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The Tempest Power

Decent Essays

England has long been troubled by shifts in leadership and royal struggles to gain power. Its history involving King James I, the English King from 1603-1625 was no different. By the time of Shakespeare’s 1611 writing of his play The Tempest, James had uncovered a plot by the Catholic church to kill him and another plot to replace his kingship with his cousin, who desired it for himself. The lust for power has defined the crown, and it has followed the English on its pilgrimage to the New World. Shakespeare recognizes and describes this desire through his play The Tempest, in which a travelling ship is wrecked on an unknown island. Prospero, Miranda, and Caliban, residents of the island before the shipwreck, all become disillusioned with the …show more content…

Prospero tells Miranda various stories about his previous life as King of Naples, and notes that he “cast [the government upon my brother...and rapt in secret studies”, then blaming his brother for wrongly taking control of Milan and banishing him to the island (1.2.75-77). While Prospero shelves duties to his brother, he pursues magical studies in order to further his own capabilities, abandoning previous responsibilities in order to do so. Prospero’s former status as King of Naples enables Shakespeare to compare his character to that of a member of English royalty. Shakespeare utilizes these actions to prove Prospero’s hunger for power and dissatisfaction with is current state, as he consistently seeks even more power for himself. However, Prospero frames these desires differently to Miranda by downplaying his abandonment of the throne, and instead choosing to highlight Antonio’s “substitution and the outward face of royalty with all prerogative”(1.2.103-105). Framing Antonio allows Prospero to depict himself as a victim of Antonio’s deviousness, and invokes pity from Miranda. Her servitude and subservience to him on the island defines his authority, and Prospero reinforces this by invoking Miranda’s sympathy. Prospero’s pursuit of power both convinces him to abandon his responsibilities as King of Naples and distort the truth to build the dominance that he seeks. Shakespeare suggests that English motivation to explore the Americas originates from the deeply rooted desire for power found in

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