The Tempest: Performing gender

The Tempest: Performing gender

            The Tempest alludes to a play that was written by William Shakespeare in the 1600s, and it is thought to be among the last plays that was scripted by Shakespeare. The play is also known to have been previewed in a plethora of movies like the one directed by Julie Taymor in 2010. This play contains numerous themes like hatred, love, power, forgiveness, retribution, allusion, as well as revenge. When it is contrasted to the actual play, there are several dissimilarities seen in the movie, like Prospero being reflected as a woman instead of a man in the film. The differences in time between the film and the play and how the spirit in the movie is depicted as a white man is also another point of difference between the movie and the play. This essay entails the analysis of performing gender in the play as well as the movie itself.

Twelve years ago, Prospero was Milan’s Duke. However, because he was more of a bookish deposition, he was more drawn into his studies, thus entrusting his management to Antonio, who was his brother. In the long run, via the aid of Alonso, Naples’ King and Sebastian, the King’s brother, who was Prospero’s adversary, Antonio was able to usurp the dukedom for himself. Prospero, together with his daughter, Miranda, were banished and put to sea in a boat that was rotten, and they finally landed on a deserted distance Island that was once under the regime of witch Sycorax but was then inhabited by Caliban, her only son, and Ariel who was a spirit. Prospero became the Island’s ruler where he ruled by use of magic which was obtained from his studies. Prospero discerns that fortune had brought enemies to his doorstep and he sees it as an opportunity to work up his plan for an act of revenge, and he utilizes his powers to raise a storm that shipwrecks their boat and when Miranda asks about this, her father assures her that no harm will come to the survivors. The travellers are separated, and under the order of Prospero, Ariel guides their wanderings. In the process, he leads the King’s son Ferdinand to Prospero’s cell, where he falls in love with Miranda and Prospero puts several tests to the test him. The Naples King searches for his son and fears that he has drowned and Sebastian, his uncle, plots to kill him in order to take the throne for himself. Stephano, Trinculo, and the drunken butler come across Caliban who persuades them to kill Prospero to rule the land. Nevertheless, Ariel is able to thwart their plans, and they soon disagree amongst themselves. Satisfied that Ferdinand met his demands, Prospero allows the young couple to be together, and they celebrate. He is, however, distracted when he recalls the plot by Caliban. As the plan by Prospero comes to a climax, he pledges that upon its realization, he will leave his arts of magic. Ariel brings Alonso together with his disciples to the cell, Prospero, who is in his persona as the Duke, and it is this chance that he takes to confront his foe and forgive them. With the engagement between Miranda and Ferdinand, the division between Milan and Naples is healed. Ultimately, Prospero gives Ariel his freedom and prepares to depart for Milan and his Dukedom.

Ways in which masculinity or femininity can be created through performance

            Masculinity of femininity can be easily constructed via both texts (Scripts) or performance through the movie itself. In the Tempest, masculinity has been presented as the ability to have control and power over events and other individuals that are in their environment. Using these arguments, Prospero can be the chief exemplification of masculinity in the play. However, the implication is that he had once forfeited some of his masculine powers by engrossing himself too much with books while giving the control to his brother, which ultimately led to his dethronement by his adversaries. Shakespeare relays:

My brother and thy uncle, call’d Antonio —

I pray thee, mark me — that a brother should

Be so perfidious! — he whom next thyself

Of all the world I loved and to him put

The manage of my state; as at that time

Through all the signories it was the first

And Prospero the prime Duke, being so reputed

In dignity, and for the liberal arts

Without a parallel; those being all my study,

The government I cast upon my brother

And to my state grew stranger, being transported

And rapt in secret studies…

I, thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated

To closeness and the bettering of my mind

With that which, but by being so retired,

O’er-prized all popular rate, in my false brother

Awaked an evil nature

(Shakespeare N.p; Act I, scene II, 70-90)

However, as soon as Prospero arrives on the Island that was deserted, he entirely exercises his masculine privilege by assuming the control of his environment. He does co-equally rule the island with Ariel or Caliban, despite them being the natives of the region and having powers and gifts that are necessary for survival. In lieu, he takes control and enslaves the two so that they have no choice but to succumb to his tyranny.

The selection of characters which coincide with the play of Shakespeare “The Tempest” was a crucial factor amid the production of the film and the director ought to be complimented for a great job in the representation of gender even though there was an actual change of Prospero’s gender from male to female in the film. In the movie, femininity was also exemplified as the masculine plot is highly revitalized with a profoundly feminine sensibility. She alters Prospero into Prospera and in this manner, compels one to reexamine all the assumptions about motivation as well as narrative drive. This, however, overrules the general meaning behind femininity. Typically, power is not synonymous to their identity. It is usually so alien to them that it splits off their being and they are unable to relate to it when they converse about it themselves. Nevertheless, the feminine characteristics are perceived to be to on the contrary to power. Trait traditions which were considered to be feminine include gentleness, empathy, humility, as well as sensitivity. If any, some of Prospera’s feminine actions that were in line with the play itself is that she was portrayed as a caring mother, and was forgiving. However, this can be considered as generic feminine characteristic as Prospera was an exact replica of Prospero’s character, but with a twist in gender. However, it is evident that the relationship between Prospera and her daughter Miranda is significantly improved due to the change in gender in the play due to maternal characteristics. This is because it does not have the uncomfortable patriarchal and oppressive feeling that Prospera-Prospero has when played by an individual of the male gender. The Miranda-Prospero relationship is an exemplification of patriarchy, which is unarguably the system which women of the renaissance period as well as the Shakespearian period were subjected to.

