The Tempest 5
In The Tempest, it would seem that no two characters could be further apart than Prospero, the "right duke of Milan", and Caliban, the "salvage and deformed slave." They represent two different extremes on the social spectrum: that of the natural ruler, and the naturally ruled. Their positions on the social hierarchy are largely due to the fact that Caliban responds almost wholly to passions, feelings of pleasure -- his senses, while Prospero is ruled more by his intellect and self-discipline -- his mind. However, the fight that Prospero has against his own natural tendency to ignore the discipline of his intellect, and give in to pleasures such as vanity and self-indulgence, cannot be ...
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to do his bidding and control other spirits for him. In the Arts which both represent, Prospero certainly reflects the world of the mind. [And Sycorax does not?] However, in the use of his Art, Prospero reveals himself as not wholly disciplined. [okay] Prospero enjoys using the power of his Art, as he tells us in his monologue just before his forgiveness of the court party -- "graves at my command ... op'd ... By my so potent Art." He has also shown that he enjoys using it to show off, as he did during the masque he provided for Ferdinand and Miranda, which he indulged in even when Caliban's plot and the court party both urgently required his attention. Although we are not given details of Caliban's birth, it seems likely that a creature as subhuman in appearance as Caliban was not born of a human union. It has been postulated that, to quote Prospero, he was "got by the devil himself upon thy wicked dam", from a union between Sycorax and an incubus (an extremely attractive male ...
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of how Caliban seeks pleasure. (Prospero's position on sexual relations is quite opposite -- he tells Ferdinand repeatedly not to take advantage of his daughter, and hammers the message home with the masque.) [True but why? Make the full contrast clear.] Prospero, on the other hand, enjoyed his original position as duke of Milan largely because he was able to study to his heart's content. This seems to indicate a particular reliance on the powers of the mind -- quite opposite to Caliban's fault -- but in actual fact, Prospero's neglect of his duties and self-indulgence in pushing the matters of the state all to Antonio must be censured, and laid at the door of his lack of self-discipline. ...
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The Tempest 5. (2008, February 6). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Tempest-5/78609
"The Tempest 5." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 6 Feb. 2008. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Tempest-5/78609>
"The Tempest 5." Essayworld.com. February 6, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Tempest-5/78609.
"The Tempest 5." Essayworld.com. February 6, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Tempest-5/78609.
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