colonisation Flashcards
colonisers
at the time when The Tempest was written and first performed, both Shakespeare and his audiences would have been interested in the efforts of settlers to colonize distant lands around the globe.
prospero and caliban
the Tempest explores the complex and problematic relationship between the European colonizer and the native colonized peoples through the relationship between Prospero and Caliban.
educating caliban
Prospero views Caliban as a lesser being than himself.
Prospero believes that Caliban should be grateful to him for educating Caliban and lifting him out of “savagery.”
attitude of settlers
does not occur to Prospero that he has stolen rulership of the island from Caliban, because Prospero can’t imagine Caliban as being fit to rule anything
caliban as a savage
Caliban soon realizes that Prospero has robbed him
Caliban turns bitter and violent, which only reinforces Prospero’s view of him as a “savage.”
shakespeare
uses Prospero and Caliban’s relationship to show how the misunderstandings between the colonizer and the colonized lead to hatred and conflict, with each side thinking that the other is at fault.
racism
he explores the fears and opportunities that colonization creates. Exposure to new and different peoples leads to racism and intolerance, as seen when Sebastian criticizes Alonso for allowing his daughter to marry an African
exploiting natives
Exploration and colonization led directly to slavery and the conquering of native peoples.
Stephano and Trinculo both consider capturing Caliban to sell as a curiosity back at home, while Stephano sees himself as a potential king of the island.
new societies
the expanded territories established by colonization created new places in which to experiment with alternative societies.
Shakespeare conveys this idea in Gonzalo’s musings about the perfect civilization he would establish if he could acquire a territory of his own.
caliban and language
“You taught me language, and my profit on’t
Is, I know how to curse”
Gonzalo’s society
“No occupation, all men idle, all;
And women, too”
Caliban a devil
“a born devil, on whose nature
Nurture can never stick”
ownership of Caliban
“this thing of darkness, I
Acknowledge mine.”
Prospero views caliban
as a second-class citizen fit only to serve
Caliban’s attempted rape
is an infringement on Prospero’s established social order and relegated him to the role of household drudge
Shakespeare depicts
, with almost prophetic insight, the history of the white man’s attitude to indigenous populations in the colonies, for example, the change from kindness to oppression
a post-colonial focus
on the tempest puts emphasis on the colonisation of the Americas, and it produces a reading that differs radically from traditional European validations of Prospero’s dominant role
post-colonial critics
view Prospero’s and Miranda’s relations with Caliban as an allegory of European colonisation
post-colonial readings
of The Tempest were inspired by the decolonisation movements of the 1960s and 1970s in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America.
Adaptations which emphasise the colonial politics
of The Tempest shift the focus to the cross-cultural relationship of Prospero as the coloniser and Caliban as the indigenous inhabitant who is dispossessed and subjugated.
Claribel’s story
sharpens the racist representation of Africa and underlines the questionable morality of Prospero’s colonising power over Caliban
Jonathan Miller performance 1970
chose two West Indian actors to play Ariel and Caliban - made it a commentary on imperialism
travel writing
a source for the Tempest is thought to be William Strachey’s ‘A True Reportory of the Wrack’
if so, then Joanna Williams asserts that this places Caliban in the “role of native”
Prospero as usurper
Joanna Williams points out that Prospero considers himself a victim of usurpation, yet never sees himself as usurper
awareness
Joanna Williams points out that the post-colonial interpretations of Caliban are to make people aware of the barbaric nature and terrible consequences of racism
Caliban is presented in the play
as colonists tended to portray their colonial subjects - ugly, untrustworthy and “savage” - David Norbrook
Michael Boyd Production 2002
The magical feast provided for the courtiers was an unplucked swan. The savagery lying beneath the surface of the courtiers’ civilised manners burst out as they fell on the food and devoured it like beasts.
Adrian Noble 1998 Caliban and Ariel
Wearing only a loincloth, with manacles, Caliban was caked with mud. Ariel, his counterpart in slavery, was also dressed only in a loincloth but without the manacles
Sam Mendes 1993
in response to Prospero’s affectionate words of farewell, Ariel spat in his face.
at the end of the play,
Caliban is effectively set free. In colonialist times, if natives would not comply, they were enslaved or killed. A colonialist reading of the play is valid in some respects, but falls short in many others.
