Revenge in *The Tempest* and *Hag-Seed*

Revenge and Vengeance in The Tempest

• The Tempest explores revenge and vengeance, reflecting Jacobean views on justice, power, and morality.
• 17th-century Christian belief saw revenge as defying God, advocating forgiveness.
• Renaissance humanism valued reason and moral growth, complicating the idea of revenge.
• Prospero uses magic to avenge himself on Antonio and Alonso.
• Prospero is merciless when he says Alonso is "bereft" of his son, dooming him to "ling'ring perdition."
• Prospero's staff symbolizes his power for destruction and reconciliation.
• Prospero evolves, choosing virtue over vengeance: "The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance."
• Prospero gives up his magic, breaking his staff and burying it.
• By foregoing revenge, Prospero aligns with humanism and Christian redemption.

Revenge and Vengeance in Hag-Seed

• Hag-Seed adapts revenge themes to a modern, psychological context.
• Felix mirrors Prospero's desire for revenge, but the modern setting enables deeper exploration of its effects.
• Felix's exile resembles Prospero's, driven by resentment: "He wanted revenge. He longed for it. He daydreamed about it. Tony and Sal must suffer.”
• Felix's payback planning mirrors Prospero's manipulation, but shows emotional stagnation.
• Staging The Tempest in prison leads to Felix's self-awareness and catharsis.
• Felix shifts from identifying with Prospero's vengeance to recognizing the need for release: "What has he been thinking—keeping her tethered to him all this time?”
• The play within a play highlights Felix's psychological change, as he accepts letting go: "It’s time to let go, to release them."
• Atwood emphasizes revenge as a psychological burden to be overcome.

Empowerment and Disempowerment in The Tempest

• The Tempest portrays empowerment and disempowerment through the Great Chain of Being (divine hierarchy) and Renaissance Humanism (individual agency).
• The opening storm disrupts the social order, as the Boatswain challenges the nobles: "What cares these roarers for the name of king?”
• The storm suggests nature ignores social rank, challenging beliefs in predetermination.
• Prospero reinforces power structures despite being a victim of usurpation.
• Prospero oppresses Ariel and Caliban.
• Prospero threatens Ariel: "If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak / And peg thee in his knotty entrails" showing his control.
• Prospero's treatment of Caliban reflects colonial anxieties, justifying subjugation.
• Prospero dehumanizes Caliban: "A devil, a born devil, on whose nature / Nurture can never stick."
• Gonzalo's utopian vision echoes Montaigne, critiquing colonial power.
• Ariel shows more empathy than Prospero.
• Ariel's compassion contrasts with Prospero's initial nature: "If you now beheld them, your affections / Would become tender."
• True empowerment comes from empathy, not dominance.

Empowerment and Disempowerment in Hag-Seed

• Hag-Seed adapts the themes of power to a world shaped by institutions and psychological states.
• The novel uses 21st-century perspectives to critique colonialism and new systems of control.
• Felix is disempowered by ambition and betrayal: “His enemies had been so sneaky. They’d pulled it off so effectively. He’d never seen it coming.”
• Felix's disempowerment: “He barely recognized himself. Was he really such a failure?”
• Disempowerment reflects internalized defeat within professional hierarchies.
• Leggs, a prisoner, parallels Caliban, as he lacks agency within the judicial system.
• Leggs challenges imposed identities: “Why’s he got to suffer so much? Why’s he enslaved?”
• Leggs questions echo Gonzalo's challenge to colonial hierarchies.
• The prison system reinforces systemic disempowerment while claiming rehabilitation.
• Hag-Seed shows power shifts with embedded patterns of dominance.