How Does Shakespeare Present the Relationship Between Prospero and Miranda?

The Tempest' was one of the final plays of a playwright and an English poet, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English Language, William Shakespeare. The first performance of 'The Tempest' was on November the 1st 1611, there was a great demand for entertainment such as plays during the Elizabethan Era. Patriarchal Society plays a key role in 'The Tempest' in which Prospero holds authority over Miranda. Another aspect of how patriarchal society is shown is that Miranda is the only female character in the play however Sycorax, Caliban's mother and Miranda's mother are mentioned briefly. There are many themes explored throughout the pay such as love, betrayal, loyalty, greed, affection, protection, desire, conspiracy, envy, authority, rape and magic. The presentation of the relationship between Prospero and Miranda questions and debates the family love between them.

Miranda shows a loving, warm nature towards her father which consists of great respect as well. This is depicted in Act 1 Scene 2 as she addresses her father, 'My dearest Father, you have the put the wild waters in this roar... and now I pray, you sir.' Miranda lacks trust in her father this is clear to the reader as she simply assumes that he is the result of 'The Tempest.' The superlative 'dearest' shows her affection toward her father in addition this she addresses him as Sir which shows her immense respect toward him. Miranda is often referred to her as 'wench' a colloquial term for a lower class woman. This portrays her as the ideal Elizabethan woman.

Miranda is represented in the light of the ultimate lady through her obedience to Prospero's' orders for example, 'I pray thee, mark me'. This is known as the omission of syllables when an unstressed syllable is sometimes omitted. This happens especially after a marked pause thus either in the first foot, or after an emphatic monosyllable often an imperative. Miranda reply to this is, 'O, good sir, I do...Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.'' 'O, good sir, I do' is another example of the omission of syllables. Furthermore it is the use of hyperbole, exaggerating that Prospero's tale has the ability to cure deafness, This line also contains a metaphor comparing the tale to a remedy. Her character speaks little with just this style of obedient or emotional words and does not object or have a large amount of say to her father, Prospero. Prospero nature is depicted in the omission of the syllables despite his dominant, controlling side he appears to have a caring attitude in addition to this.

Prospero loving attitude to his daughter is shown in many areas of the plays which contrasts his threatening language to Caliban. This is the use of juxtaposition which creates a wider debate in the play of Prospero's character. He desribes his daughter as, 'O a Cherubin... thou didst smile Infused with a fortitude from heaven' when I have deck'd the sea.' This is the use of metaphorical language as Prospero compares his daughter to an angel, furthermore there is the use of hyperbole exaggerating that Miranda's smile gave him extreme strength and the ability to sustain his spirits against whatever would come his way. This closeness showed between the two helps us to establish that they have a good, intimate relationship. Ferdinand uses antithesis to show the contrasting characteristics between father and daughter. 'She is ten times gentler than her father's crabbed. Miranda's gentleness opposes Prospero's bad temper, the opposition of words o describe their character is immensely effective as the reader can fully understand the quality of each character more precisely. Despite Ferdinand's' complaints, Prospero is doing this to test his love for his daughter, which again show how highly protective he is of Miranda, not to marry someone who will not be the caring husband of her dreams.

In Act 4 Prospero appears high protective of Miranda's virginity, this due to the fact that during the Elizabethan Era, adultery was an unforgivable sin

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