Shakespeare s The Tempest Shakespeare s The Tempest is a play of multiple doublings. Explore the nature of these doublings of characters and events and discuss how they affect the meaning of the play. Student Name: MARIELLE REBBECHI Course: Grad Dip in Literature, Film & Art Subject: Modern Myth in Literature & Film Year: 2006 Lecturer/Tutor: Dr Sue Gillet Tutorial: Thursday 9-10 am Date Submitted: 13-04-2006
Shakespeare effectively uses doublings in The Tempest to weave a fabric both dense enough to display the patterns of human nature, and strong enough to support the design of his philosophies of life. His method of duplicating certain events and characters enables the author to better illustrate the themes he wants to explore in this play. The doubles take many forms. At times we see the repetition of a specific event, such as an attempt by one person to betray another; sometimes the double is in the form of a familiar archetypal character; and at others, natural sounds or music provide a haunting echo for the action or emotion in the play. Shakespeare also references external ideas and events in order to anchor his drama and protagonists. For example, he visits concepts of an island paradise or utopia, touches on ideas of rising colonialism, alludes to an actual shipwreck upon a remote isle, and connects to biblical myths. The various doubling techniques combine to provide a powerful and moving narrative within the confines of one of Shakespeare s shortest plays. These doubles also work as a literary device to elucidate both the mood of the central character, Prospero, and the key subjects in the play, which Shakespeare communicates through him. The Tempest looks at the heart of what makes us human: our basest failings and our purest hopes. It distills what we want most from life into two opposing elements: spiritual happiness, in the forms of love, forgiveness and transcendental life; and physical security, in the forms of power, greed and fear of death. Through a multitude of doublings, both in characters and events, Shakespeare explores the patterns of human nature, juxtaposing these elements and exploring the concept of balance. As the play opens amid the havoc aboard the doomed ship, Shakespeare uses the raging storm Prospero has conjured as an analogy for the tempest of human life and emotion. The remote island on which he isolates the key characters provides.the unknown and the 1
unknowable, rich in promise but wild and threatening and all too easy to get lost in, embodiments of what lies beyond reason and human control. 1 Throughout the play, the natural and musical sounds of the island provide a backdrop to the characters actions and emotions, and also serve as doubles and mirrors. During the initial storm, the stage direction of tempestuous noise of thunder and lightening 2 echoes the disorder and dissent aboard the ship as the crew battle the storm. Similarly, when Alonso later acknowledges his betrayal of Prospero, he reports The winds did sing it to me; and the thunder,/that deep and dreadful organ pipe, pronounced/the name of Prosper; it did bass my trespass (III.iii.97-99). However, Caliban heralds the island as a place of calm and ultimate healing when he describes the character of its sound to Stephano and Trinculo: Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises/sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not (III.ii.140-41). From the outset, Shakespeare presents us with a recognizable milieu. The island setting has echoes of a utopian paradise, reminding the reader of both the biblical Garden of Eden, and for the audience of the day has topical reference to the experiences of the ship wrecked party of the Virginia Company. 3 Yet within Shakespeare s duplicates there also exists the irony of opposites: the characters find a paradise and are simultaneously cast out of the Garden. The isle holds apples and serpents; fresh springs, brine pits, barren place and fertile (I.ii.338). The men washed up on the shore are without compass and bereft, not only of all that is safe and familiar in a physical sense, but in a spiritual sense as well; they are disoriented, some wracked with grief as they believe loved ones to be lost. 1 Creaser, John. Forms of Confusion. The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Comedy. ed. Leggatt, A., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002, p.85. 2 Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Tempest. 2 nd ed., ed. Langbaum, R. New York: Signet Classic, 1998, p.3. This edition will be used throughout this essay for direct references to the play. 3 Strachey, William from True Repertory of the Wrack, 1610. The Tempest. 2 nd ed., ed. Langbaum, R. New York: Signet Classic, 1998, pp. 93-99. 2
But for some there is no grief, only opportunity. Invoking memories of Prospero s own past, the island plays host to an overthrow plot: Antonio and Sebastian conspire to kill Sebastian s brother, the King, Alonso. With this unfolding of events, Shakespeare not only echoes Prospero s past, but again reminds us of a biblical story in the betrayal of Abel by his brother, Cain. Antonio and Sebastian s plot is not the only overthrow plot to emerge. Shakespeare provides a parody overthrow conspiracy against Prospero, at the hands of Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo. So many on the island vie for power and control. By presenting several scenarios of treachery, Shakespeare seems resigned to this bitter facet of human nature: betrayal reverberates through time and across the classes. Yet, despite this pessimistic foundation for Shakespeare s musings, he does not appear to be ultimately despondent. Instead, he uses these multiple scenarios to compare and contrast visions of new kingdoms, where as ruler, the characters play the role of God and the wrongs they perceive are righted. Most