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The Tempest reveals a distinctly relevant structuralist theme: that “reality is linguistic and structured”, something that “we produce, that we construct, through language”. When applied to the play, this concept reveals not only a distinctive power dynamic between Prospero and Caliban, master and servant, but also the different types of power behind the two. Prospero’s power stems from his mastery of language; he uses language to consistently shape the other characters’ reality and control the narrative of The Tempest. However, Caliban’s resistance indicates that Prospero’s phallogocentric power is incomplete, and Caliban is able to resignify Prospero’s reality and challenge Prospero himself by appealing through a feminine discourse.
Prospero’s true power emerges from his command of language; while his power has roots in his books, applications of his vast, acquired knowledge are only available to him through language. Prospero is a uniquely knowledgeable and educated character. As Duke of Milan, he devoted himself to “the liberal arts / Without a parallel; those being all study”.
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Such investment into the acquisition of knowledge is something that Prospero retains even through his exile and island inhabitance. In his scheme to kill Prospero and reclaim the island with Stephano and Trinculo, Caliban advises the two to “First possess [Prospero’s] books; for without them / He’s but a sot”. While Caliban is correct in his deduction that Prospero’s powers stem, at least partially, from the knowledge gained from books, he misses a key factor (the most important part) that enables Prospero to be to so powerful: a mastery of language.
Even with his studies, Prospero would be unable to take control of the events of and the characters in The Tempest as he does if not for his understanding of the uses and power of language. This command of language that Prospero has is what ultimately enables him to construct reality and produce his desired end of The Tempest.
Prospero is the mastermind of The Tempest, using his phallogocentric power to manipulate the other characters and construct a narrative and reality centered around him. In a discussion with Ariel, it is revealed that Prospero “Once in a month” recounts Ariel’s traumatic history with Sycorax. While Ariel must remember it quite clearly, Prospero insists that the servant “forgest’st” , using this as justification to retell the story and thereby increase his control over Ariel. Prospero, when narrating Ariel’s past, contrasts himself with Sycorax, making himself the good savior and Sycorax the evil villain. He describes Sycorax as a “foul witch” and a “blue-eyed hag” while he, the hero, “heard [Ariel], that made gape / The pine” and rescued Ariel from his torment. By focusing on his own generous actions and reminding Ariel of the suffering Sycorax inflicted (“a torment / To lay upon the damned”), Prospero reinforces Ariel’s feelings of debt and ensures that Ariel will not oppose him. Immediately after this recount, Prospero threatens to use his magical powers on Ariel to “rend an oak / And peg thee in his knotty entrails till / Thou has howled away twelve winters”, just as Sycorax did, should Ariel complain or disobey. In this way, not only does Prospero use language to show his kindness, but also to assert intellectual and physical control over Ariel. Just as he manipulates Ariel, Prospero retains and reinforces Miranda’s support through his unique narration of events. When Prospero finally tells her of the story behind their exile to the island, he constantly commands Miranda’s attention, asking her questions like “Dost thou attend me?” and “Dost thou hear?” . This sporadic interruption is Prospero’s way of making sure that Miranda is captivated, almost hypnotically so, while he tells her his version of history. In this version, Prospero once again contrasts his own goodness with another’s evil--in this case, his own brother’s . He calls Antonio “perfidious” , “a false brother” in whom “awaked an evil nature”, and a power hungry man who “needs will be Absolute Milan”. In contrast, Prospero highlights his own benevolent nature, telling Miranda how he loved Antonio “Of all the world” , how his trust for his brother “had no limit”, and how his “library was dukedom large enough”. This not only causes Miranda to sympathize with and support her father further, but also forms her opinion of her uncle. Prospero’s control of Miranda and Ariel through language are key to the outcome of the play. Ariel not only causes the tempest itself at Prospero’s behest, but also manipulates and follows the other characters, leading to Prospero’s seeming omniscience. Miranda falls in love with and is to be married to Ferdinand, a political move on Prospero’s part that ensures King Alonso’s alliance and trust. Prospero has a unique recognition of the importance of controlling the past to control the present, something he is able to do through language. Much like an author writing a story, Prospero shapes reality in The Tempest and has the ability to choose the focal points of attention. Prospero’s powers over language continually help him assert his masculine point of view--how he assigns meaning to the world--over the other characters, a distinctly phallogocentric characteristic. Situating himself at the center of the narratives he spreads, Prospero always emphasizes his sympathetic and gracious nature while contrasting it to others’ maliciousness. This, combined with what stories he specifically chooses to tell, and when, allows him to create a reality in which he is perpetually the wronged victim. Prospero is then, through his mastery of language, also able to control the events and the narrative of The Tempest as he wishes.
