Comparing The Congruence Of Shakespeare And Montaigne

Shakespeare’s play The Tempest explores the subject of expansion, colonization and civilization as the framework for modern England. Different authors through there different works have agreed indeed that William Shakespeare’s play played a central role in the development we see in modern day England. The play was written at a time when there was a great systemization in different sectors of the early modern England.

An ideal society is a model that strives to function the most efficiently. Both Thomas More’s Utopia and Michel de Montaigne’s “Of Cannibals” state the fundamentals of specific ideal societies. The differences in these perfect societies are driven by the principles they are based upon. More’s society is based off cultural order while Montaigne’s is based on natural order. The two foundations cause geographic, social, and political differences.

No society remains immobile, even if some human beings resist changes. The advances in technology and the emergence of new beliefs allow people to have a broader imagination. Thus, numerous new interpretations of ancient works, whether they are plays, folktales, or poems, permeate around the world. These renditions re-tell the original stories in contexts that adjust to modern world. What was regarded serious in the past becomes mockery nowadays. William Shakespeare, one of the greatest English play writers, has a profound influence upon different societies globally since the fifteenth century, for his plays inspire many contemporary artists to present new scopes reflecting their societies. Considered as one of Shakespeare’s greatest

Aime Cesaire’s A Tempest is a ‘new world’ response to Shakespeare’s The Tempest. In Cesaire’s adaptation, the characters and plot are generally the same. However, there are a few small deviations from Shakespeare’s The Tempest that make a significant impact on the play as a whole, and lead the play to illustrate important social issues occurring in the time of the adaptation.

In The Tempest, Shakespeare represents a variety of personalities. One of the most primary protagonists is Caliban, a representative of barbarism. Shakespeare uses Montaigne’s essay On the Cannibals as a source to construct this character, but his view on barbarism is not completely identical with that of Montaigne. Montaigne believes that barbarism is synonymous with a natural and original state of mind, which is good and blameless, while the so-called civilization destroys this valuable nature. Nonethelss, Shakespeare claims that barbarism itself is an evil state of mind, and civilization fosters the growth of wickedness.

Oftentimes, our perceptions of individuals are biased by their nature and appearances. Inevitably, this conceals their true character while simultaneously concealing the bigger picture. Until we’re provided with insight into these individuals, a veil of physiognomy conceals them. In The Tempest, Caliban's soliloquy, in act II scene II, unraveled the veil fabricated by his savage demeanor and grotesque appearance. Through thus unraveling, the soliloquy forged the path of his character development. It enabled the extension of plot through parallelism. Lastly, it created a theme which strengthened the overall meaning of the play.

In fact, the name of Caliban is a mere metathesis and anagram of cannibals; and the word cannibal is used by Christopher Columbus in describing Caribs' cannibalistic behaviors in 1498. Therefore, Shakespeare's bias in the play, The Tempest, illustrates Caliban as a savage, "a born devil whose nature nurture can never sticks and as with his body uglier grows so his mind cankers" (4.1.188-192). "The European claimed that they had a God-given responsibility to inhabit and reform so barbarious a nation and to educate to uplift the filthy people" (Takaki p 145). One of their responsibilities is "planting of religion among those infidels and increase the force of the Christians" (Hakluyt p.125) and others were showed by Shakespeare through actions of Prospero. He attempted to nurture, teach, and civilize Caliban. Despite Prospero's contributions, Caliban is incapable of learning anything but curses in foul language and even attempted to rape Prospero's beloved daughter, Miranda. Caliban's savagery is vividly portrayed in his sexual assault with lack of affections, and his animalistic innate instinct of reproduction and expanding its own kind. Judging against Ferdinand's conduct in accepting his slavery

The Tempest, by Shakespeare, offers the reader a variety of themes. The one theme that stands out the most is that of colonialism. During the time of Shakespeare, many European countries such as Spain, France, and England, were expanding their borders by taking over less developed countries, referred to as colonies. During this time of exploitation, there was skepticism concerning the possible success of the colonies. While some scholars believe that the play is about the Americas, I argue that the play reflects on colonialism in general and how it is destined for failure which is shown through the character’s relationships throughout the play.

Through discovery, our perception of human nature changes alongside the world we live in. this is shown in Micheal de Montaigne’s essay “of cannibals” and ‘The Tempest’ drama written by William Shakespeare. Both show, when man is left alone in a natural state, humans grow to perfection, compared to the state of a civilized man whom is corrupt and alters human nature to an animalistic form. The tempest portrays human beings in a civilized state, whom the characters do inhuman acts for material gain and Micheal de Montaigne’s “ of Cannibals” represent man in a natural state whom when left untouched grows to an paragon society. Yet, which is better? a man in a natural state or a man in a civilized state.

       The Tempest is a classic example of Shakespeare’s dichotomized notions of right and wrong within the context of racial inherencies, a social commentary of the colonialism of the New World. An important theme in the play is the racial differentiation between Caliban and the other antagonists, primarily, Prospero, who comes to the island and enslaves Caliban to enforce his own rule. This relationship, as portrayed through the play, is a reflection of the historical social and racial tensions that existed between the colonizers of New Europe and the Native Americans and is illustrated through the language employed by Shakespeare and the interactions that take place between the characters. The Tempest

    One of the indispensable themes displayed in The Tempest is the duality of nature and society.  This is made apparent through the character of Caliban.  Caliban is a dis-figured fish-like creature that inhabits the island where the play The Tempest, takes place.

The Tempest, often regarded as Shakespeare’s last play, displaces the theme of possession of control and command over other, commonly known as power. Ariel, Caliban and the courtiers from Milan, all demonstrate different levels of control. Prospero, the protagonist of the play, especially displays his ability to cast influence and affect others psychologically. The characters, their relationships and their use of power can be compared to the English government and society of the 17th Century.

The previously mentioned literary piece was created right before Shakespeare`s death in 1616. The most controversial character in Shakespeare`s play the Tempest remains Caliban. Literary scholars have shared different ideas regarding the embodiment of this character and it has had different representations throughout the years. Caliban embodies social and political events which took place in Shakespeare`s lifetime. His name could not be far distinguished as anagram for “cannibal” or “Carib”, words which according to Vaughn, entered European languages after 1492, after Columbus discovered that some of the tribes encountered were cannibals, and they were reffered to as Caribs as potential reference to Caribbean languages. (Vaughan and Vaughan). Caliban`s lines in the Tempest in some way could be considered as a clear indication of Native American, as a character whose territory was occupied by a European and who was bound into

Famous critic, Stephen Greenblatt is considered an expert in the Shakespeare field of English literature. Greenblatt studied The Tempest in grave detail and his attitude towards Caliban is that he is an image of the colonial other. In other words, one who considered an outsider from the rest of society because they are not from a popular community. In this case, Caliban is from a faraway island Prospero and his friends just happened to stumble across when they were shipwrecked. In Greenblatt’s argument of the interpretation of Caliban, he states that is it crucial “to have culture

While the two plays share the same characters and provokes similar ideal dichotomies of master and slave; colonizer and colonized; natural and supernatural (Chan 2008: 1), there are differences, for instance, Caliban becomes a Black slave and the ending is changed in Césaire’s version. Based on these alterations, some consider A Tempest not a translation of The Tempest but rather an adaptation that stands on its own, independent of the original. In response to this view, this paper attempts to examine the relationship between the two versions and analyze in what ways A Tempest can and cannot be regarded a translation of The Tempest. The reason to view Césaire’s work not as a translation of Shakespeare’s but as an adaptation only will first be presented. How the