Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender in the Tempest

ENG 225 C (De) Constructing the Other Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender in The Tempest In Shakespeares play, ‘The Tempest’, the characters of Prospero and Caliban, represent two different extremes on the social spectrum: the ruler, and the ruled. Their positions on the social hierarchy are largely due to the fact that Caliban responds almost wholly to passions, feelings of pleasure; his senses, while Prospero is ruled more by his intellect and self-discipline; his mind. Within ‘The Tempest’ there are obvious social implications regarding this social hierarchy, with the representations of characters such as Caliban and Prospero. During Shakespeares time social classification was much more rigid than today and some members†¦show more content†¦Essentially Prospero lands on Caliban’s island, takes away everything he has, and then forces him to become his slave proclaiming he saved him from his witch mother. This is yet another perfect example of how Prospero displays the obvious social hierarchy and is also the typical colonizer . These actions and consequent reasoning’s are also prime examples of Prospero’s horrible tyrannical ways from the beginning of the play. Prospero and Caliban’s relationship is strained from the beginning of the play when Prospero’s strong authoritative beliefs begin to surface. Caliban has the right of ownership of the island; however, Prospero firmly believes in the superiority of the white European over the half-devil islander. While this puts a strain on their relationship from the start, the boiling point came when Caliban attempts to rape Miranda, Prospero’s daughter. Even after attempting to rape Miranda, Caliban was brutally honest in not denying his malicious intent. â€Å"O ho, O ho! Would’t had been done!/ Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled else/ This isle with Calibans† (I.2.349-51). In response to Caliban’s attempted rape and his obvious total lack of remorse for it, Prospero states, â€Å"I have used thee / wit h humane care, and lodge thee/ In mine own cell till thou didst seek to violate / The honor of my child† (I.2.345-8). Prospero recounts here that he has cared forShow MoreRelatedWomen Were Birds And Unspeakable Things By Laurie Penny1407 Words   |  6 PagesDespite this commonality, the voice, stories, and themes are different and unique. Both touch on similar ideas, but the tone the authors take on are distinctive. Unspeakable Things, a novel by Laurie Penny, abrasively addresses the oppression of gender in society through the lens of girls, boys, sex, the Internet, and love and intimacy. This intersectional analysis has an overlay of the impact of neoliberalism, what Penny describes as the â€Å"attempt to reorganize society and the state on the basis