notably, Shakespeare compares the view of Gonzalo s perfect world, with the kingdom envisaged by Sebastian and Antonio. Gonzalo s world in keeping with his optimistic and caring nature reflects a world of ideals: I th commonwealth I would be contraries Execute all things. For no kind of traffic Would I admit; no name of magistrate; Letters should not be known; riches, poverty, And use of service, none; contract, succession, Bourne, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none; No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil; No occupation; all men idle, all; And women too, but innocent and pure; No sovereignty.. All things in common nature should produce Without sweat or endeavor. Treason, felony, Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need of any engine Would I not have; but nature should bring forth, Of it own kind, all foison, all abundance, (II.i.152-61) (II.i.164-68) 3
In contrast, the kingdom of Sebastian and Antonio is one of base greed, superiority over contemporaries and supreme power. Antonio is even remorseless enough to gloatingly refer to his overthrow of Prospero, And look how well my garments sit upon me,/much feater than before. My brother s servants/were then my fellows; now they are my men (II.i.276-78). Through the aspirations of these characters, who vary in class, intellect and ideals, Shakespeare is exploring what it is to be ruler and king. Gonzalo s speech highlights the contradictions inherent in being ruler, such as his dilemma of being king in a classless society, and of providing for all, when indeed, no one works. While admirable, Gonzalo s utopian view is flawed; there is a need to balance opposing ideals. At the other end of the spectrum, while powerful men may make good leaders, power can also corrupt. Sebastian, and years before, his brother, Alonso, have been easily lead astray by Antonio s malicious intent. Aside from the notion of power as ruler, Shakespeare also explores power as a creator. Prospero is an archetypal, god-like figure who controls all factors human and physical is such a way as to further his own designs [a] mood of detachment never leaves [him] throughout the play. 4 Prospero portrays not only a god-like figure, but also provides a double of Shakespeare himself. As a playwright, Shakespeare has held in his hands the power of creator: he has conceived characters; created and resolved drama. His career has exposed him to the patterns and complexities of human nature, in not just his characters, but in himself. As Shakespeare s voice in the play, a melancholy Prospero wants to break with the repetitious cycle of human betrayal and revenge and construct a new outcome. 4 Grene, David Reality and The Heroic Pattern. Chicago:The University of Chicago Press, 1967, p.90. 4
For the other key characters in the play, however, Prospero undertakes to control their emotional journey so that they too can appreciate the happiness that lies beyond the physical. Through the character of Prospero, Shakespeare repeatedly re-enacts the idea that seemingly inherent in human nature a greater appreciation is borne of suffering. As noted by Steven Greenblatt, Prospero s chief magical activity throughout The Tempest is to harrow the other characters with fear and wonder and then to reveal that their anxiety is his to create and allay. 5 Prospero not only commences with the terror he strikes in those on board the ship during the raging storm, but also with the fear he creates in his daughter, Miranda, in the play s first scene: O! I have suffered/with those that I saw suffer O, the cry did knock/against my very heart. 6 During the initial encounter between Miranda and Ferdinand, Prospero s aside, They are both in either s pow rs. But this swift business/i must uneasy make, lest too light winning/make the prize light. (I.ii.51-53) clearly proposes that suffering is required before we can appropriately value a gift. Prospero continues this undertaking by subjecting Ferdinand to physical hardship and magical torment before endorsing the young lovers relationship. However, it is Prospero s deception of both Alonso and Ferdinand who believe each other to be drowned in the shipwreck that is most heart-rending. Alonso is inconsolable; his grief two-fold as he considers he will also, most likely, never again see his daughter Claribel: My son is lost; and, in my rate, she too/who is so far from Italy removed/i ne er again shall see her. (II.i.114-16). Ferdinand, too, is wracked with grief, although Prospero is quick to provide some comfort in the form of music and Ariel s singing: 5 Greenblatt, Stephen Martial Law in the Land of Cockaigne. Materialist Shakespeare, ed. Kamps, Ivo, London:Verso, 1995, p. 118. 6 ibid. 5
Where should this music be? I th air or th earth? It sounds no more; and sure it waits upon Some god o th island. Sitting on a bank, Weeping again the King my father s wrack, This music crept by me upon the waters Allaying both their fury and my passion With its sweet air. (I.ii.388-94) Prospero makes Ariel and Caliban suffer through servitude. To Ariel he utters such threats as, If thou more murmur st, I will rend an oak/and peg thee in his knotty entrails till/thou hast howled away twelve winters (I.ii.294-96). These characters are both duplicates and opposites. Caliban represents the physical side of Prospero, while Ariel represents the spiritual. Prospero wages battle with these sides of himself throughout the play, and while he ultimately frees Ariel, he is only able to make a weary acknowledgement of Caliban, this thing of darkness/i acknowledge mine (V.i.275-76). Caliban himself, unlike the other characters in the play, is one who seeks a master, rather than to be king. Caliban s anguished speech early in the play in which he laments, You taught me language, and my profit on t/is, I know how to curse. The red plague rid you/for learning me your language! (I.ii.363-65) references the complex issues for indigenous people in the wake of colonialist expansion. 