tempcolon Confronting Colonialism and Imperialism in Aime Cesaires A

Confronting Colonialism in A Tempest   Ã‚  Ã‚   A Tempest by Aime Cesaire is an attempt to confront and rewrite the idea of colonialism as presented in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.   He is successful at this attempt by changing the point of view of the story.   Cesaire transforms the characters and transposes the scenes to reveal Shakespeare’s Prospero as the exploitative European power and Caliban and Ariel as the exploited natives.   Cesaire’s A Tempest is an effective response to Shakespeare’s The Tempest because he interprets it from the perspective of the colonized and raises a conflict with Shakespeare as an icon of the literary canon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Tempest by William Shakespeare one might argue that colonialism is a reoccurring theme throughout the play because of the slave-master relationship between Ariel and Caliban and Prospero.   It is also noticeable through the major and minor changes in status among the temporary inhabitants of the island like Trinculo and Stephano (Brower 463).   These relationships support the theme that power is not reciprocal and that in a society someone will be exploited.   Shakespeare first introduces the idea of colonialism when he allows Prospero to be ruler over Caliban, the native inhabitant of the island.   This is a direct link to the colonization by the Europeans in the late 1400’s.   Caliban reveals this idea of colonization in Act I Scene 2 when he says, â€Å" This island’s mine by Sycorax, my mother, /Which thou tak’st from me†¦For I am all the subjects that you have, /Which first was my own king; and here you sty me/In this hard rock, while you do keep from me /The rest o’ th’ island† (Shakespeare 37).   Shakespeare’s diction in this dialogue as well as in Prospero’s response that fol... ....2001 http://www.britannica.com /seo/a/aime-fernand-cesaire/>    Becker, Zachery. â€Å"Aime Cesaire’s A Tempest†. (1999) 18 April.2001    Brower, Reuben. Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Ed. Leonard Dean. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967.  Ã‚      Cesaire, Aime. A Tempest. Trans. Richard Miller.   USA: UBU Repertory Theater Publications, 1992.    Hawkes, Terence. That Shakespearean Rag: essays on a critical process. New York: Methuen and Company, 1986.    Mullenix, Elizabeth Reitz. â€Å"The Tempest.† Illinois Shakespeare Festival. (1996) 18 April2001.    â€Å"Negritude.† Encyclopedia Britannica. (1999): 27 April.2001 http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?idxref=283623    Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. London: Washington Square Press, 1994. tempcolon Confronting Colonialism and Imperialism in Aime Cesaire's A Confronting Colonialism in A Tempest   Ã‚  Ã‚   A Tempest by Aime Cesaire is an attempt to confront and rewrite the idea of colonialism as presented in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.   He is successful at this attempt by changing the point of view of the story.   Cesaire transforms the characters and transposes the scenes to reveal Shakespeare’s Prospero as the exploitative European power and Caliban and Ariel as the exploited natives.   Cesaire’s A Tempest is an effective response to Shakespeare’s The Tempest because he interprets it from the perspective of the colonized and raises a conflict with Shakespeare as an icon of the literary canon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Tempest by William Shakespeare one might argue that colonialism is a reoccurring theme throughout the play because of the slave-master relationship between Ariel and Caliban and Prospero.   It is also noticeable through the major and minor changes in status among the temporary inhabitants of the island like Trinculo and Stephano (Brower 463).   These relationships support the theme that power is not reciprocal and that in a society someone will be exploited.   Shakespeare first introduces the idea of colonialism when he allows Prospero to be ruler over Caliban, the native inhabitant of the island.   This is a direct link to the colonization by the Europeans in the late 1400’s.   Caliban reveals this idea of colonization in Act I Scene 2 when he says, â€Å" This island’s mine by Sycorax, my mother, /Which thou tak’st from me†¦For I am all the subjects that you have, /Which first was my own king; and here you sty me/In this hard rock, while you do keep from me /The rest o’ th’ island† (Shakespeare 37).   Shakespeare’s diction in this dialogue as well as in Prospero’s response that fol... ....2001 http://www.britannica.com /seo/a/aime-fernand-cesaire/>    Becker, Zachery. â€Å"Aime Cesaire’s A Tempest†. (1999) 18 April.2001    Brower, Reuben. Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Ed. Leonard Dean. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967.  Ã‚      Cesaire, Aime. A Tempest. Trans. Richard Miller.   USA: UBU Repertory Theater Publications, 1992.    Hawkes, Terence. That Shakespearean Rag: essays on a critical process. New York: Methuen and Company, 1986.    Mullenix, Elizabeth Reitz. â€Å"The Tempest.† Illinois Shakespeare Festival. (1996) 18 April2001.    â€Å"Negritude.† Encyclopedia Britannica. (1999): 27 April.2001 http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?idxref=283623    Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. London: Washington Square Press, 1994.