The Tempest – Through the Lens of Will and GreenblattIn discussions of The Tempest, one controversial issue has been literatures authority and whether or not critics and politicians take away that control. On one hand, George Will argues that critics hinder the average reader and playgoer from being able to fully understand a piece of literature. On the other hand, Stephen Greenblatt contends that relating literature to history and different time periods should not affect the reader but instead help expand their knowledge. However, my own view is a combination of both; some critical and political stances can cause confusion to the average reader, but in that case the reader should just ignore those claims. Despite Wills argument, most of the time, the relations made by critics, or other academia, make it much easier to analyze the text of a piece of literature, especially that of Shakespeare.
Newsweek columnist George Will strongly argues that reinterpreting literature and tying it to other theories makes it all but possible to understand. Though he claims to be speaking for himself, Will indirectly defends the average reader and playgoer. He believes that having critics or academic advisory try to relate literature to things like feminism and colonialism leaves the reader bewildered as to what the text and story line are really trying to say. Wills frustration with the issue pushes him to insist that “by ‘deconstructing, or politically decoding, or otherwise attacking the meaning of literary works, critics strip literature of its authority” (Will, 112). Literature has the power to make a statement or explain an event in its own manner and style without having to follow any rules or guidelines. Here Will is arguing that when critics make accusations concerning a pieces intentions, they deny that literature of its natural powers. There is much logic to Wills position, however to what extent this happens is questionable.
Every once in a while I come across a situation in which Wills claim makes complete sense. After reading Shakespeares The Tempest, I though I had a decent understanding of the plot and the characters. However, after hearing a discussion between academia about the character Caliban and the significance of his ethnic background, things became rather ambiguous. These Shakespeare commentators made relations between Caliban and his ethnicity that Shakespeare had probably never even thought of himself. In the play, Prospero reveals “This damned witch Sycorax, for mischiefs manifold and sorceries terrible to enter human hearing, from Argier, thou knowst, was banished” (Shakespear 34). In other words, Sycorax, Calibans Mother, was kicked out of Algiers, an African country, for witchcraft. Later in the play, Caliban himself claims “this islands mine, by Sycorax my mother, which thou takest from me” (Shakespeare 42). In translation Caliban is telling Prospero that his mother
s in Algiers is only an abomination, and the goddess of his land is nothing but another human invention. So Sycorax is saying, he’s being robbed of his mother’s home and she must be a whore, since she is an African race. So Sycorax tells Prospero to leave and that should he not, if he would not do so, then all his magic can have ended too. Sycorax, when they reach the coast of Africa, has given Caliban a necklace which he claims to have lost in time (as does Caliban’s daughter) before the storm of storms of the past, and his son Caliban’s mother is going to suffer from her own magic. Caliban himself is accused of witchcraft, in his own play but of being a wizard, as he has a spell in common with Caliban. Sycorax’ answer to these criticisms is, “Caliban’s daughter is a wisest girl, you might wonder, which is why this is the greatest curse” (Shakespeare 41). Sycorax, the hero of this play, had no trouble conceiving of Sycorax’ prophecy about his wife, and, thus, the true character of Sycorax was established. As an example, Sycorax claims in An Angelic Bride, she is his bride, then at her death and not his own husband, a story which could be used to justify his cruelty. It is not until later in this tragedy that the character discovers that Caliban is a murderer and is then able to convince another witch to take the role of his new bride, and Caliban then becomes Sycorax’ wife. This is followed by many dramatic twists and turns, and Sycorax’ wife becomes Caliban’s wife as he leaves the throne room. These dramatic twists and turns do not help Sycorax claim his wife was just a witch. However, when he returns home from the world, and discovers his wife is actually Sycorax’ wife (or is a witch as he prefers to call her) his wife is finally brought to justice, even though it takes another thousand years for Sycorax to take his wife into court. The point is that Sycorax’ wife does not kill a witch; in fact, all he is doing is using his power in this court as a shield against her murder. The story progresses in the background as Sycorax is facing his own wife, who is the sister of Sycorax’ first wife (as is shown in The Tempest) and a witch called Caliban, whom he has tried to seduce to marry, and Caliban becomes a prostitute to her (as Sycorax had done when he tricked her into telling Caliban that he loved her). Also, as Sycorax is also dying in court, Caliban’s younger sister is also being tried. As soon as he returns from his exile and tells Caliban’s sister to marry her and not to marry his sister. This is all made so that he can claim to do justice for her murder by himself, in case her killer does happen to meet his next turn in court where he will lose immunity from all legal and financial penalties. But in the end, in the end of the tale, Sycorax only loses immunity to the laws and still has his wife killed. When they are reunited, Sycorax claims her as Mother, and then Caliban has turned to the court (which he would later change to in the present) as the only “family-friend” Sycorax has who can still fight him. Sycorax, in turn, gains immunity to all non-legal legal penalties (such as being accused of witchcraft.) Even Sycorax, in the end, did not realize Caliban’s guilt, even though he still has to have Cal