7 Prospero also makes Caliban suffer by using him to prepare Miranda for her subsequent meeting with Ferdinand. 8 Caliban is an unlikely double for Ferdinand, but he serves as a stark and unappealing contrast suitor for Miranda. She is immediately taken with Ferdinand, as the archetypal figure of heroic and youthful masculinity. While the duplicate events in the play largely portray human nature as power seeking and opportunistic, Shakespeare reveals to us the salve: love and marriage. The foundation for Prospero s final revelations of forgiveness is the newfound love between Miranda and Ferdinand. The 7 Nestor, Maurice The Psychic Storm: Shakespeare s The Tempest. Bendigo: Class Notes, p.5. 8 Bolton, Matthew J. The Explicator. Heldref Publications. Abstract from Expanded Academic ASAP, Thompson Gale Journal [online], 2005, Document No. A141296400. 6
purity of this love finds familiar territory in the minds of the audience, as it reflects the relationship of Adam and Eve in the biblical context, complete with a lavish masque in which Prospero showers the couple with a (virtual) abundance reminiscent of the original Garden. While echoing faintly in the distance, is the marriage between Claribel and the Prince of Tunis. Love and marriage unite and redeem, but within marriage there is also an ongoing bid for power. Through the verbal sparring in the chess scene between Ferdinand and Miranda, Shakespeare draws attention to the delicate tension of love and discord that exist in a good relationship. The point he makes regarding this balance is perhaps best described in the following: Musical harmony depends upon difference, upon a lack of concord; rich harmonies require the assimilation of some discord the more acute the discord, the richer the harmony. Where there is only concord, there is only blandness. 9 Prospero s island exile and suffering have wrought change in him. He is able to accept responsibility for his role in the events that brought him to the isle, as well as his own shortcomings, such as his enslavement of Caliban. This realization and growth alters the play s outcome when Prospero confronts those who betrayed him. First, however, Prospero brings to closure his own grief by restoring the happiness of those to whom he has meted out suffering, most notably: Ariel, Ferdinand and Alonso. Through time and the redeeming nature of forgiveness, Prospero is able to break the pattern of his own human nature, the cycles of which form the basis for the doublings in the play. characters are types, unchanging and undeveloping, with speech, emotions, and conduct in keeping with gender, age and social situation. But admit the passage of time, and human identity becomes malleable and subject to change, to testing processes of growth and degradation. 10 9 Creaser, p.92. 10 ibid., p.86. 7
Rather than exact revenge from Alonso and Antonio when they are completely at his mercy, Prospero forgives them. At the close of the play, while Prospero reclaims his former life in Milan, he balances the return to the civilized world with an understanding that life is transitory, his words: Every third thought shall be my grave (V.i.312) indicating he is resigned to his own death. Prospero s speech to the bewildered Ferdinand as the masque abruptly disappears, reinforces his acknowledgement of the transitory nature of life and the material world: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, (IV.i.151-54) We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. (IV.I.156-58) By his use of doublings throughout The Tempest, Shakespeare establishes a sense of repetition and the patterns of life. This method frequently presents his audiences with what if scenarios, which arise from throwing characters into each other s roles and positions. 11 Shakespeare s duplicating technique distills the key experiences and emotions of life and holds them up to us as a mirror. Here is love, betrayal, and forgiveness. Here is how we respond to them. Here is how we can learn from them. These are the experiences that separate us, and conversely, join us. By presenting scenarios familiar to the audience, referencing events and myths outside the play, and by duplicating the roles of certain characters, Shakespeare is able to quickly key the audience into his ideas on power, love, and redemption. Multiplicity also enables the author to demonstrate how patterns can be broken, and how human nature for example, that of Prospero and Alonso can undergo a 11 Nestor, p. 8. 8
growth of character over time. Rather than repeating the patterns of human nature, these characters effect change and facilitate spiritual happiness. Towards the end of his life, the wisdom Shakespeare has acquired has coalesced into central themes: suffering gives value to reward; we must take responsibility for our own actions and mistakes, love and marriage are the foundation of harmony; life s lessons are apt to repeat themselves in varying forms; and life on earth is ultimately transient. As an advocate for balance he shows us, through The Tempest, that the forces underlying these truths are actually two-sides of the one coin that bring depth and meaning to life. In exploring these concepts, he attempts to break the nexus between the ultimate divides: art and nature; reality and illusion; life and death. It seems that Shakespeare most eloquently pinpoints this balance and our transformation into something more beautiful through death, in the words of Ariel s haunting song: Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes; Nothing of him that doth fade But doth suffer a sea change Into something rich and strange. (I.ii.397-402) 9
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