One of the main themes of The Tempest deals with the fragility of authority in the face of a dire situation. A person of high status could lose it all when confronted with danger, and treachery. One example of authority lost is found in the beginning of The Tempest. Gonzalo is powerless to stop the downgrade of his position from the lower-ranked Boatswain. His tactless remarks doesn’t go unnoticed as Gonzalo and the other nobles insult him and attempt to remind him of his lower level. However, the men soon learn that the social pyramid means nothing to fate. At first, the Boatswain understands his position on the boat, as he follows his master orders to give a prep talk to the sailors. He even addressed Alonso in a respectable manner, “I pray now, keep …show more content…
At the moment, the storm is on top of the social pyramid, ruling everything. Gonzalo takes the Boatswain disrespect surprisingly well. He even views it as encouragement, “I have great comfort from this fellow.” He thinks it isn’t ideal for the Boatswain to die by this storm. He believes his fate is to die in the gallows, as he speaks and acts like a criminal. “Methinks he hath no drowning mark upon him. His complexion is perfect gallows. Stand fast, good Fate, to his hanging.” Gonzalo truly believes that the Boatswain’s destiny is to die by the gallows. This is beneficial for him, because if the Boatswain’s death is halted until that day, it would mean nobody will die. In order for him to be sentenced to death for his crimes, he has to make it home first. Everybody else will be saved by association, as the Boatswain is the one commanding the ship, “Make the rope of his destiny our cable, for our own doth little advantage. If he be not born to be hanged, our case is miserable.” Gonzalo decides to willingly give up his supremacy in order to survive. Gonzalo and the other leave the Boatswain to his work. They reappear again shortly after. The Boatswain is displeasured by their appearance. He insults and
On the Captain’s order, the oiler rows the boat directly toward the shore. The boat capsizes and the people on the boat are so weak that it is hard for them to even keep their heads above water.
our lives. Perhaps it was my fault that we came here and that if it
(Connell, 41). Then Whitney stated that Captain Neilson was acting strange and that all she “‘could get out of him was: this place has an evil name among seafaring men”’ (Connell, 40). These are all examples that form portend and shows that later in the story someone will fall off the boat and be trapped there.
The protagonist experiences severe repercussions due to his all-consuming lifestyle, including the inability to come terms with truth and an irrational mindset as the boat sinks. However, this idea doesn’t immediately stand out, as some would argue that the mate actually comes to terms with his obsessiveness, as demonstrated in the passage “His faith in the boat had been overwhelming that he had to force himself to realize it had been destroyed.” (p. 5). The significance of this line is not the fact that he did realize it had been destroyed, it’s the fact that he had to force himself to. No man who has come to terms with his obsessiveness should have to force themselves to see what’s right in front of them. To further emphasize, he shouldn’t receive any pats on the back for noticing that his foundered ship was indeed
Whether one realizes it or not, the world we live in is governed by certain expectations and unwritten rules that our society creates. These expected behaviors are called norms. When one establishes the role that they play in society, they are governed by the expectations that society places on that specific role. Norms give order to a society, but is that enough to say that they are good for citizens? Are these norms needed to govern our behavior in a way that our government cannot? Social norms and the effect that they can have on a person or group of people is shown through Shakespeare's The Tempest. The characters in The Tempest are negatively affected by the unwritten social norms that they are expected to follow, and today these
The play, The Tempest, by William Shakespeare is a very cleverly thought out piece of work. Shakespeare very deliberately inter-relates several different forms of power during the course of the play. There is political power, shown through the plethora of political characters and their schemes, while at the same time parodied by the comic characters. The power of magic and love, and its ability to reunite and absolve also plays a major role in the play. Throughout the play, Prospero, the main character, takes great advantage of his power and authority, both properly and improperly. The epiphany of this however, is realized at the end of the play.
In the view of the captain everything, even nature herself can be fit into "good order." But to insure that good order can exist there must be a prevention of misery. Captain Delano seeks to placate and to prevent misery in those lower than himself in his sense of order. The crucial lesson which the Captain cannot understand is that his conception of "good order" inherently causes misery in those he enslaves. The reason he wants to believe the lie of the San Dominick is because it validates his all important system of order and hierarchy.
It is important to realize that the captain, Careno is representing the unhealthy and unstable condition of the ship, which makes the mood of the story even
Furthermore, the Mariner’s imprisonment is symbolized by ships. The sailor’s adventure is set about on a ship with one another’s merry company. Unfortunately, control over their ship is lost just as their luck. It quickly becomes a private prison for the Mariner following the sailors’ pitiful deaths. Ghost ships, Death and Life in Death, are seen arriving, playing a game of dice. This seals the Mariner and fellow sailor’s fate. The Mariner imprisons others by compelling them to listen to his story. “And he stoppeth one of three. –By the long grey beard and glittering eye, now wherefore stoppest thou me?” (Part 1, Stanza
This quote tells what sailors did to respect those who have died. This shows me that things that were done back then are a lot different than what we do now.
The Tempest is involved in a discussion of 'nobility', seen here as a matter of inheritance, but in the opposition of Prospero and his brother Antonio we see that inheritance has two sides. Antonio betrayed Prospero and stole his inheritance (materially; his Dukedom), so virtue, 'nobility', is not entirely a matter of having noble parentage.
William Shakespeare's, "The Tempest," provides insight into the hierarchy of command and servitude by order of nature. This play uses the relationship between its characters to display the control of the conqueror over the conquered. It also shows how society usually places the undesirable members at the bottom of the chain of command, even though they may be entitled to a higher social status. For example, the beginning of the play opens with a scene on a boat in the midst of a terrible storm. The boatswain, who is under the command of the royal party, attempts to keep the boat from sinking.
The Tempest, often regarded as Shakespeare’s last play, displaces the theme of possession of control and command over other, commonly known as power. Ariel, Caliban and the courtiers from Milan, all demonstrate different levels of control. Prospero, the protagonist of the play, especially displays his ability to cast influence and affect others psychologically. The characters, their relationships and their use of power can be compared to the English government and society of the 17th Century.
William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” speaks about multiple authoritative relationships throughout the play and the abuse of power and authority. The main character Prospero lives on a deserted island with his daughter Miranda. Prospero used to be the Duke of Milan until he has been usurped by his brother Antonio with the help Alonso the King of Naples and his brother Sebastian. Prospero and Miranda were banished to sea in a rotten boat and eventually lands in a deserted island who was once ruled by a witch named Sycorax but is now only inhabited by her son Caliban and a spirit named Ariel. Since arriving at the island, Prospero has been ruling the island and enslaved Caliban and Ariel by the use of magic. He acts as if he is God by creating a storm in order to shipwreck the King of Naples and Antonio. Prospero uses his powers to get revenge on his brother for having been exiled to the island. Prospero is a controlling character who seems to be obsessed with getting revenge in order to regain his status. He abuses his authority and takes advantage of his slaves and his daughter Miranda to fulfil his evil plan.
Power leads to colonization, not just historically, but in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest as well. When many different dynamics of characters are marooned on a island, with a magician and natives of the island, many things take a twist. Throw in magic, some drunk jesters, and also power hungry traitors, and there is a story about the balance of power, the conquest of items, land, and also status. What ends up happening is, betroyal, restoring of respect, and losing of magical charms and snares. In The Tempest, William Shakespeare uses power and colonization to give a story, and show how power can be transferred and how that power can lead to colonization, and lead to new people controlling land.