Colonialism in "The Tempest"

Paper Summary:

This essay analyzes William Shakespeare's final play, "The Tempest." The essay explores the organic nature of Shakespeare's art and poses a thesis regarding themes of colonization and homogeny in Shakespeare's final work. Art, Drama and Literature all begin as a great artistic tempest, but without a powerful agent like Prospero or Shakespeare and helpful sprite like Ariel or the muse, it would be difficult to tie the artistic tempest into a feasible order. This essay attempts to look at "The Tempest" from a colonial perspective and explain how diverse entities come to merge into one cohesive mass.

From the Paper:

"Somewhere in the shadows of every masterful creation, there lurks a steadfast draftsman with an extraordinary proclivity to build things formerly unimagined. A pivotal moment dividing substance from nonexistence resides at the fundamental core of all things real. In Shakespeare's The Tempest, chaos serves as a facilitator of order. Following Antonio's rebellious usurpation of power, a merciless storm dispels his ambition. Antonio and the subjects of Alonso are left to redefine a gravely ruptured social hierarchy and erect a government philosophy when they find themselves heedlessly discarded on a sparsely inhabited island. Performed in 1611 at the height of British colonization, The Tempest functioned "as a fascinating tale that served as a masquerade for the creation of a new society in America" (Takaki 142). Completed at the end of his career, The Tempest brilliantly epitomizes the organic nature of Shakespeare's art by cultivating his various genres into one adeptly seasoned play."

More papers on Colonialism in "The Tempest":

• Analytical Essay # 111361 : "Metaphors and Ruling in "The Tempest"
• Book Review # 112168 : "Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and Elizabethan Colonialism"
• Analytical Essay # 3054 : "An Analysis of Shakespeare's "The Tempest"

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