Colonialism in The Tempest
Post Colonialism and The Tempest
Background Information: In 1609 a fleet of nine ships set out from England, headed towards John Smith's Virginia colony, the first English settlement in the New World. One of the nine ships was separated during a violent storm and ended up on Bermuda. These shipwrecked Europeans began colonizing the island and enslaving the native population. Shakespeare's Tempest is based on this incident.
For over a century, a number of critics have tried to interpret the various elements of post colonialism present in the Tempest. In 1818, the English critic William Hazlitt was the first to point out that Prospero had usurped Caliban from his rule of the island and thus, was an agent of imperialism. This view provided the basis for modern interpretations of the Tempest as a post colonial work.
Shakespeare's Tempest is an amalgam of various pots colonial elements:
Prospero is a European who has taken charge of a remote island, being able to do so because of his strong magic powers. With these powers, he organizes a life for himself, gets the local inhabitants (Ariel and Caliban) to work for him, and maintains his control by a combination of threats, spells and enchantments, and promises of freedom some day. By taking charge of a place which is not his and by exerting his European authority over the strange non-European creatures, Prospero can be seen as an obvious symbol for European colonial power.
However, Caliban is perhaps the strongest symbol of Post colonialism. Caliban, a native of the island, regards himself as the rightful owner of the place. He bluntly states: "This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother, which thou takest from me." He is forced against his will to serve Prospero and Miranda. Initially, Prospero extends to Caliban his European hospitality, teaches him language, and, in return, is shown all the natural resources of the island by Caliban. But Caliban refuses to live by Prospero's rules, tries to rape Miranda,
Background Information: In 1609 a fleet of nine ships set out from England, headed towards John Smith's Virginia colony, the first English settlement in the New World. One of the nine ships was separated during a violent storm and ended up on Bermuda. These shipwrecked Europeans began colonizing the island and enslaving the native population. Shakespeare's Tempest is based on this incident.
For over a century, a number of critics have tried to interpret the various elements of post colonialism present in the Tempest. In 1818, the English critic William Hazlitt was the first to point out that Prospero had usurped Caliban from his rule of the island and thus, was an agent of imperialism. This view provided the basis for modern interpretations of the Tempest as a post colonial work.
Shakespeare's Tempest is an amalgam of various pots colonial elements:
Prospero is a European who has taken charge of a remote island, being able to do so because of his strong magic powers. With these powers, he organizes a life for himself, gets the local inhabitants (Ariel and Caliban) to work for him, and maintains his control by a combination of threats, spells and enchantments, and promises of freedom some day. By taking charge of a place which is not his and by exerting his European authority over the strange non-European creatures, Prospero can be seen as an obvious symbol for European colonial power.
However, Caliban is perhaps the strongest symbol of Post colonialism. Caliban, a native of the island, regards himself as the rightful owner of the place. He bluntly states: "This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother, which thou takest from me." He is forced against his will to serve Prospero and Miranda. Initially, Prospero extends to Caliban his European hospitality, teaches him language, and, in return, is shown all the natural resources of the island by Caliban. But Caliban refuses to live by Prospero's rules, tries to rape Miranda,