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Heidi Yousry Professor Loubna Youssef Bibliography 28th May 2009 Shakespeare's The Tempest: a post-colonial reading This paper is an effort to apply post-colonial ideas to The Tempest, one of Shakespeare's major plays. In the introduction, the reasons for choosing this play in particular are given, and the main argument of the paper is set. In the first part of the paper, the fundamental knowledge about post-colonial theory is briefly delineated in the method of approach. At the same time a background of Shakespeare's Elizabethan age and colonial activities is also briefly introduced to justify using the post-colonial approach in particular. In the second part, the review of literature will discuss different points of view of scholars who studied and analyzed Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Introduction:

The tempest was Shakespeare's last play, written during 1611. While studying The Tempest, as undergraduates, we analyzed, as usual, themes, technique, characters and other several dramatic points. And one

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of the most important characters that drew attention was Caliban the native of Prospero's island. Shakespeare portrayed him as the most hateful and deceitful character of the play and may be of Shakespeare's other plays. He is portrayed even to be hateful than Antonio Prospero's usurping brother. So, a question was naturally imposed, why would Shakespeare portray a character like this as the epitome and source of evil? And who is really the evil and the good here? Who decides that Prospero is the good and Caliban is the bad? And why do not we consider Prospero a usurper just like Antonio because Antonio usurped Prospero's position and Prospero usurped Caliban's land. Furthermore we can say according to this that Prospero is more evil even than his brother because usurping one's land and enslaving him is even more dangerous than stealing power. Another question was raised what if Caliban was not like a beast, according to Shakespeare's portrayal and was a normal human would Prospero has enslaved him and treated him the way he did in the play? Questions like the previous and more were the motivation behind my attempt to find a method to answer them.

In attempting to answer the previous questions, I found two major methods analyzing the play. The first attempt, is to analyze The Tempest as an exploration of the Nature of Art, love, loyalty, and other common known themes, in other words, it is the conventional method

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which previously mentioned as the method of analyzing the play while undergraduate. So this method has not helped in answering such questions because Caliban would be interpreted as the villain of the play, and Shakespeare's portrayal for him as savage remains a puzzle. Thus, the second method of interpretation appears to be more appropriate, which is, trying to see Caliban, Prospero, and the island as symbols and representational for ideas more sophisticated than the ordinary themes. In other words, this method tries to analyze The Tempest as a Study of Colonialism. My purpose, henceforward, will be to apply the postcolonial reading in order to decode the different power relations in the play an understand Shakespeare's real purpose and intention in the play.

Method of approach:

Shakespeare is the voice of his age (1564-1616). He is the representative of the Elizabethan age, an age of British colonial expansion with the discovery of the Americas and the British colonization of India and establishing the Virginia Company and East India Company, both are representatives of colonies. Shakespeare was aware of his role as a dramatist in propagating for the empire's colonial purposes. And since , post-colonial analysis makes clear the nature and impact of inherited power relations and their continuing effect on the global culture, thus a

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proper definition of Post-colonialism is needed. Such a definition has been a problematic issue since the beginning of this field because of the wide, varied, and complicated area of research of this field. It encompasses a study of most of the power relations exist in our life not only between countries but also between people.

Post-colonialism or postcolonial theory is a specifically postmodern intellectual discourse that holds together a set of theories found among the texts and sub-texts of philosophy, film, political science and literature. These theories are reactions to the cultural legacy of colonialism. According to Bill Ashcroft in his book The Post-Colonial Studies Reader, as a literary theory (or critical approach), Postcolonialism deals with "literature produced in countries that once were colonies of other countries, especially of the European colonial powers Britain, France, and Spain; in some contexts, it includes countries still in colonial arrangements" (20). It also deals with literature written in colonial countries and by their citizens that has colonized people as its subject matter. Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau in their book Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism give another definition of Post-colonialism;

Yousry Post-colonialism is a period of time after colonialism, and postcolonial literature is typically characterized by its opposition to the colonial. However, some critics have argued that any literature that expresses an opposition to colonialism, even if it is produced during a colonial period, may be defined as postcolonial, primarily due to its oppositional nature (vi).

In Post-Colonial Drama: theory, practice, politics, Helen Gilbert and Joanne Tompkins write:
the term postcolonialism according to a too-rigid etymology is frequently misunderstood as a temporal concept, meaning the time after colonialism has ceased, or the time following the politically determined Independence Day on which a country breaks away from its governance by another state, Not a nave teleological sequence which supersedes colonialism, postcolonialism is, rather, an engagement with and contestation of colonialism's discourses, power structures, and social hierarchies. (121)

The previous definition focuses on the broader meaning of Postcolonialism.

