Critically Comment on The Use of Symbols in “The Tempest” by Shakespeare

Shakespeare has used symbols in all his plays, but The Tempest is especially rich in this respect. Symbols can be figurative, characters, or objects that express a certain idea or concept.

An artist can express much more through symbols than would otherwise be possible. Symbols enable an artist to express greatness by using the small, the infinite by the finite, the spiritual by the physical, and the abstract by the concrete.

Symbols increase the richness and depth of meaning; they express what one cannot express using ordinary language.

The Complex And Intricate Symbols in The Tempest

Symbols in this play are complex and intricate, as the exact figures express different concepts. For example, according to Wilson Knight, Prospero’s island symbolizes the stage for the world of theatre.

Prospero guiding and controlling the world of the enchanted island is Shakespeare himself, who controlled his plots and the world of his plays in the same manner. Just as Prospero can perform wonders with his magic, Shakespeare could also perform even more incredible wonders with his artistic powers.

Prospero’s Milan symbolizes Shakespeare’s Stratford. Prospero abjuring his magic and bidding farewell to art represents Shakespeare intending to leave London for Stratford to pass a life of rest and leisure there.

Shakespeare’s Portrayal of A Biography Through Prospero

Indeed, Shakespeare has symbolically rendered his own life and career through Prosper’s life and career.

Wilson Knight says that Prospero, Ariel, Caliban, Miranda are all aspects of Shakespeare himself. Ariel is his imagination; Caliban is his baser, physical self, and Miranda is his faith in human nature, which he has kept intact despite all the ups and downs of his life.

Prospero also symbolizes prosperity. He regains his Milan and succeeds in making his daughter the Queen of Naples. He also symbolizes providence like God, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. He has foreknowledge, and he also controls and manipulates the course of events.

Prospero also symbolizes the supreme artist, and Ariel symbolizes his imagination. He can achieve wonders only through the agency of Ariel; he is swift as thought and rapid as imagination.

The Symbolizing of The Colonizer in The Tempest

Furthermore, Prospero symbolizes the colonizer, the imperialist of his island, the colonized country, and Caliban, the dispossessed native. Through the relationship of Prospero and Caliban, Shakespeare has traced the entire history of the relationship between the colonized native and the colonizer.

Shakespeare further brought out the dangers of that relationship. Stephano and Trinculo, the revolution’s leaders, symbolize the foreign power or powers to which the native turns for help against the colonizer.

Caliban symbolizes the wickedness and evil in nature and its poetry and beauty. Ariel of the air symbolizes good, pure, and refined in nature. Caliban stands for the lower self of man: lust, greed, wickedness, ambition, ungratefulness, etc., and Ariel for the higher, spiritual self of man.

One symbolizes the forces of good, the other those of evil.

Miranda And Ferdinand Symbolize Innocence, Beauty, And Humanity

Again, Miranda symbolizes innocence, mercy, purity, and faith. Ferdinand and Miranda together symbolize all that is beautiful and virtuous in youth and human nature.

The servitude accepted by Ferdinand for the sake of Miranda symbolizes humanity. Miranda is also a fertility symbol.

The same theme of power symbolizes the long history of the struggle for power in Milan. This theme has been repeated four times in the play. It is symbolized by the story of Prospero, the story of Caliban, the plot of Antonio and Stephano against Alonso.

It is further parodied by the conspiracy of Caliban and Stephano against Prospero. Music symbolizes form and order. The storm symbolizes a passion of violence, feud, and lust, which must be combated as many threats to orderly life.

The love and marriage of Ferdinand and Miranda symbolize the continuity of nature.

Wrapping Up

To conclude, we find that the Tempest is rich in symbolism. It is capable of several allegorical interpretations, so different critics have found a different value and significance.

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