Prospero acknowledges Caliban

Max Porter Zasada

Professor Little called attention to how The Tempest's name is based on something which we assume is natural, but turns out to be artifice. Here Shakespeare is pushing the limits of theater by exploding the illusion it creates. Theater that draws the audience in is, in The Tempest, then revealed to be a simple series of tricks by a conjurer like Prospero, simply for his own betterment (or PROSPERity). It is as if, at the end of his career, Shakespeare is telling his audience look and see how he has so simply tricked them into believing his plays so he could make a profit.
However, it goes much deeper when we think about the desire of human beings to break through the artifice to something real. Despite the flat characters which can be so easily fabricated that fill up this play, there's a complex and serious backstory which is pointedly ignored. We learn that Prospero killed Sycorax, then enslaved her son, Caliban, we learn of this complicated treaty that Prospero's brother worked out as a result of his taking the throne from the uninterested Prospero, and these would normally make us question the morality of Prospero's retaking the throne. However, the flow of the play will not allow this question to come up, making a point of how the play must conform to the illogical desires of the audience.

Max Porter Zasada
TA Ian Hoch