The Presentation of Authority and Inferiority in The Tempest

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The Presentation of Authority and Inferiority in The Tempest

Shakespeare has staged a play that explores the human hierarchy of the

Elizabethan era. At the time dominance of one person over another was

part of a system, which kept the society going. The social hierarchy

consisted of the educated, kings, bishops, lords and noble men at the

top of the hierarchy, with the working class peasants at the bottom.

Everyone had a fixed status in society. However this is all physically

displaced on the island, as there is no social structure and it is

uninhabited and tropical. Shakespeare sets his plays mainly in Italy;

however in ‘The Tempest’ he has placed a group of civilised people

into an unshaped and uncivilised society. In a way he has challenged

the view that such a hierarchy works on a wild island. ‘The Tempest’

is seen to be a play that Shakespeare aimed at the arrogant King James

I. Instead of supporting the king’s views of being ‘God’ he staged

something that presented power as unpredictable and easily lost. In

fact, by challenging the Elizabethan hierarchy Shakespeare has given

an indirect warning of the dangers that may face the king.

Nevertheless, we know that even on the island there is a hierarchy,

which comprises of Prospero being superior and Caliban being inferior.

How characters gain and loose authority in ‘The Tempest’ is seen as

being very transient. The authority the characters have is not set in

stone nor will they have it forever. However we know that Alonso King

of Naples is the most authoritative figure and Caliban the most

inferior in the play. We first see how unstable authority is within

the hierarchy right at t...

... middle of paper ...

... we are shown how authority is very unstable and unrealistic it

holds ultimately very little power. The ranking one has in society

does not prove anything, as there are many inferior characters, that

maybe in some cases a lot more superior to those who do have an

authoritative status. Authority is a key theme in the play;

Shakespeare has achieved to get an indirect message not only to the

king but to people also. In a way the play shows how, no matter if you

are an authoritative figure or an inferior one they both have the same

amount of difficulties. Just because the rich hide them better doesn’t

mean there not there nor are they any better than the common people.

As we see how cunning and manipulative the rich and educated are, and

whether it is there education that earns them the right to have a

status that they do.

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