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Essay: A Deeper Look at Love in Shakespeare’s The Tempest: Feminist Perspectives from the 17th Century

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  • Published: 1 April 2019*
  • Last Modified: 23 July 2024
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  • Tags: The Tempest essays

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Feminism has been a prominent movement in the 21st century with people advocating it more than ever. Women are now believed to have the same stature as that of men. In most parts of the world, women can now get jobs that used to seem suitable for only men. In the 17th century however, women were not looked at as equal to men. This can especially be seen in Shakespeare’s plays. Not only were most of his plays mainly male roles, but even when acted out on stage, women’s roles were often played by men with high voices, dressed in feminine clothing. In The Tempest, Miranda was the only female role, and she plays a huge part throughout the play, contributing to one of the biggest themes of The Tempest, that is romance. It is often said, “it’s easy to miss something you’re not looking for.” In The Tempest, we see Ferdinand’s love for Miranda as any other romance. Of course, in reality, or rather, in our current society, witchcraft is not used for the benefit of romance, which makes Shakespeare’s play unique to us readers. But what was the true meaning of love in Shakespeare’s time? There is more to love than what appears to be two people showing interest in each other and caring for each other. While Prospero may have planned their meeting and his magic may have amplified the love he has for her, it is easy to miss the deeper ideas of love that Shakespeare portrays in The Tempest. It appears as if Shakespeare is presenting us with true love between Ferdinand and Miranda through the works of Prospero’s magic, however, when analyzed intensively, it shows the reality of women being condescended and manipulated by men especially in the 17th century.  

There are only a few scenes shared by Miranda and Prospero in The Tempest and all of them depict how in love they were with one another. In their first meet, Miranda sees Ferdinand for the first time and believes he is a spirit. Miranda tells Prospero in awe, “I might call him / A thing divine, for nothing natural / I ever saw so noble” (I.ii.415-417). Upon them talking, it appears as if it were love at first sight for both him and her. When Ferdinand sees Miranda, he is mesmerized by her and assumes she is a goddess when he looks at her, saying, “Most sure, the goddess / On whom these airs attend!” (I.ii.419-420). Only after making that assumption he proceeds to ask her if she is in fact a maiden or goddess. It is almost like he was so taken aback by her beauty that he made such a glorified remark about her – as if he were worshipping her.

The next time they meet, we can observe how Miranda is willing to do anything for Ferdinand, even to carry heavy logs. In amazement of her name and beauty, Ferdinand says:

Admired Miranda!

Indeed the top of admiration, worth

What’s dearest to the world! Full many a lady

I have eyed with best regard, and many a time

Th’ harmony of their tongues hath into bondage

Brought my too diligent ear. For several virtues

Have I liked several women, never any

With so full soul but some defect in her

Did quarrel with the noblest grace she owed,

And put it to the foil. But you, O you,

So perfect and so peerless, are created

Of every creature’s best. (III.i.39-48)

Ferdinand also seems to emphasizes on the fact that he has never met or liked someone as perfect as her. At the end of the play, we see Ferdinand and Miranda play a game of chess and their conversation goes:

MIRANDA. Sweet lord, you play me false.

FERDINAND. No, my dearest love,

I would not for the world.

MIRANDA. Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle,

And I would call it fair play.

What we can conclude at first by this scene, is that their love is so strong that even if he were to cheat her, she would not care because that’s how much love she has for him. Shakespeare’s idea of incorporating chess at this point appears to solidify their love for one another and we can see that as per their conversation and how they express their thoughts about the other.

However, we seem to overlook the symbolisms presented by Shakespeare in all of this scenes. Shakespeare’s plays were mainly of three genres; comedies, tragedies and histories. The Tempest was Shakespeare’s last play and classified under the genre of romantic comedy. Most of his successful plays were mainly tragedies that had unhappy endings. On the contrary, one of the very few that consisted of a tragedy but had a happy ending was The Tempest. The Tempest has what most people would call a ‘typical ending’ where the boy falls in love with the girl after a tragic event, everything goes according to plan, and all is well in the end. In “The Tempest as Romance and Anti-Romance,” Richard Hillman argues similarly that “[the] death-threatening storm in The Tempest, followed as it is by the revelation of Prospero's control, might seem similarly expansionary; certainly it adds a new layer of dramatic complication.” But we are merely “introduced to 'the classic pattern of romance, where apparent disaster is metamorphosed into serenity and reunion’ assumes that we are just as dependent as Miranda upon Prospero's assurance that 'There's no harm done' (I.ii.15).” (Hillman 142)

