Shakespeares The Tempest as a Microcosm of Society Essay -- Shakespea

The Tempest as Microcosm of Society The Tempest is one of Shakespeares nigh universal plays and, not coincident anyy, is very much concerned with homo behaviour and emotion. As John Wilders observes in The lost(p) Garden, Prosperos island is what the sociologists call a model of valet society. Its cast of characters allows Shakespeare to portray in microcosm nearly all the basic, fundamental social sexual relationships those of a ruler to his territory, a governor to his subjects, a father to his child, masters to servants, male to female, and the rational to the irrational within the benevolent microcosm itself (capital of the United Kingdom Macmillan Press Ltd., 1978, 127). Prospero himself is an observer of and experimenter with human behavior he saw human constitution at its worst when his brother usurped his dukedom and sent Prospero and Miranda score to almost certain death he has tried to nurture Calibans human half and to teach the monster acceptable human take on he demonstrates a working knowledge of reverse psychology when he maneuvers his daughter into love with Ferdinand and, finally, he examines his own behavior and emotions in relation to his enemies, relatives, and friends. Prospero and the play ask two questions Is behavior such an Antonios the basic nature of human creations and, if so, can nurture improve upon nature? In raw terms, the play struggles with the ever-present debate over the impact of heredity and environment. His world-class observations--of Antonios and Alonsos treachery--were inadvertent and even unexpected however, they prompted Prospero to shift the focus of his studies from the wide arts to human behavior. Prospero has devoted himself to gaining knowledge and, as he admits to Miranda, unheeded h... ...the Ariel and the Caliban of which his ownand ournature consists (Wilders, New Prefaces to Shakespeare, 273) he has found the answer to the quandary of nature vs. nurture in his own psyche, and with this know ledge he returns to the human society of Milan a more balanced, more complete human being than when he left it. Works Cited and Consulted Hirst, David L. The Tempest Text and Performance London Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1984. Rowman and Littlefield Manchester University Press, 1980. Shakespeare, William Measure for Measure 3.1.148 The Riverside Shakespeare, ed. G. Blakemore Evans Boston Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974. Callaghan, Dympna William Shakespeare Oxford Basil Blackwell, 1986. Wilders, John The Lost Garden London Macmillan Press Ltd., 1978. Wilders, New Prefaces to Shakespeare Oxford Basil Blackwell, 1988.