The Tempest: Monstrosity Flashcards
Overall Argument
Monstrosity is an ambiguous concept and often lies in personal opinion. Shakespeare seems to portray monstrosity in behaviour as well as appearance.
Context
Ambroise Pare - ‘things…brought forth contrary to the common decree and order of nature’
Monstrosity was also displayed at fairs. Caliban is a ‘present for any emperor’/’I will not take to much for him’
Paragraph 1: Non-humans presented as monsterous
‘monster’/’strange fish’/’cat’/mooncalf’ - Caliban is othered by the language of humans.
‘Thy groans/Did make wolves howl, and penetrate the breasts/Of ever-angry bears’ - allusions to animals suggest monstrosity.
Paragraph 2: Human qualities of monsters
Ariel and Caliban begin to confuse the image of what it is to be human.
Caliban speaks in blank verse, whilst he may be monstrous in appearance, he has good grasp of human language, dissociating him from the image of a beast.
Ariel shows he has clear grasp on human emotions as he advises Prospero on his ‘affections’ becoming tender’
Paragraph 3: Humans are inhumane ***
‘My strong imagination sees a crown/Dropping on thy head’ - ‘dropping’ draws allusions to heaven. Against natural succession. Contradicts ‘order of nature’.
