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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page paper showing the prevalence of the motif of the self-serving father in Shakespeare's plays. It particularly examines Prospero from The Tempest, Lord Capulet from Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet's two fathers from Hamlet. Bibliography lists one source.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TS14_Tempest2.doc
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
of Shakespeares plays feature fathers predominantly is not remarkable. What is remarkable, however, is how many of these fathers are self-serving, sacrificing their childrens wishes, freedom, or sometimes even lives
in order to pursue their own desires. This paper will examine three examples of the selfish father motif in Shakespeare: Prospero from The Tempest, Lord Capulet from Romeo and Juliet,
and Hamlets two fathers from Hamlet. Much attention has been given recently to a reading of Shakespeares Tempest as a manifesto of political imperialism, primarily because of its benign assumption
that Prospero, the magician, has every right in the world to rule his island completely, manipulating people and events as if they had no will of their own. It is
easy to see at least the doctrine of imperialism in the Tempest itself; consider how the population of Prosperos island breaks down into ruling class and subject class, and how
total is Prosperos manipulation of those subjects. But little heed has been paid to the equally interesting subject of Prosperos benevolent but despotic relationship to his daughter Miranda. Although
we are repeatedly assured of his kindness, he is not presented this way. Even in the first scene where we meet him, he seems egotistical, incessantly stopping in his story
to ask whether Miranda is listening to him when it seems obvious that she is. This seems like a control mechanism rather than a gentle reminder to pay attention to
a story that directly affects her. He says how much he loves her and how important she is to him -- "a cherubin/ Thou wast that did preserve me" (I,
ii, 153-54), but nonetheless, he does not tell her the full story; she does not know the extent to which he rules the island by force. Miranda herself seems to
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