Opportunities allowed through performing gender

Via the performance of gender, different opportunities were provided. In the movie, Prospera was the main character with an intense tone in her voice thus allowing her to intimidate men a plethora of times in the film, most evidently, she intimidates the men in the ring of fire. This proves that the actor who plays Prospera fundamentally reenacting Prospero from the play in a perfect manner, thus allowing the movie to be entirely in line with the play. The transformation of the gender also gives the producer several opportunities to alter the perceptions of the film without necessarily changing the plot. However, there are some apparent differences when it comes to the performance of gender, and this is depicted via performance. For instance, in the play, Shakespeare explores the relationship and the effects of one having control over the other. From the play’s beginning, the readers are shown a complicated and unstable relationship that exists between Caliban and Prospero. The reader gets a glimpse of their relationship; Caliban says that:

I must eat my dinner.

This island’s mine, by Sycorax, my mother,

Which thou takest from me. When thou camest first,

Thou strokedst me and madest much of me, wouldst give me

Water with berries in’t, and teach me how

To name the bigger light, and how the less,

That burn by day and night: and then I loved thee

And show’d thee all the qualities o’ the isle,

The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and fertile:

Cursed be I that did so! All the charms

Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you!

For I am all the subjects that you have,

Which first was mine own King: and here you sty me

In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me

The rest o’ the island…(Shakespeare N.p Act 2, Scene 1 340-350)

To which Prospero replies;

Thou most lying slave,

Whom stripes may move, not kindness! I have used thee,

Filth as thou art, with human care, and lodged thee

In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate

The honour of my child (Shakespeare N.p Act 2, Scene 1 340-350)

This depicts that the initial relationship between Caliban and Prospero was amiable, but it turned malicious with Miranda’s intended rape. Although Prospera’s relationship is no less than that of Prospero, the audience notices some subtle changes. For instance, Prospera is less intimidating physically, which makes the viewer perceive Caliban as more dominant. The shift in gender also makes Prospera a weaker protagonist because of power as well as the volume of her voice. For instance, Helen Mirren says:

I’ll rack thee with old cramps,

Fill all thy bones with aches, make thee roar  370

That beasts shall tremble at thy din.

(Shakespeare N.p Act 2, Scene 1 370)

Even though Prospera is physically weak, she is able to assert her dominance in different ways. In the initial encounter with Caliban in both the film and the play, Caliban is presented as a slave who is malcontent and is unwilling to come forward and converse with Miranda and Prospera/Prospero. However, when he decides to go forward, he tries to obtain a physical advantage by standing on a rock. The camera angle depicts the sky’s backdrop, vividly showing his attempted superiority. Although his appearance poses a potential threat to Prospera, psychologically, he is easy to conquer. In this manner, this gives the producer the chance to show that physical dominance does not subdue psychological dominance, and this would not have been possible without performing gender.

Among the most significant transformation from the play to the movie is the director’s alteration of the gender of the main character Prospero to Prospera. The reversal of gender made women to have empowerment within the film, which exemplifies the advancement of women’s power and influence over the past centuries. Throughout the Tempest movie, Prospera is depicted as being empowered as any other male individual and is even highly influential, just like Prospero was in the play, thus maintaining the integrity and purpose of the character. This film has inspired many female characters to be confident enough to take up the roles of men in the filming industry.

Challenges the actors confront when undertaking such performance

There are several challenges the actors face when making their gender performances. For instance, when Prospero’s character was changed to Prospera, there were a lot of questions asked over the credibility of the film due to the gender swap process. For instance, the societal perceptions of masculinity and femininity were challenged. This is because even though the film was written within a patriarchic context, it was challenging for a female to assume the role of a male. Moreover, because the swap process was performed on a central character that ties the whole story together, the protagonist of the story, this even becomes more challenging for the character to assume. Were the film to be produced amid the Shakespearian or renaissance period, it would have been very controversial because of the misogynistic society. However, what makes the movie by Julie Taymor non-controversial today is because of its relevance in the current culture, which is less misogynistic and is more sensitive towards women.

Conclusively, The Tempest play and movie is a great exemplification of the changes in our society over time. While Shakespeare does include a subordinate woman in the play in order to demonstrate the kinds of limitations put on women, it is intriguing how he would also add a character, who challenges the misogynistic ideals, which weighted during the era. In this manner, the Tempest addressed the gender topic in a way that is thought-provoking, which is not forced, and which, theoretically, would earn the full consent of Shakespeare. In the corpus, there are extremely few roles for elderly women, while men get many opportunities from Hamlet to Macbeth to Lear. However, Julie Taymor breaks this dominance by making the role of women at the centre stage and credits to her, Mirren, as well as all women and men that made Prospera possible, the new view on the women in our society, will become a permanent portion of our identity.