The Tempest was written by William Shakespeare in 1611, during a time period in which we now call the Age of Discovery. Along with the discovery of new lands, it gave rise to racism and imperialist desires. William Shakespeare was able to use these themes and incorporate them into his plays through the use of various poetic devices. One might ask, how is Shakespeare able to use these themes in The Tempest? Shakespeare was able to take elements of the island that the characters were stranded on and use them as a basis to allude to these themes of racism and imperialist desires. To prove how Shakespeare incorporated the themes of racism and imperialist desires into his play, I will use the characterizations of Caliban, Trinculo, and Prospero
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When he first came across Caliban, who was playing dead at the time, he was wondering how much money he would be able to make off of him if he were to take him back to England with them as shown when he says, “Were I in England now, as once I was, and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver.” (II.ii.27-29) This shows that Trinculo was under the influence of imperialist desire when he was considering using Caliban to make money by putting him on display like some sort of animal. This was an example of abuse towards the natives by the ones who came to conquer the lands. In De las Casas’ “Letter to Philp, Great Prince of Spain”, he writes to the King of Spain to tell him of the abuse of the natives by the conquerors and he says that if it continues, then there will be nothing left but wilderness and to combat this, then he should make some sort of regulation to prevent the abuse of the natives. Driven by imperialist desires, many of the explorers abused the natives that they came across which led the natives to resent the …show more content…
Although Prospero was not really motivated in wanting to be the Duke of Milan, that does not change the fact that it was his rightful place, the title of Duke is passed down from the master of the household to his oldest son leaving any other sons to have to find their own way in the world, and Alonso being driven by greed, drove him and the young Miranda out of Naples and took over his place as the Duke of Milan. Due to this, it drives Prospero to seek revenge against all those who conspired with Alonso and against him. Due to Alonso’s imperialist desire, it led him to betray and try to kill his brother and niece all to take his place as the Duke of
When he first came across Caliban, who was playing dead at the time, he was wondering how much money he would be able to make off of him if he were to take him back to England with them as shown when he says, “Were I in England now, as once I was, and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver.” (II.ii.27-29) This shows that Trinculo was under the influence of imperialist desire when he was considering using Caliban to make money by putting him on display like some sort of animal. This was an example of abuse towards the natives by the ones who came to conquer the lands. In De las Casas’ “Letter to Philp, Great Prince of Spain”, he writes to the King of Spain to tell him of the abuse of the natives by the conquerors and he says that if it continues, then there will be nothing left but wilderness and to combat this, then he should make some sort of regulation to prevent the abuse of the natives. Driven by imperialist desires, many of the explorers abused the natives that they came across which led the natives to resent the …show more content…
Although Prospero was not really motivated in wanting to be the Duke of Milan, that does not change the fact that it was his rightful place, the title of Duke is passed down from the master of the household to his oldest son leaving any other sons to have to find their own way in the world, and Alonso being driven by greed, drove him and the young Miranda out of Naples and took over his place as the Duke of Milan. Due to this, it drives Prospero to seek revenge against all those who conspired with Alonso and against him. Due to Alonso’s imperialist desire, it led him to betray and try to kill his brother and niece all to take his place as the Duke of