SHAKESPEAREAN UTOPIA: T H E T EM P ES T

SHAKESPEAREAN UTOPIA: T H E T EM P ES T

Peksoy, Emrah

According to Ryan (2003), Shakespeare’s comedy and romance are not less valuable than his tragedies since they also challenge the existing conditions of life, but in a different p. 28). For Frye (1965), “The mythical backbone of all literature is the cycle of nature, which rolls from birth to death and back again to rebirth” and comedy and romance deal with the second part of this cycle; rolling from death to rebirth, new order, rebirth, a new spring etc. (p. 200). The Tempest as Shakespeare’s last play and romance is the realization of this renewal of life with its extra ordinary style, poetry and plot. Shakespeare wrote what many critics accepted as the play of his ‘farewell to stage, The Tempest, 100 years after Thomas More wrote Utopia and nearly 15 years before Francis Bacon wrote the New Atlantis. Like these texts, The Tempest can also be considered as a utopian text and it can be argued that Shakespeare in his last play experimented the possibility of an ideal society in the world. After setting his ideal place on an island, Shakespeare introduces, describes and criticizes utopian world building concept. Island’s physical setting and unclear geographical location make it an ideal world to live a dream life. Prospero’s dealings with himself and other characters in the play illustrate the characteristics of an ideal ruler who can build a real commonwealth, a social and political order that ensures the welfare of the whole community. In Prospeo’s person, Shakespeare describes the qualities an ideal ruler should possess and compares Prospero’s existing utopia with Gonzalo’s visionary ideal state. Seeing the impossibility of a golden age, Shakespeare combines the real and utopic with the marriage of Ferdinand and Miranda. Keywords: The Tempest, utopia, ideal world, island, marriage, ruler

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2014

3418