The Tempest: Interpretations

• Different interpretations of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" exist, each focusing on distinct themes and perspectives.

Christian Reading

• Focuses on Christian symbolism within the text.
• Common Christian themes include sin, punishment, repentance, forgiveness, salvation, grace, and heaven.
• Prospero is viewed as both a sinner and a God-like figure who punishes others for their sins.
• Prospero's abandonment of vengeance is seen as embracing virtue, leading him towards repentance and facilitating Ferdinand and Miranda's marriage.
• Prospero giving up magic symbolizes forsaking sin, aligning with Christian values.
• Alludes to mortality and the pursuit of a "good death."
• Prospero references death, suggesting thoughts of purgatory, hell, and heaven.
• Ferdinand and Miranda on the island echo Adam and Eve, with Ferdinand taking on a God-like role.

Feminist Reading

• Explores power imbalances between genders.
• Focuses on the representation of women in literature and challenges gender stereotypes.
• Studies the connection between power, language, and societal norms.
• Claribel's marriage serves a political alliance with the King of Tunis.
• Miranda's virginity symbolizes her power, highlighting the idea of women being traded by men.
• Caliban's intentions toward Miranda reinforce the notion of women as objects.
• Stephano's song about "Kate" suggests female promiscuity, linking to Sycorax as "the other”.
• The play implies that women are viewed as either virgins or whores.
• Ferdinand assesses women based on "defects" during his courtship of Miranda.
• Prospero's act of putting Miranda to sleep is interpreted as silencing women.
• Miranda expresses her sexuality openly, challenging traditional views.
• Some performances portray Miranda as empowered, embracing her sexuality.
• Miranda's marriage represents restoration of patriarchal power structures. .
• Miranda’s limited knowledge of the characters on the island makes her appear naive and unaware.
• Miranda plays chess with Ferdinand and allows him to win, reinforcing male dominance.

Post Colonial Readings

• Focuses on how colonizing cultures distort and erase the identities of the colonized.
• Explores racial identity, the concept of "the other," and cultural diversity.
• Modern audiences tend to sympathize with Caliban, reflecting a negative view of exploitation.
• Caliban's use of verse when describing the island reveals his refined sensibilities.
• Caliban learns that power is worthless before Prospero does.
• Caliban seeks change and "grace," positioning him as a protagonist.
• Prospero and Miranda label Caliban as a monster, reflecting a colonial perspective.
• Caliban is self-aware, seeking vengeance against Prospero while acknowledging his own enslavement.

Biographical Reading

• Relates the play to Shakespeare's life and career, focusing on metatheater.
• Prospero's line, "My charms are overthrown," mirrors Shakespeare's farewell to the stage.
• Prospero reflects Shakespeare himself.
• Shakespeare uses magic to create drama, mirroring Prospero's use of magic for drama and vengeance.
• Prospero is the director of his own circumstances, as seen in the play within the play during the masque.
• The play reminds the audience that everything is an illusion.
• The Epilogue implies that Shakespeare embodies Prospero, and the audience’s applause creates a frame narrative.

Psychological Reading

• Focuses on unspoken desires and internal conflicts.
• Ariel and Caliban represent opposing aspects of Prospero's psyche.
• Ariel embodies freedom and goodness, while Caliban embodies rage, anger, power, and vengeance.
• The play explores the concept of self, including the loss and rebuilding of identity.
• Prospero loses himself through magic, later realizing the importance of his Milan identity.
• Miranda’s repressed sexual desires are released when she meets Ferdinand.
• A conflict arises between Miranda's desires and the importance of preserving her virginity.
• The desire for power leads to the loss of self, seen in the conflict between Prospero and Antonio.

Marxist Interpretations

• Focuses on the economic inequality at the heart of all societal divisions.
• Inequality alienates individuals from themselves and each other.
• Family divisions stem from economic motivations, Claribel’s marriage serves economic union.
• Women's virginity is treated as a "jewel," and women are used as commodities to gain money.
• Brothers fight for economic power to become king.
• Obtaining wealth is the result of obtaining power.
• Prospero uses Miranda to secure a beneficial marriage with Alonso's son, creating an alliance.
• The pursuit of money damages genuine relationships.
• Caliban is treated as a slave - but finds himself in the heart of the island again.

Different Interpretations of The Tempest in the Media

• BBC Shakespeare (1980): Prospero is portrayed as old, emphasizing mortality. Ariel is effeminate and youthful, Caliban as hairy, old, working class.
• Julie Taymor Version Film (2010): Prospero is Prospera, gender-bending, with Caliban played by an African male.
• The Globe Production (2013): The open-air setting creates a spectacle element with dramatic comedy.
• Simon Russel Beale Production (2014): Set indoors using computer-generated images to creates magical spectacle on the carcass of a ship. Ariel is viewed as a spirit whose entrapment is more sympathetic.

Explores different perspectives on Shakespeare's 'The Tempest,' including Christian and feminist readings. The Christian analysis delves into themes of sin, forgiveness, and salvation. The feminist perspective focuses on gender power dynamics within the play.