Module A - Tempst/Hagseed Essay Flashcards
Paragraph 1: Imprisonment Thesis
Changing the role of her protagonist, Atwood gives the marginalized characters in her narrative their chance to speak thus looking to a future of empowerment rather than a continuation of the cycle of incarceration.
Imprisonment: The Prisoners
“Onion farts, cold naked feet” – Gross Exaggeration
“Unloved food eaten in boredom”
“Grins, nods of thanks, shy smiles… For once in their lives, they loved themselves.
“Its like he’s, you know, black or Native or something”
Atwood empowers the subaltern voices through the Caliban rap “ain’t gonna get on the back of the bus” in doing so Atwood provides a medium for the oppressed to speak out against colonialism and further associate Caliban to the struggle of various marginalised groups for civil rights.
Imprisonment: Caliban
That beasts shall tremble at thy din”
“moon calf, monster,”
“dead Indians”
“monster”
Through postcolonial reading, Caliban’s character is an insight to the attitudes of colonisation in Shakespeare’s time.
Through Vulgar language, Shakespeare highlights the distaste towards natives “dead Indians” during colonialism in the Jacobean era and also reflects the dehumanisation “monster” of these natives which allows Prospero to keep Caliban oppressed and thus imprisoned.
Paragraph 2: Female Power and Role of Women Thesis
Condemning the inconsistent nature of Shakespearean concepts of femininity, Atwood undermines the patriarchal notions of innocence and filial responsibility through the re-evaluation of Anne-Marie, which allows her to explore independence and empowerment as a reflection of the current feminist movement
Female Power and Role of Women: Anne-Marie
“She rolled up her shirtsleeves … She had a bee tattooed on her arm”
“You’re talking as if Miranda is just a rag doll” – Dialogue, challenging gender roles in modern day, speaking up for what’s right.
Atwood conveys her feminist values of independence by giving Anne-Marie a non-nonsense, tough personality.
In doing so this highlights the dissonances of her Miranda in conjunction with Shakespeare’s Miranda, whom is seen as fragile and vulnerable,
thus exposing a woman’s need to be “strong” in order to compete and survive in Jacobean patriarchal society.
Miranda:
“O my father, I have broke your hest to say so!”
“you may deny me, but I’ll be your servant”
Shakespeare explores the role of women through Miranda’s filial duty to Prospero “O my father, I have broke your hest to say so!” Miranda disobeys Prospero’s “order” indicating that she has a duty to her father and thus exposing the Jacobean views of the role of women and how they must “serve” men.
The lack of importance of women is further conveyed as Miranda is one of the only women in the play, alongside Ariel. However Shakespeare conveys the duty of women in marriage “you may deny me, but I’ll be your servant” the trend of Miranda serving her father then Ferdinand reflects role of women in Jacobean patriarchal society, where women are “owned by men”.
Vengence and Forgiveness: Thesis
Atwood’s post-modern re-imagination of the nature of reconciliation aided by self-forgiveness undermines the original Christian notion of externally sought forgiveness to achieve freedom from vengeance.
Felix:
“That devious, twisted bastard, Tony..”
“He wanted revenge … Tony and Sal must suffer”
“Anyway I succeeded … but why does it feel like a letdown?”
“Keeping her tethered to him all this time … he knows what she truly wants, and what he owes her”
where she’s been trapped with him”
Atwood explores forgiveness through postmodern humanism and internal forgiveness Felix experiences on the cruise “Keeping her tethered to him all this time … he knows what she truly wants, and what he owes her” after realising that keeping dead Miranda in his imagination “where she’s been trapped with him” was only imprisoning them both,
Felix is able to submit to total forgiveness and set dead Miranda free “and she was”, providing him with grief and psychological release.
Prospero:
“As you look to have my pardon, trim it handsomely”
“For you, most wicked sir… I do forgive”
“The rarer action is / In virtue than in vengeance”
(Better to forgive than to hate one’s enemies) – High Modality
“I break my staff and drown my books”
Shakespeare explores the idea of Forgiveness through Prospero’s acknowledgement of his own humanity and also the Christian perception that you must suffer to achieve redemption and forgiveness.
Shakespeare uses the imperative “As you look to have my pardon, trim it handsomely” to accentuate Prospero sense of forgiveness of Antonio “For you, most wicked sir… I do forgive” thus freeing himself through moral high ground and freeing the other characters by giving them pardon;
this is testimony to Shakespeare’s Christian values of forgiveness and humanism that motivates Prospero to forgive Antonio and thus he is freed from vengeance and able to forgive himself.
