What is “justice”? Throughout history, humanity has struggled to determine justice and how to perpetuate it. According to Macmillan Dictionary, justice is “the treatment of people that is fair and morally right”. In ancient Greece, justice and legislation was determined by the will of their deities. In ancient Mesopotamia, justice was Hammurabi's Code, which roughly says that a punishment should be similar to the offense. However, what justice is not is clear to a famous playwright from the 17th century. William Shakespeare, the author of The Tempest, argues that vengeance is not justice because revenge leads to suffering and sadness, while virtue leads to freedom. He shows this through Caliban’s failed endeavor to murder, Ariel’s periods of servitude, and Prospero’s attempt at revenge. Caliban's failed endeavor to murder shows that vengeance is not justice. In The Tempest, Caliban is a resentful slave of Prospero, He convinces Stephano to kill Prospero. Caliban wants this because Prospero has treated
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Despite being incredibly powerful, Prospero, like many other characters in The Tempest, is enslaved. However, Prospero is enslaved by his desire for revenge. His anger blinds him and Prospero almost loses his humanity. Prospero admits, "...and shall not myself / One of their kind, that relish all as sharply / Passion as they...Yet with my nobler reason...The rarer action is / In virtue than in vengeance" (Shakespeare 5.1. 30-36). The pain that Prospero inflicts on his own kind finally teaches Prospero sympathy. He is freed from his desire for vengeance when he realizes that a virtuous life is better than a vengeful one. Prospero is aware that his vengeance is not "fair" or "morally right" because he feels sad for Gonzalo, his friend. The sympathy Prospero feels prompts him to release his victims. Prospero learns that vengeance is not justice because revenge brought him sadness, but virtue freed
Despite being incredibly powerful, Prospero, like many other characters in The Tempest, is enslaved. However, Prospero is enslaved by his desire for revenge. His anger blinds him and Prospero almost loses his humanity. Prospero admits, "...and shall not myself / One of their kind, that relish all as sharply / Passion as they...Yet with my nobler reason...The rarer action is / In virtue than in vengeance" (Shakespeare 5.1. 30-36). The pain that Prospero inflicts on his own kind finally teaches Prospero sympathy. He is freed from his desire for vengeance when he realizes that a virtuous life is better than a vengeful one. Prospero is aware that his vengeance is not "fair" or "morally right" because he feels sad for Gonzalo, his friend. The sympathy Prospero feels prompts him to release his victims. Prospero learns that vengeance is not justice because revenge brought him sadness, but virtue freed