Introduction:
Aime
Cesaire Cesaire transforms the characters and transposes the scenes to reveal
Shakespeare’s Prospero as the exploitative European power and Caliban and Ariel
as the exploited natives. Cesaire’s A Tempest is an effective response to
Shakespeare’s The Tempest because he interprets it from the perspective of the
colonized and raises a conflict with Shakespeare as an icon of the literary
canon. Besides that in In The Tempest by William Shakespeare one might argue
that colonialism is a reoccurring theme throughout the play because of the
slave-master relationship between Ariel and Caliban and Prospero.
About Play:
A Tempest is a postcolonial revision of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest
and draws heavily on the original play—the cast of characters is, for
the most part, the same, and the foundation of the plot follows the same
basic premise. Prospero has been exiled and lives on a secluded island,
and he drums up a violent storm to drive his daughter’s ship
ashore. The island, however, is somewhere in the Caribbean, Ariel is a
mulatto slave rather than a sprite, and Caliban is a black slave. A Tempest
focuses on the plight of Ariel and Caliban—the never-ending quest to
gain freedom from Prospero and his rule over the island. Ariel, dutiful
to Prospero, follows all orders given to him and sincerely believes that
Prospero will honor his promise of emancipation.
Caliban, on the other
hand, slights Prospero at every opportunity: upon entering the first
act, Caliban greets Prospero by saying “Uhuru!”, the Swahili word for
“freedom.” Prospero complains that Caliban often speaks in his native
language which Prospero has forbidden. This prompts Caliban to attempt
to claim birthrights to the island, angering Prospero who threatens to
whip Caliban. During their argument, Caliban tells Prospero that he no
longer wants to be called Caliban, “Call me X. That would be best.
Like a
man without a name. Or, to be more precise, a man whose name has been
stolen.” The allusion to Malcolm X cements the aura of cultural
reclamation that serves as the foundational element of A Tempest. Cesaire
has also included the character Eshu who in the play is cast as a black
devil-god. Calling on the Yoruba mythological traditions of West
Africa, Eshu assumes the archetypal role of the trickster and thwarts
Prospero’s power and authority during assemblies.
Near the end of the
play, Prospero sends all the lieutenants off the island to procure a
place in Naples for his daughter Miranda and her husband Ferdinand. When
the fleet begs him to leave, Prospero refuses and claims that the
island cannot stand without him; in the end, only he and Caliban remain.
As Prospero continues to assert his hold on the island, Caliban’s
freedom song can be heard in the background. Thus, Cesaire leaves his
audience to consider the lasting effects of colonialism.
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