Nevertheless, what most of us fail to analyze in their first meet, is that after many questions, Ferdinand follows with “How I may bear me here. My prime request, / Which I do last pronounce, is (O you wonder!) / If you be maid or no.” (I.ii.422-424). In other words, one of his biggest concerns is if she is a virgin or not. Is it not immoral or inappropriate to ask a woman such a question? Even more so, at the first meet? Had she asked him the same question, it would have most likely become a huge dispute. It is as if it is demeaning for a woman to ask a man such a question but not vice versa. Had she said she was not, his enthrallment would have probably vanished that instant, which would only prove that all he cared about was her chastity. In the 17th century, it is apparent that women had to succumb to the unseemly mannerisms of men, such as Ferdinand, and comply by answering these impetuous questions but were not allowed the same privilege as that of men.

When Ferdinand claims he has never met anyone as perfect as Miranda, he remarks, “…never any / With so full soul but some defect in her / Did quarrel with the noblest grace she owed, / And put it to the foil.” (III.i.39-48) His compliment to her is not much of a compliment but instead can be seen as more of a disrespectful opinion directed towards the other women he has laid eyes on, since his implications mean that the smallest qualities of these women that were not to his liking made them imperfect in his eyes. Patently, in his opinion, these women who were not flawless were not worthy of him.

Chess may have appeared to solidify the love between Ferdinand and Miranda but it is definitely not an ideal game when looked into its history. The main idea of chess is to capture the opponent’s pieces which here can be represented as conquering another kingdom. In The Tempest, Prospero’s plan for Ferdinand and Miranda to fall in love, was to regain his dukedom through revenge against his enemies. But later on, upon hearing of their sufferings, he decided to reconcile with them. Therefore, playing a game of chess contradicts the idea of reconciliation and forgiveness or to requite peace. In “The Game of Politics: Catherine de' Medici and Chess” by Susan Broomhall, Broomhall writes that “chess was more than a game to contemporaries. Its play provided important political training about statecraft, social hierarchies, and warfare.” (105) The queen is most powerful piece on the chess board, but the king is the most important piece. The idea that queen has to protect the king embraces the romance of Miranda and Ferdinand, in the sense that the queen, being Miranda, will do anything to protect her king, Ferdinand. However, this also implies once again, that Ferdinand is superior to Miranda and what is demanded of her is to bow down to him and to be prepared to sacrifice anything for him. Women were not recognized as worthy enough since in chess only the king has to be protected. “Etienne Pasquier… specified that the queen piece should rather be termed “lady” because “nothing has so much authority over kings…” (Broomhall 115)

In the game of chess, we control the movement of the pieces on the board which can be looked at as relation to how Prospero controlled Miranda in order to satisfy his own agendas. This in fact was the symbolism Shakespeare intended when he included chess in his play- how Prospero controlled everything like the pieces on a chess board. However, it contradicts not only the love between Ferdinand and Miranda, but also Prospero’s intentions of what seems to be him trying to set his daughter up with the best or most appropriate man possible. “Not only does it show up the practical incompatibility of…royal matrimony, but…men as manipulators who virtually extinguish their daughters' wills and personalities. (Shakespeare presents Prospero's pawns as such, surely, when Prospero reveals his richly symbolic chess-tableau.)” (Hillman 149)

Of the many views of chess in the 16th century, in 1551, a Bolognese gentleman, Innocentio Ringhieri “insisted that his moral advice and difficult philosophical challenges were particularly suitable for women and that critics ‘do a great injustice to the female sex, if they do not believe that among them can be found some who are very ingenious, expert, and suited to clarify other difficult matters.’ ”(Broomhall 115) Women were looked down upon in the 16th century and this was no different in the time that Shakespeare wrote The Tempest.

Women had not much option for free will in the 17th century. Most of their actions were dictated to them by the men they were surrounded by. Evidently, we can observe the same between Ferdinand and Miranda. When we see Miranda being the only female role, our first thought was that she would stand out. But now we see the arcane ideas of love that Shakespeare had. So, what is the meaning of love? Love includes not being belittled by the other and being seen as equal, aside from being interested and caring for that person. Shakespeare’s ideas of love when looked upon on the surface seems like what true love looks like, but when we look at it deeper, it is clear that this is not an ideal love. We would be just as naïve as Miranda if we believed that this idea of love that Shakespeare has presented in The Tempest is truly works of magic like what Prospero has seemed to have made happened, when in reality, their love only works out because Miranda is innocent and blind to Ferdinand’s imperious nature.

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