William Shakespeare’s The Tempest: The Illusion of Justice
Alexander (Alec) Furrier
Hidden Hypocrisy and Illusory Justice
The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, has three main supernatural developments. Prospero’s tempest storm, the native witch Sycorax and her remaining son Caliban, and the conjurations of the spirit Ariel. All three supernatural events serve to create a confusing and violent plot that highlights the hypocrisy of Prospero’s means, the severity of supernatural tools, and the illusory concept of justice which is left to the power of the audience.
The romantic comedy starts in media res. Prospero, who is the main character and a powerful sorcerer, conjures a violent, tempest storm to initiate his hypocritical sense of justice. The powerful storm casts Prospero’s brother, the king of Italy, and his men overboard their ship. Leaving them stranded on Prospero’s island territory, they are left fearing the death of their lost prince Ferdinand. The book starts by leaving the reader confused, and its characters in shambles. The tempest storm acts as a metaphor for Prospero’s control of the plot through the suffering and confusion of others. Prospero has the knowledge to summon a storm because of his education in Italy, which consisted of many years of library study. His magic is acknowledged by the characters. “If by your art, my dearest father, you have Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.” (I.i.1) Therefore the supernatural is accepted as a marvelous mode by the audience. The source of his magical power, as well as the marvelous mode, is displayed through the symbol of his books. Prospero’s books symbolize power through knowledge, which is a theme throughout the play. Ironically, his books were the cause of his betrayal and his subsequent downfall from Dukedom. “I, thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated To closeness and the bettering of my mind… in my false brother awaked an evil nature.” (I.ii.88–97). Knowledge is power, and Prospero is betrayed by his brother because of his complete focus on esoteric studies. Prospero’s following actions highlight his hypocrisy with regard to Alonso. As Alonso deceived him, so did he deceive Alonso. Yet, Prospero still considers himself vengefully just while using his mystic power to sow violence and confusion among his brother and the kingsmen. Prospero purposefully hides and bends the truth in his scheme to manipulate The King and his men, exemplifying his hypocritical means to control others for the sake of power and success. “His [Prospero’s] art is of such power, It would control my dam’s god, Setebos, And make a vassal of him. (I.ii.) With his powerful knowledge, Prospero orchestrates the royals’ suffering to fulfill his hypocritical cause to avenge his betrayal and to regain his political power through his daughter’s betrothal to Ferdinand. His “justified” means of manipulation are not as valiant as they appear on the surface. Prospero’s individual actions towards less knowledgeable characters are hypocritical when compared to his initial betrayal because they cause much more suffering, confusion, and violence.
The royals originated from Italy, and when awaking on the island, note the “poor” environment of the island as part of their suffering. Within this environment, there is a sole native, Caliban who might disagree with their opinion. Caliban’s role in the play is to provide contrast for men’s own monstrosity, which Prospero’s actions exemplify through his cruel treatment of others below his rank. As his name is an anagram for a cannibal, Caliban represents the poorness and savagery of the play. Poor in the sense that he lacks knowledge, and savage in the sense that he appears ugly from other characters' point of view. “Were I in England now, as once I was, and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver. There would this monster make a man.” (II.ii.). Here, one of the kingsmen describes Caliban as comparable to a fish. Whose ugliness could be sold for profit? Monstrosity and its human correspondence are one of the major themes throughout the book. Caliban, Prospero’s slave, exemplifies this theme. Near the beginning of the play, Prospero tries to remove disobedience from his slave by teaching Caliban the language. However, Caliban’s monstrosity shines through in his rebellion against his master. “You taught me language, and my profit on’t. Is I know how to curse. The red plague rid you, for learning me your language!” (I.ii.366–368). The teaching of language to Caliban, who is an inferior character with respect to knowledge, highlights the master-slave motif throughout the book. As a metaphor for power, language is associated with the supernatural magic that only Prospero contains. Despite his power to do otherwise, Prospero responds to his slave’s rebellious nature with mental savagery of his own, “If thou neglect’st or dost unwillingly What I command, I’ll rack thee with old cramps, Fill all thy bones with aches, make thee roar That beasts shall tremble at thy din.” (I.ii). Prospero stoops to Caliban's level by implementing violent spirits to make him obey. Prospero never assaults his slave physically, so his actions seem just, however when examining the dynamic it becomes clear that his treatment of Caliban is hypocritical. In this case, Caliban directly represents Prospero’s own monstrosity. Through Caliban, Shakespeare contrasts Prospero’s violent means with his deceptive ones.
