his image and as nearly all fathers of his day demand respect.
Leininger, Lorie Jerrel. “The Miranda Trap: Sexism and Racism in Shakespeare’s Tempest.” The Woman’s Part: Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Eds Carolyn Ruth Swift Lenz et al. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983. 285-294
Throughout Shakespeare’s various works, it has been observed that he rarely uses females in his literature, but when he does, he uses them for a distinct purpose, as is evident in Julius Caesar. By defying the societal standards of her gender and showing genuine interest in her husband’s thoughts and feelings, Portia, the wife of Brutus, reveals key aspects of his character while adding depth to the story. For her time, Portia was a woman who both respected herself and took pride in herself, without allowing society to make a mark on her. This is evident when she states, “Think you I am no stronger than my sex/ Being so father'd and so husbanded?" (Port...
This shows huge love and compassion and a great sense of goodness. Appropriately, this goodness does reap its rewards, as Ferdinand receives permission to marry Miranda later in the play based on these actions. In The Tempest, there are kind and forgiving characters such as Ariel Miranda, and Ferdinand. However, there are also brutal characters such as Caliban, Antonio, Sebastian, and -to some extent- Prospero.