William Shakespeares The Tempest - Book Report/Review Example

How could feminist ideas enhance our understanding of William Shakespeare's The Tempest Prospero, the leading protagonist in Shakespeare's The Tempest is a domineering man and father. As such, he is a patriarch who exercises his oppression to feminism. His daughter Miranda is portrayed as "perfect", "peerless", and the "admired Miranda". Indeed, Miranda has a very narrow opinion of the role of women. She said that: We are such stuff As dreams are made on; And our little life Is rounded with a sleep (IV.i.156-58) Miranda is almost totally dependent upon Prospero for her happiness. Even after she found her love in Ferdinand, she and him were still dependent upon Prospero for their future. In Prospero's terms, feminism means absolute obedience to him. Miranda is the most powerful female figure in The Tempest. Although she apparently sits by her father's side, she has no real power. Her power is only in her status which she enjoys. She is entitled to all the trappings of the rich but is bereft of power. That would be rejected by a true feminist. Miranda is not a real feminist. In Shakespeare's use of feminism, Miranda is portrayed as possessing external as well as internal beauty. It is a kind of manipulated feminism as even educated females are reflecting and supporting the patriarchal system. Education does not open her eyes; Miranda is staunchly filial to her father. Shakespeare promoted family values of filial piety and obedience. He wrote in rewards for the virtuous Miranda when, at the end of the play, she gets a good husband as well as the immense material wealth of two dukedoms. Caliban is a contrast to Miranda and an understanding of how Shakespeare distributes awards on his value system. Caliban is described as ugly, evil, uneducated, disobedient and deserving of being enslaved. Shakespeare made him rebellious to show how active rebelliousness begets nothing but bad. Although Caliban is a man, he is a comparison to Miranda's feminism because Shakespeare showed that her brand of feminism is successful. He highlights what he wished to emphasize. However submissive Miranda is, she no longer could remain passive when her beloved Ferdinand was threatened with death by Prospero. She rushed into her defense of her lover Ferdinand. O dear father, Make not too rash a trial of him, for He's gentle, and not fearful. (I.ii.469-71) Prospero is shocked. He had been so confident of the success of his education and upbringing of Miranda that he miscalculated her potential of free will. Instilling education was an act of feminism in liberating the woman from ignorance. Now, it seemed that the dog has turned to bite the hand of her master. He puts her in her place by saying: What! I say, My foot my tutor (I.ii.471-72) Prospero immediately puts her in her place. He is saying that Miranda's status is but of a lowly one, like a foot and as such, she has no right to tutor him on what to do. He is indignant that his authority as head of the household has been challenged. Miranda did not know that Prospero was baiting the couple. He wanted to test the strength of their love for each other by making it difficult for them to unite as a couple. As a father, Prospero wanted to ensure that Ferdinand was worthy of Miranda and to prepare the couple for their united life ahead of them. Miranda, with all her contemporary feminism, is afraid of Caliban. Her instinctive feminine traits tell her that Caliban is a hostile slave because he resents his captivity. She warns her father of this but he rebuffs her because he is confident of his powers of magic to retain his upper hand over Caliban (Patrick, 2001). On the other hand, it can be argued that Miranda, with her limited views of feminism, thinks that the slavery of Caliban is unjustified. She might be thinking that if females can be liberated (however limited that liberation is), then slaves should also be liberated. However, Prospero reminds her that they need manpower to serve their needs. Miranda is tragic in her failure to convince Prospero to de-colonize and free Caliban. Another issue regarding Miranda's feminism is that she is educated in her feminism enough to overcome bias against Caliban's race. Caliban is a black but Miranda is not prejudiced against his race. She does not support colonization of the blacks. Another aspect of feminine gender is the fear of sexual oppression or threat against oneself. Miranda fears the evil Caliban because he is a man and might cause her harm. Feminist movements often oppose the imposition of the man over the rights of the woman. Miranda is afraid that Caliban might impose his will over hers. Some literary studies suggest that Miranda is trapped in her predicament. She