Prospero's Daughter

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Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, whose usurping brother, Antonio, had put him (with his three-year-old daughter, Miranda) to sea on a "rotten carcass" of a boat to die, twelve years before the play begins. Prospero and Miranda had survived and found exile on a small island. He has learned sorcery from books, and uses it while on the island to protect Miranda and control the other characters. Sir John Gielgud in four BBC Radio productions: 1933 (on the BBC National Programme), 1948 (on the BBC Home Service), 1953 and 1989 (on the BBC World Service). Trinidadian-American author Elizabeth Nunez’s novel Prospero's Daughter (2006) is a loose retelling of William Shakespeare's The Tempest, transplanting the action to a leper colony off the coast of the Caribbean island of Trinidad. It tells the story of fifteen-year-old English girl Virginia whose father files a false rape allegation against the mixed-race boy she loves. Orgel, Stephen (1984). "Prospero's Wife". Representations. 8 (October): 1–13. doi: 10.1525/rep.1984.8.1.99p00753.

Sounds simple? Not quite! For this spineless, indeed pathetic, inspector is forced to face the colonial attitudes of innocence by superior racial identity, and assumption of guilt of any woman violated sexually in word or deed. Indeed, the British authorities blatantly deny that the colonial residents may be just as equal in intelligence as any white person. As in so many other British-occupied territories, the prevailing government personnel and residents appear surprised when educated natives begin intelligently and potently rebelling. What Prospero is trying to do with magic is essential to The Tempest; it is the unity of action. It is referred to it as Prospero's project in act two when Ariel stops an attempted assassination:The Tempest is a play created in a male dominated culture and society, a gender imbalance the play explores metaphorically by having only one major female role, Miranda. Miranda is fifteen, intelligent, naive, and beautiful. The only humans she has ever encountered in her life are male. Prospero sees himself as her primary teacher, and asks if she can remember a time before they arrived to the island—he assumes that she cannot. When Miranda has a memory of "four or five women" tending to her younger self (1.2.44–47), it disturbs Prospero, who prefers to portray himself as her only teacher, and the absolute source of her own history—anything before his teachings in Miranda's mind should be a dark "abysm", according to him. (1.2.48–50) The "four or five women" Miranda remembers may symbolize the young girl's desire for something other than only men. [12] [73] Michel de Montaigne's essay "Of the Caniballes" is considered a source for Gonzalo's utopian speculations in Act II, scene 1, and possibly for other lines that refer to differences between cultures. [20]

Psychoanalytic interpretations have proved more difficult to depict on stage. [111] Gerald Freedman's production at the American Shakespeare Theatre in 1979 and Ron Daniels' Royal Shakespeare Company production in 1982 both attempted to depict Ariel and Caliban as opposing aspects of Prospero's psyche. However neither was regarded as wholly successful: Shakespeare Quarterly, reviewing Freedman's production, commented, "Mr. Freedman did nothing on stage to make such a notion clear to any audience that had not heard of it before." [113] [114] Fantasy writer Neil Gaiman based a story on the play in one issue (the final issue) [165] of his comics series The Sandman. The comic stands as a sequel to the earlier Midsummer Night's Dream issue. [166] This issue follows Shakespeare over a period of several months as he writes the play, which is named as his last solo project, as the final part of his bargain with the Dream King to write two plays celebrating dreams. The story draws many parallels between the characters and events in the play and Shakespeare's life and family relationships at the time. It is hinted that he based Miranda on his daughter Judith Shakespeare and Caliban on her suitor Thomas Quiney. [ citation needed] Shakespeare, William; Frye, Northrup, editor. (1959). The Tempest. Pelican. pp. 1–10. ISBN 978-0-14-071415-9 So, Ariel saved everybody. Including Ferdinand, Alonso’s son, who is lured towards Prospero and Miranda! The kids fall instantly in love!Carey-Webb, Allen (1993). "Shakespeare for the 1990s: A Multicultural Tempest". The English Journal. National Council of Teachers of English. 82 (4): 30–35. doi: 10.2307/820844. ISSN 0013-8274. JSTOR 820844. OCLC 1325886.