Shakespeare’s Powerful use of Characterization in The Tempest

2465 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Characterisation in the tempest

Shakespeare’s Powerful use of Characterization in The Tempest

In The Tempest, Shakespeare investigates the process of creativity as well as the idea that knowledge is equivalent to power. The Bard draws on both Christian and Aristotelian philosophy to support the premise that morality and creativity are made possible only through the acquisition of knowledge. The characters of Prospero, Ariel, Caliban, and Miranda each represent a different factor in the creative process: knowledge, creativity, medium, and final product, art. Yet they represent something else, as well: the deep divide between the social classes. The same imagery used to illustrate the creative process is used to support the European class system and the subjugation of the native peoples of the new world.

Prospero as Knowledge

Prospero symbolizes the first step in the creative process. He is knowledge, thought, and idea (Neilson 105). It was his idea to bring about the storm that would bring the ship to the island, facilitating the reconciliation between himself, his brother, and the king. Through his scheming, Miranda and Ferdinand met and became betrothed. Yet his ideas could not be put into effect without the help of Ariel (103). Ariel was freed by Prospero, and became his instrument. Neilson writes, "Prospero thinks-plans, but cannot practice. He needs a working agent to carry out his schemes" (105). Caliban, Prospero's wayward servant, warns the co-conspirators in his plot to kill Prospero, "Remember/First to possess his books, for without them/He's but a sot as I am, nor hath not/One spirit to command" (3.2.86-89). Without the knowledge he has gained from his books, Prospero would have no more power than Caliban.

Prospero is a magician, yet h...

... middle of paper ...

...om/servlet/LitRC

Johnson, W. Stacy. "The Genesis of Ariel." Shakespeare Quarterly. 11.3

(July 1951): 205-210. Rpt. in Shakespeare for Students. Book II. Literature Resource Center. Gale Group. Payson Lib., Malibu. 20 Feb. 2001. http://www.galenet.com/servlet/LitRC

Jones, Norman. "Shakespeare's England." A Companion to Shakespeare. Ed. David Scott Kastan. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. 25-42.

Lee, Sir Sidney. "Caliban's Visits to England." Cornhill Magazine. 201

(March 1913): 333, 341-45. Rpt. in Caliban. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea, 1992. 19-23.

Martz, William J. The Place of the Tempest in Shakespeare's Universe of Comedy. Kansas: Coronado P, 1978.

Neilson, Francis. Shakespeare and the Tempest. Rindge, NH: Smith, 1956.

Skura, Meredith Anne. "The Case of Colonialism in the Tempest." Caliban.. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea, 1992. 221-241.

Show More
Related

  • Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O.J. Simpson Case

    2404 Words  | 5 Pages

    On June 13, 1994, Nicole Brown, ex-wife of O.J. Simpson, was found murdered alongside Ronald Goldman (Dershowitz 19). Chapter one of Reasonable Doubts describes how many people jumped to the conclusion that O.J. carried out the murders. Incriminating evidence emerged that more than pointed to Simpson’s guilt (Dershowitz 21). Soon enough, media reports claimed that Simpson would be charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Simpson’s reluctance to be peacefully taken into custody was illustrated by his famous Los Angeles free-way chase that ended in his eventual surrender (Dershowitz 23). Dershowitz chose to join the defense team when offered the opportunity, claiming that the case could greatly educate people, especially his Harvard law students, on...

    Read More

  • Legal Tension, Social Issues, and the OJ Simpson Trial

    785 Words  | 2 Pages

    Neuendorf, K. A., Atkin, D., Jeffres, L. W., Loszak, T., & Williams, A. (2000). Explorations of the Simpson trial "racial divide". The Harvard Journal of Communications, 11, 247-266.

    Read More

  • Blackness in Macbeth

    2749 Words  | 6 Pages

    Warren, Roger. Shakespeare Survey 30.  N.p.: n.p., 1977. Pp. 177-78. Rpt. in Shakespeare in the Theatre: An Anthology of Criticism. Stanley Wells, ed. England: Oxford University Press, 2000.

    Read More

  • Open Adoption: The Best Interest of the Child

    1490 Words  | 3 Pages

    First, social-work and mental-health experts have reached a consensus during the last decade that greater openness offers an array of benefits for adoptees—from ongoing information about family medical issues to fulfillment of their innate desire to know about their genetic histories—even if the expanded relationships prove difficult or uncomfortable for some of the participants (Verbrugge). An open adoption is when the natural mother and the adoptive family know the identity of each other and could obtain background or medical history from the biological parent. In an open adoption the parental rights of biological parents are terminated, as it is in a closed adoption, but an open adoptio...

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Cancer And Gene Therapy

    2435 Words  | 5 Pages

    It was in the 1980’s that scientist began looking at alternative ways of treatments, one is gene therapy. Scientist would insert human genes into a bacteria cell. Then the bacteria cell would transcribe and translate the information into a protein. Once that is done the scientist would then introduce the protein into human cells. Gene therapy can be simply viewed as inserting bits of foreign DNA into a patient’s tissue in hope...