While Prospero’s constructed reality holds true for all but one of the characters of the play, Caliban, the one, is able to oppose Prospero and resignify his reality (if not for the characters, then for the audience) by appealing through feminine powers and discourse. Unlike the other characters, Caliban has a firm claim to the island through a matrilineal lineage; his mother, Sycorax, lived there before Prospero was even exiled. In an attempt towards a reclamation of rights, Caliban draws upon this lineage to argue that “this island’s mine by Sycorax my mother, Which thou tak’st from me”. Caliban has a different take on Prospero’s arrival to the island, as well as his character, calling Prospero “A sorcerer, that by his cunning hath / Cheated me of the island”. This matrilineal based opposition to Prospero’s rule of the land (wherein land itself is even typically referred to in a feminine form) is one of several ways that Caliban uses a feminine discourse to indicate that Prospero is not as benevolent as he would like others to believe. Additionally, when Caliban curses Prospero (which he is only able to do using the language Prospero ‘gives’ him), he calls upon his mother, a feminine power, to bring down hell upon Prospero. He asks for “All the charms / Of Sycorax - toads, beetles, bats - light on ”. Cursing, an offensive display rather than simply defensive, is unlike speaking; it holds a greater significance. As “a solemn utterance intended to invoke a supernatural power to inflict harm or punishment on someone, cursing, in this case (where the supernatural power invoked is Sycorax), is an indication of the ability of feminine power to not only defend against Prospero but to actively fight back. Caliban does not only rebel against Prospero through Sycorax, instead realizing that Miranda, as a woman, has the unique feminine power of reproduction, something that can potentially be used against Prospero and to the benefit of others. Caliban, when accused of attempting to rape Miranda by Prospero, remarks, “Would’t had been done! / Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled / This isle with Calibans”. When plotting with Stephano and Trinculo to overthrow Prospero, Caliban encourages Stephano to make Miranda his queen, saying “She will become thy bed, I warrant / And bring thee forth brave brood”. In both situations, Caliban highlights Miranda’s ability to reproduce and continue a lineage, something that could pose a threat to Prospero. Should either Caliban or Stephano have succeeded in their plans, they would have more claim to the land and a stronger base on which to oppose Prospero. Although Prospero consistently presents himself as the benevolent victim at the center of every story, and Caliban as “a thing of darkness,” Caliban’s use of feminine discourse as a power to oppose Prospero’s phallogocentric one proposes a different take, one that challenges Prospero and his construct of reality. This new perspective does not only suggest that Caliban is the victim who has had the island stolen from him by the cruel Prospero, but that Prospero is not all powerful; rather, feminine power is the key to his possible destruction.
Although Prospero is ultimately able to control the outcome of The Tempest to suit his machinations, Caliban’s unique resistance signifies that Prospero’s power is incomplete and, more importantly, defiable. Caliban is the single character in the play that truly takes a firm stand against Prospero, going qw far as to convince Trinculo and Stephano to kill the exiled Duke. Unlike Ariel, who expresses little to no complaints to Prospero, or the passengers of the ship, who are quick to reconcile with Prospero, Caliban spits curses and despises his situation. While Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano’s plan does not succeed, it indicates the very real threat that Caliban, and therefore feminine power, poses to Prospero’s phallogocentric power. Caliban’s strikingly rebellious nature, combined with his unique ability to resignify Prospero’s construct of reality, points to the potential for feminine discourse to push back.
It has often been speculated that The Tempest is a tale of colonialism, with Prospero as the colonizer and Caliban and Sycorax as the natives upon whom Prospero enforces his own culture. Here, Prospero’s phallogocentric intellectual power comes into stark contrast with Caliban’s feminine one, which is used to solidify Caliban’s individual identity and history. Just as Caliban resists Prospero’s rule, the victims of colonization resisted their colonizers through claims to the land and the presentation of a different narrative. The real threat that feminine discourse poses to Prospero’s plans in The Tempest suggests that while concepts of reality have traditionally been formed by phallogocentric powers, especially in reference to history and colonization, feminine powers have the potential to reframe the narrative in a new light and expose a unique history.
Analysis Of The Narration Throughout The Tempest. (2024, Feb 22). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/analysis-of-the-narration-throughout-the-tempest-essay
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