Mahmut
Deniz
The Injustice of
Prospero in The Tempest
Shakespeare's
last play The Tempest is mainly
concerned with the themes mercy and
justice. The use of themes of justice and mercy in the play is
subjectively given to the audience, because while dealing with the themes and
maintaining the mercy and the "illusion" of justice throughout the
play, some characters are ignored as human beings. Prospero " is a tyrant
who controls Miranda, Ariel and Caliban with the same 'paternal omnipotence'
"(Croft 201) He has a peculiar treatment for the native of the island,
such as , Caliban. Prospero's ill-treatment of Caliban and European approach
towards the same subject and unjust events are dominant throughout the play.
Caliban,
a native who was on the island before Prospero arrives, is treated by Prospero
as the violator. Anything Caliban does on the island is seen offensive and
evil, because the play is biassedly read and understood from the point of view
of European which Hazlitt "was
outraged by it" (Graf 7) when he realized how Caliban is treated in the
play. For instance " 'there is little logic' to Prospero's argument that
Caliban deserves his treatment for the offense of attempting to violate
Mirnada's honour." (Croft 201). According to Hazlitt "not Prospero
but Caliban was the legal king of the island" so actually "Caliban is
actually the victim of Prospero" (Graf 7)
The first time Caliban and Prospero
appears on the scene in act one scene two, we witness the disagreement between
them as Prospero orders his slave Caliban to bring firewood and Caliban rejects
and then they have a fierce argument and cursing each other, but this argument
is finally stopped by Prospero as he threatens Caliban that unless he does what
he orders, he says" I'll rack thee with old cramps, fill all thy bones
with aches, make thee roar"(1.2.369-370) hearing this Caliban answers
suddenly "No, Prey thee".(1.2.371) Thus, it is also clear that
Caliban's freedom is taken from him as he is a slave now.
Prospero, who is actually rightful
duke of Milan, was usurped from his position by his brother Antonio and forced
to flee the country in a boat with his daughter. So actually, Prospero once may
be merciful and just man, was turned into a revengeful man who seizes his
opportunity on the island and tries to take his revenge from Caliban. “Desire
for vengeance has apparently lain dormant in Prospero through the years of
banishment, and now, with the sudden advent of his foes, the great wrong of
twelve years before is stirringly present again, arousing the passions and
stimulating the will to action” (Palmer 225).
Prospero may not seem to be a total
monster as he has some good feelings towards the people on the ship and when
Ariel returns with the news that he brings "I boarded the king's ship; now
on the beak, Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin, I flamed
amazement: sometime I'ld divide, And burn in many places; on the topmast,
The yards and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly, Then meet and join." (1.2.196-201)
Although all these acts are performed by Ariel, they are actually ordered
personally by Prospero: "Hast thou, spirit, perform'd to point the tempest
that I bade thee?" (1.2.193-194)
Prospero mentions the
moment when Caliban tried to rape his daughter Miranda; "in mine own cell,
till thou didst seek to violate the honour of my child."( 1.2.344-348). However,
he unjustly speaks of the event because the
play is mostly read and analyzed from European perspective, not from Caliban's
point of view. Caliban's "ambitions are to kill Prospero and rape Miranda,
both, considering his situation, eminently natural desires."(Frye 61). He
does not want to rape Miranda actually "Caliban has tried to reproduce
himself" (Alexander 28) So, when thinking from the perspective of a native
such as Caliban, we can realize that so called "monster" or
"animal" actually wants to procreate in his island.
Caliban
who "enslaved by the most powerful of the Europeans, a man named
Prospero"(Peterson 1) is punished, tormented and shown as evil just
because he disobeyed his master Prospero, he has no right to claim anything.
Ariel earned his freedom as he obeyed and did everything word by word for his
master Prospero. Caliban isn't seen or counted as human, as he has no right but
to serve and obey, although he is obedient and he is always in need and search
for a God or master, he rebels against his tyrant master but punished many
times. When Trinculo first sees Caliban, he describes him as "a man or a
fish? dead or alive?" (2.2.24-25) and he continues "Legged like a man
and his fins like arms!"(2.2.33-34) Even the description shows the biased
approach towards this native islander.
To
conclude, while it is
clear that the theme of forgiveness is an important theme in the play, the
analyze of the behaviors and attitude of the major characters in the play, especially
Prospero, shows that there is almost no true justice and mercy in The
Tempest." The way Prospero behaves Caliban and the way even the play
portrays Caliban is unjust as the perspective of the play is subjective, which
is to say, it is one sided and European. As Peterson stresses: "the
Europeans treat Caliban like an animal, yet he can speak, just like a
person."(Peterson 2)
Works Cited
Alexander, Catherine M. S. The
Cambridge Shakespeare Library. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge UP, 2003. Print.
Croft, Janet Brennan. Tolkien and Shakespeare: Essays on
Shared Themes and Language. Jefferson, NC: McFarland &, 2007. Print.
Graf, Sandra. Is He a Monster? - Caliban in William
Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' N.p.: GRIN Verlag, 2009. Print.
Palmer, D. J. Shakespeare: The Tempest; a Casebook. Nashville:
Aurora, 1970. Print.
Shakespeare, William, and David Hamilton Horne. The Tempest. New Haven: Yale UP, 1955. Print.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder