Imperialism In The Tempest

José Enrique Rodó’s postcolonial reading of The Tempest was inspired by the new age of imperialism that succeeded colonialism. While now technically free from European powers and free to govern as they wish, the political arena was far from peaceful. In fact, it was filled with strife and frequent regime changes. Uruguay had twenty-five governments in the span of 73 years . Averaging a regime change once every three years or so, Uruguay could not find a government that would make everyone happy and create stability. A weak government meant that Uruguay would be more susceptible to outside influence and even imperialism. Rodó, feeling that this might be a threat to the success of his nation, penned Ariel, an essay that invokes a lot from The Tempest, encouraging the youths of Latin America to devote more of their time to the arts and to diversify their skills and interests in an effort to promote a strong national identity and cultivate their unique culture. The symbol for this equality was The Tempest’s Ariel. Due in part to Uruguay being susceptible to occupation because it was going through times …show more content…
They are both “magical” creatures and they both have been enslaved by Prospero to do his bidding. Where they differ is in personalities and appearances. In Ariel, Ariel represents idealism and the noble thought, something that cannot be defeated . In short, he represents the “European-ness” that Latin America should aspire to. To Rodó, the Europeans have always been more refined rational compared to the rough and savage Americas . The mainstream societies in the Americas are fairly new and do not have a lot of history. European societies, on the other hand, has been around for such a long period of time. We see this in his idealization of the ancient Greek polis . Ariel is his ancient Greek polis, which is why he waxed poetics about the grace and ethereal nature of