I find the Tempest a difficult play, a lot more difficult than the previous Shakespeare plays I read. I said in a previous post that we are going to be schoolmates and learn together in 2023. In this post, I’m going to share a few observations about the Tempest and some questions that I find fascinating but have no answers to.
I’ll start with the story itself. A storm and a shipwreck landed a group of people on a desert island where Prospero and his daughter have lived for the last 12 years. Prospero was the Duke of Milan. He and his daughter were exiled to this island because his brother Antonio and the King of Naples Alonso plotted against them. Prospero is a magician with the help of a spirit called Ariel. They designed the shipwreck which brought Antonio and Alonso onto the island and it’s time for Prospero to revenge.
How Prospero lost his dukedom
In this scene Prospero tells Miranda how they were expelled from Milan and came to the island. We find out how Prospero was usurped by his brother Antonio. According to his own words, Prospero gave the management of his affairs to his brother and got completely lost in ‘secret studies’.
PROSPERO
… he whom, next thyself,
Of all the world I lov’d, and to him put
The manage of my state…
The government I cast upon my brother,
And to my state grew stranger, being transported
And rapt in secret studies.
I thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated
To closeness and the bettering of my mind…
His monologue gives me the sense that Prospero had no interest in governing his people or carrying out the duty of his office and neglected his duty as a leader. He just want to read all day.
Me, poor man, my library
Was dukedom large enough.
And Gonzalo on the night of the exile,
Knowing I lov’d my books, he furnish’d me
From mine own library with volumes that
I prize above my dukedom.
There’s no mention of how well he loved his people or how wise he ruled the place. Do you think it’s fair to ask that, if Prospero priced his library above his dukedom, why did it bother him so much when the dukedom was taken away from him? It sounds to me like Prospero wants the title, the honour and the right without the responsibility and the hard work. I obviously don’t think Antonio was justified to dethrone and murder Prospero but I don’t feel much sympathy for Prospero either. I’d like to do nothing and read all day as well, but if I did and lost my job as a result, I couldn’t really complain, could I?
Subduing Ariel and Caliban
That was what happened 12 years ago, now back to the present. I feel like Prospero kept his habit of letting others do the work even after he got to the island. We don’t SEE him doing any magic, we only hear about his magic. We see Ariel and Caliban doing everything for him, especially Ariel.
I don’t mean he CAN’T do magic, he probably can perform pretty powerful magic, we can tell from Ariel and Caliban’s attitude towards him – they both serve him out of fear.
PROSPERO
If thou neglect’s, or dost unwillingly
What I command, I’ll rack thee with old cramps,
Fill all thy bones with aches, make thee roar,
That beasts shall tremble at thy din.
CALIBAN
No, pray thee.
I must obey. His art is of such power…
Generally speaking, the relationship between Prospero and Ariel is a lot easier than Caliban. But notice after Prospero reminds Ariel how he rescued him and he should be more thankful, Prospero demands Ariel’s submission ultimately with a threat too:
If thou more murmur’st, I will rend an oak
And peg thee in his knotty entrails till
Thou hast howl’s away twelve winters.
Prospero has power over Ariel and Caliban, but his magic seems to cover only certain areas. Miranda doesn’t like having Caliban around at all, but Prospero says:
We cannot miss him. He does make our fire,
Fetch in our wood, and serves in offices
That profit us.
In Hag-Seed, Margaret Atwood’s retelling of the Tempest, Caliban stinks of fish because he catches fish for Prospero and Miranda to eat. Here are a few things Caliban says he’ll not have to do anymore if he gets a new master:
No more dams I’ll make for fish,
Nor fetch in firing
At requiring,
Nor scrape trenchering, nor wash dish…
Prospero’s magic can confine spirits and monsters or give them pain but cannot make the house warm, put food on the table or wash dishes. Is it because those tasks are too basic and everyday that it would be too low for him to stoop? These are magic spells that he doesn’t care to learn or perform. A servant can do it. Just like attending to his worldly affair is below him, a brother can do that. Only his books and secret studies are worth his while.
Caliban’s cunning worship
So Prospero has servants. What do the servants say? Caliban’s curses are very informative; it talks about the progress of his relationship with the island and with Prospero.
This island’s mine by Sycorax my mother,
Which thou tak’st from me. When thou cam’st first,
Thou strok’st me, and made much of me; wouldst give me
Water with berries in’t; and teach me how
To name the bigger light, and how the less,
That burn by day and night: and then I lov’d thee,
And show’d thee all the qualities o’ th’ isle,
The fresh springs, brine pits, barren place and fertile—
Curs’d be I that did so! All the charms
Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats light on you! [Caliban is VERY creative with his swearing and curses]
For I am all the subjects that you have,
Which first was mine own king: and here you sty me
In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me
The rest o’ th’ island.
By Caliban’s own account, Prospero treated him kindly and taught him like a child and in return Caliban loved and worshipped Prospero. But Caliban at some point, ‘seek to violate the honour of my child’, that’s Miranda, and Caliban became a despised slave. And Caliban in return hates him as a master.
As soon as Caliban meets Stephano and tastes his alcohol, in very quick succession, he bows down and worships him instead:
That’s a brave god, and bears celestial liquor. I will kneel to him.
I’ll swear upon that bottle to be thy true subject, for the liquor is not earthly.
I’ll show thee every fertile inch o’ th’ island—and I will kiss thy foot. I prithee, be my god.
I’ll kiss thy foot. I’ll swear myself thy subject.
Notice the keyword ‘subject’, earlier Caliban cursed himself to have become Prospero’s subject, now he willingly becomes Stephano’s subject. Then Caliban promises exactly the same things he did for Prospero,
I’ll show thee the best springs; I’ll pluck thee berries;
I’ll fish for thee, and get thee wood enough.
