Act 1 Sc. 2 Flashcards
‘O I have suffered with those I have seen suffer’
AO1/2: Miranda introduced as somewhat of a prototypical female of the renaissance era - empathises with the suffering of others thus becoming the emotionally driven female of the Jacobean period.
‘suffered’ = emotional pain - perhaps indicative of her emotional weakness
‘Had I been…God of Power, I would have sunk the sea within the earth’
- pondering having power = v. subversive
- ‘God of Power’ - recog. of P. as extremely powerful & of great auth. but still critiques his actions
- ‘would’, ‘had’ - verbs = awareness of her lim. capabilities as a woman
- Hyperbolic- Miranda would eliminate everything to save the people aboard the ship, plays into the stereotype that women cannot be trusted with power as they are too emotionally driven to be logical.
‘I have done nothing but in care of thee’
AO1/2: suggests an emotional manipulation and blackmail of miranda
- protective - plays the role of the typical renaissance father
- A05 - Bleiman - ‘strong father daughter relationship’
‘pluck my magic garment from me’
- distinction of Prospero’s multiple identities - est. him as a magus figure
- metatheatrical - costume change = everything within the Island is merely a performance by P.
- unable to function as both a magus & father fig.
‘Dost thou attend me?’
repetition - desperation & self-importance of P - wants to indoctrinate M with his version of events
- rhetorics - commanding, ensures her obedience to him as a father & authoritarian figure
‘My library was dukedom enough’
advances view of P as an unreliable narrator - his own obsession w the pursuit of knowledge led to his removal from his dukedom
- Est. view that P wasn’t committed to his responsibilities
‘ivy that hid my princely trunk and suck’d the verdure out on’t it’
AO1/2: nature metaphor = Antonio as a perfidious & poisonous character, evokes the idea that this was his innate nature - he was born immoral.
- parasitic relationship - Antonio assumed not only P’s role but his life, draining him of his ‘verdure’.
‘suck’d’ = forceful, demonstrates the extreme impacts of power lust as Antonios greed transcends familial bonds
‘This islands mine…by my mother’
Power gluttony is upheld by Prospero, considered hypocritical for his admonishments of Antonio’s immorality whilst he himself has acted as a usurper towards Caliban reveals the true nature of Prospero reflecting the idea that one’s status doesn’t automatically make them a moral ruler. This shows that Prospero ignores dynastic rules/lineage for his own gain.
‘thou shalt have cramps…pinched as thick as honeycomb’ &
‘urchins…bees’
Violent, hate fuelled language ‘pinched’ demonstrates the utter cruelty of P. as he deliberately wishes to cause Caliban physical harm, leaving him with a physical reminder or ‘branding’ of his status as P’s slave. This metaphorical branding of Caliban merely dehumanises him further, comparing him to cattle or other commodified, lesser animals.
- Prospero’s self-affirming view that he is more dignified and refined than the ‘savage’ and uncouth native drives him to abuse and terrorise Caliban for refusing to adhere to his own moral code.
- Prospero is constantly corrupting the natural world around him, true extent of his evil is underpinned by his perversion of the natural isle as tools for abuse rather than harmony
- exploitation of nature to harm natives
A05: Post-colonial perspective - Prospero as the exploitative and abusive coloniser
‘thou strokest me…’
AO1/2: Evidences P’s manipulation & dehumanisation of C whom he treats as a pet, ‘strokest’ animalises Caliban, portraying him as yet another piece of property.
- Evokes a somewhat paternal, doting image of P in contrast to P’s current attitude showing the true nature of colonialism which hides behind the façade of ‘enlightening’ natives.
- Grim connotations of rearing Caliban for the purpose of servitude
- Perhaps Caliban is acting as XP’s mouthpiece to criticise colonialism and force Jacobean society to understand the immorality of colonisation.
’ thou didst seek to violate the honour of my child’
A sexual attack would remove Miranda’s value within the marriage market
AO5: disadvantages P. as Miranda is his ‘political pawn’ & ‘sexual bait’ thus if her virginity is not intact he cannot barter for his position in the Italian court.
- possessive ‘my’ -commodification of the female = her violation is acc an attack on the male
‘child’ - infantilises Miranda
Alternatively, this infantilisation demonstrates Prospero’s status as the typical Jacobean father
‘peopled else this isle with Calibans’
Caliban’s wit - Recognises the insult that violating virginity of a woman is.
- plays into the stereotype of the savage native bc he threatens to commit immoral acts
‘pitied thee. Took pains to make thee speak..’
AO5 - ‘Miranda is an allegory for softer colonialism’:
‘pitied’ - empathetic lang. = compassionate nature of civilising mission
M. & P.’s goal as European colonisers is to ‘enlighten’ natives
motif/sf of uncivilised/savage native/subhuman:
‘savage’
‘gabble…thing most brutish’
‘vile race’
Miranda’s vitriolic xenophobic lang. dehumanises & depersonalises Caliban as he becomes a ‘thing’ = inhuman, highlighting the utter pervasive nature of
‘You taught me language…my profit on’t I know how to curse’
- reference to cultural assimilation