is made to act like a puppet by her puppeteer. However, we have discussed that she voiced her opinions nonetheless. Her domineering father has allowed her to choose her marriage partner but suppressed her other wish of avoiding Caliban's company. This is a type of selective distribution of freedom to her. So is Miranda really trapped Based on the evidence discussed earlier, I conclude that she is trapped and allowed only liberties as permitted by her "jailor". Miranda is motherless and her feminism can be seen as being rather false as she was taught by a man. Another minus factor against her tutor is that he is her patriarchal father. Feminist ideas often challenge and oppose the social norms of its contemporary era. Social, political, economic and moral theories and practices are challenged for many reasons, as deemed rational by women involved in this movement of feminism. Miranda, by her actions on speaking up against her father in several of his practices on colonization, elimination of a supposedly undesirable Ferdinand and other instances, was actually practising her feminism. Miranda belonged to the time frame of the Shakespeare's Renaissance Period. The feminism of that era was rather primitive in nature. The courage and guts in speaking up to voice a different opinion was feminism at her best for a Renaissance lady like Miranda. During the Renaissance, black men were perceived as having supernatural sexual prowess and eager to engage in sex. This is another plausible reason on why Miranda was afraid of Caliban. She wanted to escape being near him in proximity because she fears she might not be capable of resisting his advances if he initiates them. A critic will argue that a true feminist is a strong woman who is capable of fighting off a man if she wishes to. After exploring this aspect of gender discrimination, we now have a better idea of Miranda and her feminism. It might also be argues that Prospero has subjected Caliban to sexual imperialism. He places Caliban in close proximity with Miranda but falls short of making them an official couple in marriage. Prospero gives the cake to Caliban but doesn't allow him to consume it. Some scholars have said that Caliban was the unsung suitor for Miranda and that Miranda had to denounce Caliban with talk of his unworthiness because she favored Ferdinand more (Novy, 1993). Sexism is often associated closely with racism in The Tempest. Did Miranda reject Caliban's sexual attraction because his race was black Was the black race also rejected as being unworthy of assimilating social and political power In Miranda's eyes, racism against the black has surely influenced her. A true feminist would never fall into the trap of feeling racial prejudice. If Miranda were a true feminist, she would have chosen the black Caliban over the white Ferdinand, just for the sake of opposing her patriarchal father. Some literature scholars have said that The Tempest is Shakespeare's most racist and sexist play. Miranda's feminist values are shallow. She judges people by their cover looks. She said that Caliban looks like a villain and a man that 'I do not love to look on' (I.ii.309). In contrast, Miranda falls in love at first sight with Ferdinand because he has a 'brave form' (I.ii.413). Prospero was skeptical about Miranda's love for Ferdinand and he wanted to test out his theory using the romantic hyperbole. He subjected the couple and himself to the humorous look at love to see if they could pass the tests. Perhaps he thought that Miranda was too feminine and soft to be able to withstand the demands of a relationship with the opposite sex of her generation. However, Miranda proved Prospero wrong. That is one of her few successful feminist movements (Staines, 2001). Miranda professes to be a new age woman (feminist) but she admires men like when she gushes over them with her lavish praise: How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world That has such people in 't (V.i.184-5). Perhaps Prospero anticipated Miranda's feministic movement and thus prepared to suppress it by encircling Miranda with male presence. Prospero, Caliban and even the sprite Ariel are all males to oppress the development of Miranda's feminism and they do succeed to a certain extent. All in all, I conclude that although Miranda had many feminist ideas, she didn't come to self actualization as a full feminist. The End. References. Shakespeare, W. (1611). The Tempest. Patrick, M., (2001). The Tempest: Critical Essays. Routledge: U.K. Novy, M., (1993). Cross-Cultural Performances: Differences in Women's RE-Visions of Shakespeare. University of Illinois Press: Illinois. Staines, D., (2001). Margaret Laurence: Critical Reflections. University of Ottawa Press: Canada Read More