• Among the shortest, simplest of all Shakespeare's plays.
• Sweet and romantic—prince, princess, island, magic, fairies
• Romance genre—natural setting, marvel, wish fulfillment.
• But, also political, racial, social.
  

Patriarchy

• One-woman cast!
• Prospero's absolute control of Miranda.
• Prospero's mentioning of his wife (the absent mother in Shakespeare).
• Prospero's contempt for Sycorax.
• Caliban's monstrous lack of a father (while it is perfectly ok for Miranda to lack a mother).
  

Interpretation

• Legitimacy—why is Antonio not the appropriate ruler, if Prospero has abandoned his dukedom for his study anyway?
• Witchcraft—what is the difference between white and black magic? If it is right to banish Sycorax, why not Prospero?
• Tyranny—why is Prospero not a tyrant, if he behaves exactly like Sycorax, enslaving all spirits on the island?
• Noble blood—what is the difference between Ferdinand and Caliban (prince of the island)? Prospero indeed compares the two.
• Righteous ruler—what is the difference between Stefano and Prospero?
  

Doubles

• Prospero and Sycorax as mirror images—witchcraft, exile, invader-colonizer, single-parent of a different-sex child.
• Prospero projects his own dark side onto Sycorax—Snow Whilte's stepmother.
• Prospero and Stefano—alien master.
• Caliban and Ferdinand—both male force to Miranda.
  

• Prospero's desire for power—superhuman power, power of knowledge (// Faust), political power, patriarchal power.
• Lesser desire for power—Antonio, Sebastian, Stefano.
• By comparison, Caliban and Ariel's desire for freedom is so humble.
  

• Mira = wonder, angelic, naive, pure good and beauty, "cherub"
• Only a myth!
• Not wholly innocent—she shares Prospero's values and bias.
• Wu Hsing-kuo makes her more of a feminist rebel, but not in Shakespeare.
  

The Forbidden Planet

• Does not address the issue of colonialism—Ariel is a robot!
• Does address the issue of patriarchy—that daughter is an idiot, an object for whose control men fight.
• Most importantly, the desire for power (// Faust, Prospero's Books).
• Desire for power is destructive.
• Freudian id—self-destructive.
  

Shakespeare's Romanticism

• Ending—reinforcement of political authority and patriarchy (not romantic love, but political alliance).
• How does Prospero escape the fate of the protagonist in The Forbidden Planet?
• Love, forgiveness, conscience—self-deceptive lies!
• How do we solve our problem? Love, forgiveness, conscience?
  

Shakespeare as Prospero

• Shakespeare // his characters (Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard III, Duke in Measure for Measure, etc.) as designer, playwright, director.
• Shakespeare // Prospero—creator, magician, manipulator, power center.
• Why does Prospero apologize?
• Why does Shakespeare apologize?
• How progressive is Shakespeare? Not!
• Literature is not innocent! Shakespeare is guilty!
• Throughout his dramatic and literary career, he has served the bad ideology, the oppressors.