In order to limit the paper's focus, we should know the subject matter of post-colonialism. Ashcroft thinks that, Post-colonialism deals

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with cultural identity in colonized societies: the dilemmas of developing a national identity after colonial rule; the ways in which writers articulate and celebrate that identity (often reclaiming it from and maintaining strong connections with the colonizer); and the ways in which the knowledge of the colonized (subordinated) people has been generated and used to serve the colonizer's interests. But most importantly, and actually this is the focus of the paper, it examines the ways in which the colonizer's literature has justified colonialism via images of the colonized as a perpetually inferior people, society and culture. This last point is an illustration on Edward Said's idea of Orientalism which is going to be the central idea of the paper.Works of literature that are defined as postcolonial often record racism or a history of genocide, including slavery, or apartheid.

In this paper, I will examine the ways in which the colonizer's literature, Shakespeare's The Tempest, has justified colonialism via images of the colonized, in this respect Caliban, as a perpetually inferior people, society and culture. Besides, I will analyze some other subsidiary elements which also contribute to this image.

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Review of literature:

In her book The Tempest Virginia Mason Vaughan argues that Caliban is portrayed as a savage and a beast not because he shows that through his actions but because prospero calls him so, so this is Prospero's image not the real image. She continues her argument that Caliban's guilt is that he is the son of Sycorax the Algerian witch something which is out of his hands and not to be blamed of. Furthermore she refutes this accusation and says that it is not necessarily true; "Surely in Prospero's and Miranda's eyes, Caliban is a savage Prospero accuses Caliban of being the son of a witch and the devil. The magus's words are not necessarily true" (32).

She, then argues that, there is a temptation to see Caliban as an American native, and this temptation stems from the fact that the geography of the island is unknown thus it could be any place in the world including the new world or the Americas henceforward Caliban is the native American. In my opinion, if this assumption is valid to the Americas thus it is valid and applicable to any colony that the white man decides to occupy. She said that beginning from the 1950s and 1960s; Latin American appropriators of The Tempest recast Caliban as the

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emblem of South and Central American peoples, and substituted Prospero as the imperialist, arrogant United States.

In his article, "Revolution Calling: A Look at the Role of Caliban Within Shakespeare's The Tempest", Steven Thor Gunnin highlights the importance of Caliban as a primary character not a secondary one" Yet, based on the style and depth of the oration that the character has been gifted with, as well as the pivotal role that he plays within the play, it is hard to imagine Caliban playing the second role"(1). Yet the most important idea that Gunnin gives in his article is the description of Caliban;

He is of different complexion, savage nature, ill temperament, and prone to outbursts of baser passions. Add to that his physical deformities, which as we have seen previously in pieces such as Richard III, at the time was considered to be an obvious sign of mental ills and imperfection as well, and it should have been clear to any viewer that this character was most certainly a lesser to the likes of fair and wise and noble Prospero. So, how then can it be that when the character begins to speak and give discourse, that Shakespeare saw fit to grace him with such a seemingly pure and noble voice.(1)

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The focus of Benjamin Sell in his article "Racism and Evil in Shakespeare's the Tempest" is on the reaction of characters to native
peoples like Caliban, and how it determines the quality of their character in the play. He points out that: "The dichotomy of savagery

and civilization is present throughout the play. Shakespeare invites both his characters and his audience to explore and form their own opinions about it." (2). He also points out that Shakespeare uses the reactions of his characters to the character of Caliban and the issue of race in general to differentiate those who are evil or stupid, naming the native, from those who are basically good and just, naming the colonizers or white people.

In his article "The Tempest in the Wilderness: The Racialization of Savagery" Ronald Takaki sums up the play's historical situation: "The timing of the first performance of The Tempest was crucial. It came after the English invasion of Ireland but before the colonization of New England, after John Smith's arrival in Virginia but before the beginning of the tobacco economy, and after the first contacts with the Indians but before full-scale warfare against them. In that historical moment, the English were encountering "other" peoples and delineating the boundary between civilization and savagery." (893). The

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most important idea which he points out, and I think that is the emblem of the argument that I oppose, is that; as there are views supporting the idea of the colonial discourse of Caliban's character, there are also voices supporting the idea of naturalizing Caliban's enslavement:

The debate between civilization and savagery was a popular one in Europe at the time. Some, like Spanish lawyer Juan Gines de Sepulveda, argued Aristotle's view that some people were "natural slaves" and therefore incapable of being educated or existing alongside the civilized people of Europe. (Takaki 899).

The circumstances of Caliban's parentage, specifically the fact that his mother was exiled from Algiers and dropped on the island by sailors "suggests that Caliban himself must be considered as North African" (26) suggest Nadia Haen Lie, and Theo D. in their book Constellation Caliban: Figurations of a Character. And as such can be seen as a stand in for all dark-skinned foreign peoples. Caliban is a reflection, and in some ways even a caricature, of late 16th and early 17th century British attitudes and misguided beliefs about the native peoples present in less-civilized parts of the world, argues Lie.

