Paper Topic:

Shakespeare

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Prospero as the Eye of the Tempest : a about Prospero 's Control over the Island in William Shakespeare 's The Tempest

The Tempest ' is regarded by many critics as one of the best works of the arguably greatest writer that has ever lived , the immortal William Shakespeare . It is also widely agreed that this is the last work of Shakespeare . But despite being last , The Tempest ' had echoed throughout literary history as one of the best read and staged play . It has also

become a staple material for those who endeavor in literature studies . The success of the text owes much to the themes that the text generates . One of those themes is an issue that the whole world can relate to is colonialism . The socio-politico-cultural nature of colonialism had amplified significantly the readership of the text as it is being used as a study text by those in the social sciences

Prospero is undeniably the protagonist of the narrative , for the whole play had revolved around him . The story centers on Prospero much like how the tempest 's winds violently revolves around its eye . This would also revolve around that metaphor for this to have a guided trajectory . It is clearly stated in the text that Prospero is not the genuine owner of the island . The Island belonged to Caliban who is described as not honored with a human shape (Shakespeare 33 Caliban has the right to own the Island as suggested by his line this island is mine by Sycorax my mother / which thou taken from me when thou came first (Shakespeare 37 . Although , Caliban inherited the island from his mother Sycorax , it is Prospero who has the authority of control over the island . This argues that Shakespeare had intentionally deprived the character of Caliban control over the island . That is because Caliban is a representation of a colonized individual or culture . Prospero , the representation of a colonizer , who had successfully maintained control of the island because of his systematic and proven-effective colonizing methods

Prospero as an effective colonizer

In many interpretations , Prospero becomes the epitome of a colonizer It is important to take into consideration that his control over the island was not gained instantly . His success as being the prime authority in the island is much attributed to his methods that have striking similarities to the methods of colonizers . There are several methods that Prospero had employed to gain control over the other characters but this would only discuss the three most salient ones . These three most noticeable colonizing methods are imposing fear through power , education , and being deceivingly good in nature

It is a common notion that colonizers typically initially use military force to colonize a free land . The same method was employed by Prospero to gain control of the other characters . But for Prospero 's case , it was not the use of military force , it is more of an arrogant display of his...

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