In the book “Animal Farm,” by George Orwell, the author portrays how power tends to corrupt and describes how a pig named Napoleon takes over an entire farm. Through the impressive propaganda skills of Squealer and the skillful manipulation Napoleon, with his sly group of trustworthy dogs maintains power and takes over “Manor Farm.” The play “The Tempest,” by William Shakespeare the author deliberately inter-relates several different forms of power during the course of the play. There is political power, shown through the plethora of political characters and their schemes, while at the same time parodied by the comic characters. The power of magic and love and its ability to reunite and absolve also plays a major role in the play. The word
…show more content…
According to the article “The Machiavellian Prince in The Tempest” by Arlene Oseman, Antonio who takes advantage of his brother Prospero’s “political negligence and coup d’etat” with the help of Alonso the king of Naples to take over the position as a Duke of Millan by getting throwing out Prospero (10-12). Antonio is the evil brother of Prospero, from whom he usurped the position of Duke of Milan twelve years ago. Antonio sees them as a threat so he persuades Sebastian and plots together to murder Alonso and Gonazalo in their sleep in order to seize the crown of Naples (Oseman 15). By murdering them would benefit Antonio in political success in financially and Sebastian proves to be the desire ally for him. As Sebastian says “Thy case, dear friend, / Shall be my precedent. As thou got 'st Milan, / I 'll come by Naples. Draw thy sword! One stroke, / Shall free thee from the tribute thou payest, / And I the King shall love thee” (Shakespeare 2.1.291-95). It means that one attack would kill them and become the new king. It would also benefit Antonio from paying tribute such as taxes. Moreover, Antonio disregards his twelve-year relationship with the king of Naples and corrupting Sebastian in his quest for political …show more content…
Having taken control of the island that Caliban once alone inhabited, Prospero enticed him to reveal the secrets and workings of the new territory, later changing his colors and making Caliban his personal slave. One can argue that even an approximation to the proper treatment of Caliban would include treating him as an equal, educating him to Prospero’s full ability, and rewarding him for his compliance (Cohen 156-159). Moreover, Cohen claimed that “slavery itself is a relationship of power and domination… (159). This shows that Prospero is abusing power to keep them as his slave by using his power of knowledge. It is important to note that Caliban is not the antagonist; he is not manipulative and narcissistic like his master, but simply ignorant (not due to his own fault) and resentful of the injustice that is done to him at the hands of someone he trusted. In terms of European colonialism, it is clear that there is an overt correlation between Prospero’s treatment of Caliban and the Europeans’ treatment of the natives, both of the former providing enough education to both of the latter that would prove sufficient to extract information and labor from them. In this manner, one can argue that Prospero has the chameleon-like ability to manipulate others in order to achieve their
According to the article “The Machiavellian Prince in The Tempest” by Arlene Oseman, Antonio who takes advantage of his brother Prospero’s “political negligence and coup d’etat” with the help of Alonso the king of Naples to take over the position as a Duke of Millan by getting throwing out Prospero (10-12). Antonio is the evil brother of Prospero, from whom he usurped the position of Duke of Milan twelve years ago. Antonio sees them as a threat so he persuades Sebastian and plots together to murder Alonso and Gonazalo in their sleep in order to seize the crown of Naples (Oseman 15). By murdering them would benefit Antonio in political success in financially and Sebastian proves to be the desire ally for him. As Sebastian says “Thy case, dear friend, / Shall be my precedent. As thou got 'st Milan, / I 'll come by Naples. Draw thy sword! One stroke, / Shall free thee from the tribute thou payest, / And I the King shall love thee” (Shakespeare 2.1.291-95). It means that one attack would kill them and become the new king. It would also benefit Antonio from paying tribute such as taxes. Moreover, Antonio disregards his twelve-year relationship with the king of Naples and corrupting Sebastian in his quest for political …show more content…
Having taken control of the island that Caliban once alone inhabited, Prospero enticed him to reveal the secrets and workings of the new territory, later changing his colors and making Caliban his personal slave. One can argue that even an approximation to the proper treatment of Caliban would include treating him as an equal, educating him to Prospero’s full ability, and rewarding him for his compliance (Cohen 156-159). Moreover, Cohen claimed that “slavery itself is a relationship of power and domination… (159). This shows that Prospero is abusing power to keep them as his slave by using his power of knowledge. It is important to note that Caliban is not the antagonist; he is not manipulative and narcissistic like his master, but simply ignorant (not due to his own fault) and resentful of the injustice that is done to him at the hands of someone he trusted. In terms of European colonialism, it is clear that there is an overt correlation between Prospero’s treatment of Caliban and the Europeans’ treatment of the natives, both of the former providing enough education to both of the latter that would prove sufficient to extract information and labor from them. In this manner, one can argue that Prospero has the chameleon-like ability to manipulate others in order to achieve their