The Tempest (Shakespeare) - Essay Example

?The Tempest, William Shakespeare Compare and contrast Ariel’s and Caliban’s personalities, their use of language, their human characteristics. In what ways are they opposite from each other? In what ways are they similar? Taken as a whole how do these characters reflect humanity as a whole? Introduction According to London’s Haymarket Theatre this, probably Shakespeare’s last play, is the first example of magical realism. As such of course it has magical characters, namely Caliban and Aerial and these are woven into the plot alongside the human characters such as Miranda and Alonso. Comparison A critic of a recent London production of ‘The Tempest’ ( Billington, 7th September 2011) described the two characters.:- Tom Byam Shaw's Ariel is an airborne spirit who belies his diaphanous otherness by positively shaking with fervour when he makes his plea for "liberty". He goes on to say “Chris Andrew Mellon invests the crown-hungry Sebastian with a glittering malignancy.” He is ‘of the earth, earthy’ ( As described in 1st Corinthians 15 v 47) So these are two very different characters, even physically, but is Caliban’s deformity of mind or body or both? Caliban When Prospero arrived on the island Caliban was its only human inhabitant, his mother having died. She had been exiled to the island when she became pregnant by a devil. So human, and yet not completely so. He is described as a ’mooncalf’ i.e. according to the Oxford Dictionary( 1996) , a born fool, allegedly according to folk lore, due to some malignant influence upon the foetus, and is often portrayed as deformed or even semi-fish. A generation after Shakespeare Michael Drayton ( 1627) describes a mooncalf as :- He like a gipsy oftentimes would go, All kinds of gibberish he hath learn’d to know And with a stick, a short string and a noose Would show the people tricks fast and loose. Before Prospero arrived Caliban cannot even speak in an intelligible way (Act 1 v 2 line 366) ‘You taught me language.’ He goes on to say however that he regrets having learned , because he also learned to swear. Miranda takes this as ingratitude, yet colonizer’s often give the colonized things that are at best two edged and often downright harmful to them and their way of life. A monster we are told, yet Shakespeare also portrays him as a very gentle, and sensitive person ( Act 3, scene 2 ) . By giving such a beautiful speech to an ugly creature is Shakespeare telling us that there is more to this man than any of the other inhabitants of the island have yet seen. Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises, Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears; and sometime voices That, if I then had waked after long sleep, Will make me sleep again; and then in dreaming, Caliban is taken on by Prospero as a servant. Yet Trinculo ( Act 3 , scene 2) describes him as “being but half a Fish, and half a Monster.” , and Stephano calls him a ‘Servant-monster ( Act 3, scene 2, so his is a subservient role. He came to hate Prospero and only worked for him out of fear of what the magician could do as when he promises to harm Caliban:- Be sure, tonight thou shalt have cramps, Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up; urchins Shall, for that vast of night that they may work, All exercise on thee: thou shalt be pinched As thick as honey-combs, each pinch more stinging Than bees that made them. Stephano manages to fool Caliban into believing that he, Stephano is a god, and persuades Caliban to help him to kill Prospero so that Stephano can take charge. Caliban badly wants to escape from servitude with Prospero ( 2.2.178-182,):- No more dams I'll make for fish, Nor fetch in firing At requiring; Nor scrape trenchering, nor wash dish Character of Ariel Ariel is a spirit rather than a solid form, so not human, although he has human feelings – a longing for freedom and self-government. The spirit had been the servant of Caliban’s witch mother Sycorax ( Act 1, scene 2). Before her death, because Ariel refused to carry out her orders, she had imprisoned him inside a tree.( Act 1 , scene 2) Prospero releases him , but only to make him his own servant. Because the magician had first released him from his imprisonment his relationship with Prospero is perhaps a happier one than between Caliban and Prospero. Although having no physical body he is powerful, capable, on Prospero’s orders, of stirring up the weather into a storm which results in Alonso and his fellow travelers on the island. He did not have an effect only on the climate however. For instance, again under Prospero’s orders, he entices Alonso’s son Ferdinand. Prospero describes him as malignant, (Act 1, Scene 2 line 311). Having already been a prisoner Aerial pleads for freedom from serving Prospero and is freed in the closing moments of the play. ‘Be free, and fare thou well!’ ( Act V) As for Aerial’s speech this seems to come out of the air, unlike normal human speech. ‘Enter Ariel invisible, flaying and singing’ (Act 1, scene 2) How does Caliban affect humanity? In the sense that he is a servant he frees Prospero and others from everyday tasks – catching fish, clearing tables, finding kindling, washing and so on. On a wider view Caliban shows the human need for self-governance as does Aerial. It is not Caliban’s fault that his mother was a witch and his father a devil, and this does not mean that Prospero has any right to be cruel to him and to treat him in a demeaning way. Arial perhaps represent all the other non-human beings and their rights. They too should be treated fairly and have rights. Shakespeare is being very pro-active for the rights of all creatures, human, semi-human or otherwise. Also this play is often seen as being about relationship between the powerful and arrogant colonialist ( Prospero) and the colonized ( Ariel and Caliban) representing perhaps the human inhabitants of the New World , sometimes seen as being less than human, a pertinent topic in Shakespeare’s time and on through time within the history of the United States of America and its treatment over many years of native American’s – a problem not yet fully solved. Conclusion Ariel and Caliban seem at first to be fairly simply drawn – an oaf, fit only to do the simplest tasks, and a wisp of air, a nothing. Yet both prove valuable to Prospero, and show themselves to have exactly the same wants and needs as other people. Perhaps it is because Prospero finally realizes this that they are finally allowed full freedom, emancipation. Works Cited Billington, M., The Tempest-Review, The Guardian 7th September 2011, 2nd November 2011http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2011/sep/07/the-tempest-review Oxford Reference Dictionary, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996 Shakespeare, W., The Tempest, 1610-1611, 2nd November 2011, http://www.william-shakespeare.info/shakespeare-play-the-tempest.htm The Tempest, Theatre Royal , Haymarket, 2011, 2nd November 2011, http://www.trh.co.uk/book_tp.php Read More