As the plot progresses, Caliban seems less like a monster and more like a human. His mother, “the foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envy..” (I.ii.260) was a powerful witch until the “savior” Prospero conquered and the Island and her matriarchal power. Sycorax is the only other supernatural-wielding character in the play but has since passed away and was labeled evil by Prospero. However, Prospero also used cruel means to subjugate the island’s literal (Sycorax) and symbolic (Miranda’s virtue) matriarchal power. By enslaving Caliban, through the leverage of knowledge, he shows his actions are selfish. If he was selfless, he could easily share his knowledge and power with others and prevent suffering. He even manipulates his own daughter, Miranda, albeit for her own good, through the hiding of knowledge. His overarching results of success and reunitement overshadow his selfish, violent means of manipulation. An identical act of evil was made by Sycorax, who enslaved Ariel before the plot commencement. Unlike Prospero, her identical act was considered unjust because there was no success associated with the act. The supposed distinction between wicked Sycorax and wise Prospero continues to thin as the plot unravels. This dynamic between the only two supernatural characters acts as a metaphor for the thinning of Prospero’s own sense of justice. The power and knowledge struggle between Sycorax’s son and Prospero, in particular, is an excellent example of how the supernatural is used as a violent tool by Prospero to achieve his own subjective, if not hypocritical, definition of justice.
When Prospero’s magic causes pain and suffering for Caliban, the audience starts to see, through his parallel storyline, Prospero’s hypocrisy in his vendetta against his traitorous brother. Propero was immorally betrayed by his brother. However, when we examine his actions, it is definite that Prospero employs similar means to get his revenge. When Prospero sends his spirit Ariel to project illusions, he confuses and manipulates the king and Alonso. “You fools! …The elements of whom your swords are tempered may as well wound the loud winds, or with bemocked-at stabs kill the still-closing waters…” (III.iii.). Although Ariel is projecting these spirits, Prospero’s knowledge is still the main source of these supernatural illusions that makes fools of Alonso and the other men. Deception of the King and the King’s son is an example of Prospero’s hypocritical means through his manipulation of knowledge. Just like the projections he creates, Prospero’s sense of justice is illusory. The symbol of power and knowledge in book form is always hidden from other characters within the play. With Prospero’s final monologue, Shakespeare transcends his own book, by breaking the 4th wall in order to guide the audience’s awareness towards their own power. “Now my charms are all o’erthrown, And what strength I have’s mine own, Which is most faint. Now, ’tis true, I must be here confined by you, … As you from crimes would pardoned be, Let your indulgence set me free.” (Epilogue). By addressing the audience with this famous monologue, Shakespeare alludes that the reader is the true source of both Prospero’s supernatural power and the author’s power. Therefore, the audience has the power to decide if Prospero’s means were justified. When justice becomes an illusionary, transcended concept, the true power of interpretation is left in the eye of the beholder.
In the objectified general case, Prospero is hypocritical with regard to Canibal and his brother Antonio because he causes more suffering than they do. The supernatural serves as a violent manipulative tool to ensure Prospero’s success in his plans. This manipulation is negative on a small scale because it causes the characters in the play to suffer. However, Prospero may be justified on a large scale because he orchestrates the reunion and forgiveness of all characters. Prospero has all the knowledge and power and therefore is essentially the main author of the entire plot. This allows the audience to easily overlook his violent means and deceptive nature in order to see the supernatural as the main tool for character suffrage and plot progression. Just like the projections he summons, his conjured sense of justice is also illusory.
