Examples Of Colonialism In The Tempest

Throughout multiple centuries, colonialism occurred all over the world. Colonialism referred to a dominant country established its colonies in another nation. The dominant country had an absolute control over its colony countries. All the resources, the people or any other properties within the colony countries will also belong to the colonized nation. As a result, many colonies spoke their colonized country’s language and shared their culture. One example from the colonial period is Britain and its colonies such as India and part of Africa. This is somewhat related to the play “The Tempest” By Shakespeare. The Tempest portraits post- colonial theory when Prospero possesses the magical power which enables him to control everything within the island. By creating an absolute control character of Prospero and an absolute obedience character of Ariel, Caliban and Ferdinand, Shakespeare’s the tempest proves a successful European imperial project within the island. In opposite, Aime Cesaire’s A Tempest did not support but critiques the colonial theory through the depiction of Caliban, Ariel, and Eshu’s freedom of speech. The post-colonial theory is associated with a dominant nation who took control over a weaker nation known as the colony nation. …show more content…
Prospero has been colonized Ariel shown in the conservation after Ariel enters Prospero’s house, “Hast thou spirit, perform’d to point the tempest… to every article” (I.ii.194-196). This example states Prospero orders Ariel to perform a tempest to sink the ship. The relationship between Ariel and Prospero is slave and master which could also be recognized as the relationship between the dominant and the colony. Prospero has the power to order any tasks for Ariel to perform without having the right to deny. As a result, this relationship advocates the colonialism by showing it was Ariel’s duty to follow Prospero’s