Property Value dbo: abstract Sycorax is een personage dat genoemd maar niet getoond wordt in het theaterstuk The Tempest van William Shakespeare. She is a vicious and powerful witch and the mother of Caliban, one of the few native inhabitants of the island on which Prospero, the hero of the play, is stranded.
According to the backstory provided by the play, Sycorax, while pregnant with Caliban, was banished from her home in Algiers to the island on which the play takes place. Memories of Sycorax, who dies several years before the main action of the play begins, define several of the relationships in the play.
Relying on his filial connection to Sycorax, Caliban claims ownership of the island. Prospero constantly reminds Ariel of Sycorax's cruel treatment to maintain the sprite's service. My thesis is that Sycorax transcends gender boundaries by baring similarities to the male character in the play and therefore showing that men and women are equal or can potentially be equal if certain immutable traits like race and gender are not seen hierarchically in terms of power and superiority.
Due to her principle presence in the second scene of the first act, the analysis is mostly confined to that scene. Afterwards, I am going to classify the results in a broader postcolonial discourse likewise considering its implications. Most of the time she is mentioned by Prospero, wherefore it is reasonable to analyse the relationship between Prospero and Sycorax.
The initial situation of their relationship is unfamiliar, non-reciprocal and hence plainly non-existent. The first time Prospero learns about Sycorax is before the dramatic action begins. Since it has been such a terrible and traumatic experience, it is rather improbable that Ariel forgets about it regularly and needs his memory to be refreshed by Prospero. Tell me. One gets the impression that Prospero might exaggerate or add some non-existent aspects to the story trying to manipulate Ariel and make him obey further on.
Noticeably, he never offends the males who were responsible for the conspiracy against him when he was expelled from Milan. After all, particularly his brother Antonio is the reason for his dismiss and the twelve year-long stay on the island. Although Prospero demonises and dehumanises Sycorax throughout the entire dialogue as scarcely ascertained, he finally exposes himself being similar to her regarding the use of supernatural power to subjugate other subjects. Therewith, he involuntarily reveals his colonial and patriarchal mindset as well as his misogynistic attitude both of which are complementary.
But this time, he chiefly aims at Caliban by discrediting his ancestry stating that he was conceived by the devil and a mischievous mother.
As implied in the previous subchapter, the non-existent relationship turns out to be a construction by Prospero because he presents her as an evil witch entirely contrasting himself. Since she is physically absent and can neither defend herself nor resist Prospero through speech or action his narrative remains the only validate and legitimate one.
It licenses him to reach repeatedly, and insistently, for versions of her as the neatly demonizable foil against which he can define himself in reassuringly self-congratulatory terms. Stephen Menendian and John A. As repeatedly stated, she is dead and not able to influence him or other characters in the play in any way so that one possible idea would be to forget about her as if she never existed. Yet, he seems quite obsessed with her and therefore allows space for female defiance.
In spite of all differences, if one considers both Prospero and Sycorax humanely they are actually quite similar: They were expelled from their home country and brought to the island with a child that presumably has saved them from being executed. Furthermore, both subjugate Ariel and compel him to be obedient. He dissociates from a character that is basically very much like him. Ultimately, keeping Sycorax alive serves the purpose of reinforcing his colonial and patriarchal force and rule.
Moreover, Taymor provides some additional attributes such as a back story for the protagonist which is obviously necessary as a result of the gender switch. Beyond that, the dramatic action as well as the original lines per se remain identical.
After Prospera causes the storm that capsizes the boat in the first scene, she tells Miranda that her former husband, who died many years ago, left the Dukedom for her to rule. The play Macbeth focuses on the demise of a once noble Scottish Thane named Macbeth through the power of chaos. The three witches of Macbeth chant spells and cast charms recurrently in order to bewitch Macbeth so that he will throw the world into chaos. Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. New York: Spark Publishing, Herrmann, Anne.
Theatre Journal Shorter 11th ed. Kelly J. New York: Norton, The intensity of the tragedy is dependent on whether the witches are perceived to be able to control the otherwise innocent Macbeth's actions, or if he is entirely responsible for his own demise. Although not a "secret, black, and midnight hag" 4. In the same way that witches subvert the natural order of religion and society, Lady Macbeth subverts the order of the sexes and the family by trying to have more power than the head of the family, her husband.
Not only does she act out of order, but several of her actions imply that she is actually witch-like. Firstly, it was widely believed in Europe for centuries that sorcery could cause impotence Cotton If you sunk then you were innocent and if you floated you were a witch.
In witches soliloquy there use of language and thinking aloud shows us the witches are bad but powerful. Macbeth is planning to kill King Duncan but keeps being indecisive weather to or not. We no that Macbeth needs a lot of persuading by lady Macbeth to kill king Duncan but the three witches also took a part in it because if it was not for them he would have never told lady Macbeth about it.
Home Page Sycorax in The Tempest. Sycorax in The Tempest Better Essays. Open Document.
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