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The idea which I like to emphasize is Shakespeare's purpose of Caliban's portrayal. My argument is that this portrayal is done to perpetuates the image of the native or colonized throughout time and place, whatever his nationality or the time which he lives in, the native, colonized, is Caliban and he never changes. I could grasp this idea only when I read what Edward said, in his Canonical book Orientalism, wrote and believed that: "Orientalism assumed an unchanging orient, absolutely different from the west"(96), and through this image the west can manipulate and control the East. The methods by which the West assumes this unchangeable orient is the core issue of Edward Said's book. Although Said is focusing on the relation between the orient or the East and the West his ideas are applicable to any other nations or more sides of binary opposition.

Sample of analysis:

If we applied the post-colonial idea on the setting of the play, the island which Shakespeare, purposely, has not given it any name would represent the whole universe. Or rather the island would represent all the lands that have treasures and should be colonized. Prospero the great magician will consequently represent the white, supposedly civilized wise, man. And Caliban should be the outcast the uncivilized

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and the monkey-like creature. He is past the point of redemption thus his sole role in life now is to be a slave of the great powerful Prosper whose name suggests prosperity and goodness. Henceforward, the magic which Prospero practices is thus good and that of Cycorax, is black and evil. In fact Prospero's magic and knowledge, in my opinion, are nothing more than methods and tools of practicing power on other creatures only for his own benefit and to maintain his place as the dominant at the top of the hierarchy.

If we examined the title of the play in depth, we will find it rich with meaning. The tempest which is the violent force and the chaotic state which Shakespeare has opened his play with is actually his solution and justification to place every thing in its right place. In order for Prospero to regain his rights he sets the world into a state of chaos and enslaves the native creatures that inhabit the island and those who don't obey his orders are severely punished like Caliban and once Ariel the airy creature. So this is Shakespeare's idea about setting stability in the world, it is through chaos we can only reach stability. Actually this ideology is echoed now in what the major colonial powers do in the modern world. They colonize countries claiming that there is no stability in these countries because of their dictatorships, so the most suitable solution to achieve stability and regain the rights is through a TEMPEST or WAR in

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the modern sense, forgetting about the devastations of these wars upon the countries they occupy.

In a nutshell, a post-colonial examination of the different elements of Shakespeare's play The Tempest is a suggested method to read what the lines of the play hide of the complicated relation between two sides of the binary opposition naming, the dominant and the dominated or the colonizer and the colonized. The emphasis in this proposal will be given to the character of Caliban and his relation to Prospero mainly and the other characters of the play generally.

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Bibliography
I. Primary Sources
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Delhi: Rama Brothers Press, 2001.

II. Secondary Sources A. Books

Ashcroft, Bill. The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in PostColonial Literature. London: CRC Press, 1990.

---, and Gareth Griffith. The Post-Colonial Studies Reader. London: CRC Press, 2000.

Gilbert, Helen, and Joanne Tompkins. Post-Colonial Drama: theory, practice, politics. London: Routledge, 1996.

Graff, Gerald, and James Phelan, Eds. The Tempest: A Case Study in Critical Controvery. London: Macmillan, 2000.

Lie, Nadia, Haen, Theo D. Constellation Caliban: Figurations of a Character. Rodopi BV Editions, 1997.

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Murphy, Patrick, Ed. The Tempest: Critical Essays. London: Routledge, 2001. Said, Edward W. Orientalism. London: Vintage Books, 1979.

Schoenberg, Thomas J., and Lawrence J. Trudeau. Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Farmington Hills: Thomson Gale, 2007.

Vaughan, Virginia Mason. Shakespeare's Caliban. London: Cambridge Univ. Perss,1993.

----, The Tempest. London: Cambridge Univ. Perss, 2002.

B. Articles

Gunnin, Steven Thor "Revolution Calling: A Look at the Role of Caliban Within Shakespeare's The Tempest." associatedcontent.com. 20 October 2006. <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/864441/caliban_in_the_tempe st_pg2.html?cat=4 >

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Sell, Benjamin. "Racism and Evil in Shakespeare's the Tempest." associatedcontent.com. 18 August 2005. <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/864442/caliban_in_the_tempe st_pg2.html?cat=4 >

Takaki, Ronald. "The Tempest in the Wilderness: The Racialization of Savagery." Journal of American History 79.3 (Dec. 1992): 892-912

"An Introduction to The Tempest." 123HelpMe.com. 28 May 2009. <http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=16184>.

C. Internet sources
http://www.culturewars.org.uk/2005-01/globe.htm http://www.123helpme.com/preview.asp?id=13529 http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=16184 http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/864441/caliban_in_the_tempes t.html?cat=4

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