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A Tempest
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Symbols & Motifs
Nature Imagery
Nature is a dominant feature of A Tempest. Descriptions of the natural landscape of the island as well as discussions of relationships between various characters and different elements of nature demonstrate the significance of nature to the meaning of the play overall.
At the start of the play, the Master of Ceremonies allows the actors to self-select their roles, but he insists that he must select one important role: “the part of the Tempest” (7). His insistence that a large man take the role of the wind establishes the importance of the wind to the action of the play. At the end of his monologue, he coaches the wind to blow and the rain and lightning to begin, and the action of the first scene relies on these natural weather patterns.
Caliban and Ariel, Prospero’s slaves, both identify closely with nature. Ariel waxes poetic about trees and birds until Prospero rudely interrupts him; Prospero’s disinterest in nature is juxtaposed against his supernatural powers as well as Caliban’s perception that Prospero is the “Anti-Nature.” When Caliban determines to start a revolution on the island in order to gain his freedom, he recruits creatures on the island and the sea to take his side. Caliban’s connections with nature suggests that he will win back his island eventually, especially as Prospero decides to stay on the island despite his awareness that he is aging; the immortality of nature, which recreates itself with the seasons, contrasts with Prospero’s waning power.
The Storm
The storm of the play’s title symbolizes the suffering that Caliban and Prospero experience and that they seek to inflict on others. Caliban’s suffering results from his slavery under Prospero and is compounded by the fact that the island on which he is imprisoned rightfully belongs to him, not to Prospero. He expresses his pain as rage, seeking to start a revolution and exclaiming that the time for peace-making has passed. Prospero, ironically, has similar experiences with loss as Caliban, but because he cannot regard Caliban as an equal, the similarities they share cannot bond them.
At the start of the play, Prospero and Ariel magically create a storm to cause the ship from Europe to shipwreck on their island. On this ship are the individuals whom Prospero seeks to punish for his pain. In his speech to Miranda, when Prospero explains to her the story of her background and her true identity, he displays his resentment for the theft of his lands and his title 12 years earlier. He specifies that only Gonzalo offered him help when all of the other nobles turned their backs on him in greed; that Gonzalo suffers in the storm alongside the men who committed the offense suggests that revenge is a blunt instrument, causing harm to more than just the individuals who deserve the punishment.
Caliban’s rage and suffering manifest in another storm when he summons the sea and other natural elements to help him fight Prospero. Stephano notices the sound of the sea, comparing it to the noise of an angry animal, which suggests that the sea is also ready to meet Prospero in a conflict. This time, however, the storm at sea is genuine, demonstrating that Caliban’s anger is justified. Prospero’s storm at the start of the play is a phony storm that causes little damage; Caliban’s storm, on the other hand, is real and has the potential to wreak havoc on everyone on the island.
The Noble Savage and the Other
The noble savage represents, in its purest form, the potential for human goodness. Because Césaire is a humanist and universalist, he uses the noble savage archetype to his advantage. Through the eyes of Gonzalo, the only European humanist in the play, Césaire reveals his belief in the equality of all people and the human right to live freely.
The character of Gonzalo and his impressions of the island communicate complex ideas regarding future race relations among members of different societies. In Act II, Scene 2, Gonzalo repeatedly shows his admiration for the island and for the potential resources it contains. As Antonio develops enthusiasm for the island based on Gonzalo’s identification of its potential, Gonzalo is careful to describe the responsibility they would have “not to import our shortcomings” (29). He insists that the residents of the island, whom he believes are “wondrous,” be allowed to “stay as they are” (29). Gonzalo’s words suggest the literary archetype of the noble savage, an embodiment of uncorrupted wildness that has been idealized for its lack of civilized characteristics.
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