The Cycle of Slavery in The Tempest Essay - 1641 Words

The Cycle of Slavery in The Tempest William Shakespeare’s The Tempest blends elements of adventure and intellectual inquiry. The plot of Shakespeare’s last work contains comedy, romance, and action enough to sustain the interest of his common audience. However, there lies beneath the eloquent language and exciting plot an intelligent political commentary. Shakespeare uses the setting of a virtually uninhabited island as an experimental testing ground for the institution of slavery. Shakespeare shows through his island experiment that subjugation, once instituted, seems to perpetuate itself. While the most automatic explanation of this cyclical nature of slavery would be to say that this political rule is continued by the†¦show more content†¦Caliban’s agents of destruction are inanimate infections that only have the power to rise and fall(2.2.2) from the earth. The slaves under Prospero’s command are immortal spirits who can bite(2.2.10), hiss(2.2.14), and take action against Caliba n. These creatures are forced servants of Prospero just like Caliban, enslaved because of the power of Prospero’s magic books. In speaking of them, Caliban is acknowledging that Prospero has control of the island, these spirits, and the islander(2.2.36) himself. Caliban also acknowledges that Prospero has the ability, through the spirits, to hear(2.2.3) and punish him for his treacherous words. Although Caliban proceeds to curse(2.2.4) his master, he realizes that there are consequences for such actions because of his master’s authority. Thus his actions are regulated by the knowledge of Prospero’s ultimate power. By his concession of this power, Caliban reveals to the audience Prospero’s extensive abilities; not only can Prospero harm Caliban for his actions, he can also punish him for his words. Caliban has failed in his verbal attempt to usurp the duke’s power and has instead highlighted the power given to the master by the institution of slaver y. Caliban’s concession of Prospero’s ultimate power as master evidences the way in which slavery has so effectively conditioned his thoughts and behavior into continually being those of a subordinate being. 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