    Read More

  • The O.J. Simpson Trial: A Shocking Verdict

    1095 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fuhrman was the first officer to arrive at the scene. “It was Fuhrman who found the bloody glove that didn’t fit” (Downey). Fuhrman caused lots of speculation within the jury because the defense was able to find old tapes of Fuhrman using racial slurs. He had sworn that he had not used any derogatory language towards people of color in the past ten years. As Dominick Dunne said in How O.J. Simpson’s “Dream Team” Played The Race Card and Won, “The tapes of Fuhrman using racial slurs like nothing, played a huge part because whatever evidence he had a part of, all of a sudden

    Read More

  • The Horrendous Evil Within Shakespeare's Macbeth

    1962 Words  | 4 Pages

    Warren, Roger. Shakespeare Survey 30.  N.p.: n.p., 1977. Pp. 177-78. Rpt. in Shakespeare in the Theatre: An Anthology of Criticism. Stanley Wells, ed. England: Oxford University Press, 2000.

    Read More

  • The Incredible Potential of Gene Therapy

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the modern world humans have been able to design and create nearly anything, most to aid us in our daily lives and improve our standard of living. It is only inevitable that eventually humans would take our superior knowledge and skill to manipulate life itself and change our genome to produce a healthier and even more superior human standard of life. In recent years discussion about gene therapy has changed into a promising possibility to treat many of our common human diseases and disorders. Although gene therapy might be the answer to many problems, it has been met with a number of logistical and ethical hardships. With the prospect of being a treatment for inherited genetic disorders, cancers, and viral infections, gene therapy seems like the logical fix-it-all bandage that many people would benefit from.

    Read More

  • Ethics of Human Gene Therapy

    2330 Words  | 5 Pages

    Although the highly technical aspects of human gene therapy are somewhat complex, the basic concept is very straight forward. The goal of gene therapy is to correct mistakes that have occurred within the genetic material, or DNA, of the living cell. In very simple terms, DNA is often thought of as the "language" of the biological functioning of organisms. This language is organized by letters (nucleotide pairs), words (codons), sentences (genes), and books (genomes). Before being able to repair the damaged or defective genetic material, the location of the gene or genes causing the dysfunction in the individual must be determined.

    Read More

  • Human Gene Therapy

    1684 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gene therapy is a relatively simple process. First, the mutated gene at fault for the cause of the condition being treated must be identified. Second, the site of the unhealthy cells in the human has to be found. Then, a health...

    Read More

  • Analysis of Othello's Speech

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1

    Read More

  • What is Gene Therapy?

    1551 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gene therapy is the insertion of normal or genetically altered genes into cells usually to replace defective or diseased genes in the body. By using gene therapy, doctors can go to the source of the disorder or problem instead of prescribing a patient a countless number of drugs (Hogarth 1). Gene therapy was designed to introduce new and corrected genes to compensate for any abnormal genes. If a mutated gene causes a protein to be missing or to fail, gene therapy is a way to inject a new and normal copy of the correct gene to revitalize the function of the lost protein (Genetics Home Reference 1). With the help of medical advances in technology, gene therapy has gone from the idea stage, to technology development and laboratory research, to clinical trials for various disorders (ASGCT 2). It was not until the last five years that advances and trials of this new innovation had occurred (2). Gene therapy is currently being tested for results in cancer and other acquired diseases such as HIV or the flu. However, ...

    Read More

  • Prospero’s Abuse of Power in Shakespeare's The Tempest

    1318 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... For instance, Miranda and Ferdinand believe that they have chosen each other, when in fact Prospero orchestrated their falling in love from the outset. By using reverse psychology to make the couple think he does not approve of Ferdinand, Prospero catalyzes a rebellion against himself with the purpose of bringing the couple together. In the end, Prospero reveals himself to King Alonso and his men.

    Read More

  • Gene Therapy

    4676 Words  | 10 Pages

    Gene therapy attempts to cure or treat genetic diseases by correcting the genetic errors responsible for it. Genetic diseases can be either inherited diseases such as cystic fibrosis as well as acquired diseases such as cancer ("What is Gene Therapy?"). These diseases are caused by the absence or defective structure of specific genes that change the composition or pattern of proteins expressed by the cell ("What is Gene Therapy?"). Gene therapy attempts to treat these genetic disorders by inserting a normal gene into diseased cells to replace an absent or defective gene or to enhance the production of proteins that are needed to correct or prevent genetic diseases ("What is Gene Therapy?"). Essentially, gene therapy modifies the expression of a person's gene to p...

    Read More

  • The Theme of Colonialism in Shakespeare's Tempest

    2638 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Tempest. Arden Shakespeare, 1997. Print. Third Series Smith, Hallet Darius. Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Tempest; A Collection of Critical Essays, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969.

    Read More

More about Shakespeare’s Powerful use of Characterization in The Tempest

Open Document