A plague upon the tyrant that I serve!
I’ll bear him no more sticks, but follow thee,
Thou wondrous man.
I prithee, let me bring thee where crabs grow,
And I with my long nails will dig thee pig-nuts,
Show thee a jay’s nest, and instruct thee how
To snare the nimble marmoset [a type of monkey]. I’ll bring thee
To clust’ring filberts [a type of hazelnut tree], and sometimes I’ll get thee
Young scamels from the rock [not sure what a scamel is, my book thinks it’s either a bird or a crab]. Wilt thou go with me?
Caliban promises to show all the riches and the treasures of the island to Stephano, even though he just said ‘Curs’d be I that did so!’. He forgets all about how he’s enslaved by one master, now he wants another master. He hasn’t learnt the lesson at all.
Or has he? I wonder if Caliban is being genuine here. He first says ‘I’ll follow thee’, and then it becomes ‘will you go with me?’ instead. In the next act, Caliban turns surprisingly crafty, persuading Stephano to commit a murder for his own advantage. Maybe Caliban is not trading one slavery with another, he’s plotting for a real freedom: he’s going to get rid of Prospero by the hands of Stephano and Stephano can’t enslave him because unlike Prospero, Stephano has no magic power. Then Caliban will be the king of the island again.
Most of the time Prospero calls Caliban ‘slave’ and Ariel ‘servant’. It’s a subtle difference, where do you draw the line? Ariel serves a lot more cheerfully but he does demand liberty right at the beginning.
I prithee,
Remember I have done thee worthy service,
Told thee no lies, made no mistakings, serv’d
Without or grudge or grumblings.
The third servant
There’s a third person who is a slave servant. It’s surprisingly the prince Ferdinand. I say this for a few reasons:
Firstly, Ferdinand is commanded to gather logs, a job usually done by Caliban.
Secondly, Prospero treats him just like Ariel and Caliban. He speaks to his daughter:
Follow me. —
Speak not you for him: he’s a traitor.—Come,
I’ll manacle thy neck and feet together.
He’s going to tie him up just like he ties Caliban onto a rock and threatens to confine Ariel in a tree. His relationship with people is total control through intimidation, you can see it in Ariel, Caliban and Ferdinand. He also sends a harpy to frighten Alonso and Antonio, and sets goblins on Stephano and Trinculo. He doesn’t treat Miranda the same way, but maybe that’s only because Miranda doesn’t rock the boat and is not out of his control. But there is something funny about their interaction too.
When Prospero recounts his misfortune to Miranda, he repeats every few lines ‘I pray thee mark me’, ‘dost thou attend me?’ ‘Thou attend’st not!’ ‘I pray thee mark me.’ ‘Dost thou hear?’ Why does he have to repeatedly ask for her attention? Is Miranda not listening carefully? She replies that she is and it’ll be odd if Miranda DOESN’T pay attention since this is the first time she ever hears about their history. Or, is he showing glimpses of his obsession for complete attention and total control even with his daughter? I’m sure there are many ways to interpret Prospero’s strange behaviour. That’s just my guess.
The third reason for saying Ferdinand is a servant is in the language he uses himself:
I am, in my condition,
A prince, Miranda; I do think, a king—
I would not so!—and would no more endure
This wooden slavery than to suffer
The flesh-fly blow my mouth. Hear my soul speak:
The very instant that I saw you did
My heart fly to your service, there resides
To make me slave to it, and for your sake
Am I this patient log-man.
Where Caliban plots his freedom with murder, Ariel gains his freedom with all his toil, Ferdinand’s freedom is a willing bondage:
MIRANDA
My husband, then?
FERDINAND
Ay, with a heart as willing
As bondage e’er of freedom. Here’s my hand.
Other questions
That’s just my observation and interpretation of a few scenes. There are a few more rabbit holes that I didn’t have time to go down.
One question is, is there an emphasis on clothes, for example, obviously there are Prospero’s magic garments; after the group is washed ashore, their clothes are pointed out repeatedly as good as new; Trinculo and Stephano are distracted by clothes on a line when they attempt the murder; Prospero says to one character, ‘hang not on my garments.’ Do clothes have any significance here?
Another question is, Why does he decide to give up his magic and his book?
But this rough magic
I here abjure…
I’ll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And deeper than did ever plummet sound
I’ll drown my book.
Without Ariel and his magic, Prospero is powerless. Maybe the magic is only for the island. He can’t wield it in civilisation. But without his magic and his books, what will Prospero’s life look like in Milan? He won’t even have Miranda anymore.
His books are sometimes referred to in plural, sometimes singular. Are there any significance in that? What’s the purpose of the magic circle in the last scene?
Another observation, Miranda asks Ferdinand ‘Do you love me?’ But did you notice that’s not the only time that question is asked in the play? Ariel also asks Prospero ‘Do you love me?’ in Act 4 Scene 1. What’s the meaning of linking the two relationships up with the exact same question?
Lastly, what does Prospero want? Revenge? Yes? Did he get it? Kind of. Alonso feels guilty but his brother never repents. But Prospero in the end forgives all of them in one fell swoop so in theory there’s no revenge on the worst criminal. Maybe Prospero is just a lonely old man, willing to give up his books, magic and hatred for some civilisation and company. Maybe that also explains why he’s so reluctant to let Ariel go. If I was on a desert island with one child, one Caliban and one Ariel as daily companions, I’d use all my power EVEN gentle bullying to keep Ariel with me for as long as possible.
There are many many more questions and I’ve been thinking about them for most of January. I might re-visit the Tempest in the future but for now I think I had enough. I’m going to end with my favourite lines from the play:
Full fathom five thy father lies,
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes;
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
A Day of Small Things 