How far do you agree that Shakespeare presents status as the greatest enemy to communication in The Tempest Essays

How far do you agree that Shakespeare presents status as the greatest enemy to communication in The Tempest Essays How far do you agree that Shakespeare presents status as the greatest enemy to communication in The Tempest Essay How far do you agree that Shakespeare presents status as the greatest enemy to communication in The Tempest Essay Essay Topic: The Tempest The themes of status and breakdown of communication are prevalent in The Tempest; and it is therefore unsurprising that the two come into conflict at several points within the play. This essay will discuss these themes, and more specifically, how status and hierarchy cause a breakdown in communication, reaching the conclusion that Shakespeare does present status as the greatest enemy to communication throughout the play.As early as Act 1 Scene1, the two themes collide, and status is portrayed as a negative force towards communication. The aristocracy on the boat are obviously of a higher status than the boatswain who is sailing them home, however, when the storm hits it is clear that the power is held by the boatswain. He is the only one able to get them through the storm alive. The Kings party have difficulty in accepting this switch of power, and thus the Boatswains orders are ignored.BOATSWAIN: When the sea is. Hence! What cares these roarers forThe name of king? To cabin. Silence ! Trouble us not.GONZALO: Good, yet remember whom thou hast aboard.This quotation clearly shows the Boatswain trying to communicate with a person of superior status than himself, and failing to assert his new power. The situation has granted him the opportunity to speak to the Kings party in a way which he would never have been able to do before, but he still faces resistance to his orders due to the fact that despite the situation the people with higher status in a normal situation are reluctant to relinquish their usual authority. Status is the greatest enemy in this scene because despite the other chaos going on around them, it is the breakdown of communication that is causing the Boatswain the most problems.The master servant relationship again brings up conflict between status and communication this time, it manifests in the form of Prospero and Caliban. The first time that Shakespeare presents their relationship to us is in Act 1 Scene 2, where the first conversation begins wi th an insult from Caliban to Prospero, uncharacteristic of an ordinary master servant relationship. Prospero responds just as aggressively, provoking Caliban further. This communication is harsh, aggressive, and is as a result of again from a resentment of status. Just as members of the kings party were reluctant to grant the boatswain temporary authority, Caliban is aggrieved that he has had to relinquish power that he believes he deserves to Prospero. The communication breakdown occurs from line 345 when Prospero completely ignores all that Caliban has just said:PROSPERO: Thou most lying slaveProsperos relationship with Ariel is similar to the one that he holds with Caliban, and their communication is restricted to questions from Prospero, to answers from Ariel.PROSPERO: Hast thou, spirit,Performd to point the tempest that I bade thee?ARIEL: To every article.Again in the master slave relationship, resentment is shown although more subtly than with Caliban, Ariel longs fore his fre edom, and resents the fact that it is Prospero who is in control of him. Shakespeare creating a spirit as a slave is no coincidence. It again highlights how status can control event the freest of beings. It also adds to the theme of injustice, and the combination of the two does not allow freely flowing communication between the two. Once again, the slave is given prose instead of blank verse a sign of elevated status. The inability of Ariel to truly communicate with Prospero despite being eloquent, clearly shows how status is an enemy to communication.Just as with Gonzalo, the character with status is presented as dismissive of other characters below them. Shakespeare presents situations in both these cases whereby we cannot automatically accept the authority wielded by those with status. In Act 1 Scene 1, the boatswain is clearly the character who should have authority in that situation, regardless of the normal hierarchy. Similarly having only just been introduced to Caliban and Prospero, we can see that Shakespeare elevates Caliban above what a slave would normally be, by giving him prose, and an eloquent speech. Therefore it is not status as theme by itself that is the greatest enemy to communication, but more specifically, the resentment of status, and the unwillingness to surrender power and authority in any way.A relationship which also illustrates the resentment of authority is that of Antonio and Sebastian. Sebastian is jealous of his brothers position of King of Naples, and is too easily persuaded to kill him by Alonso, in Act 2 Scene 1. In this relationship, there appears to be no attempt at communication, and this is as a result of the difference in status between the two brothers, and thus feelings are allowed to develop, and Alonso, who is very eloquent, is able to persuade Sebastian to kill his brother.ANTONIO: And how does your contentTender your own good fortune?SEBASTIAN:I rememberYou did supplant your brother Prospero.ANTONIO: True:And loo k how well my garments sit upon me;Much feater than before: my brothers servantsWere then my fellows; now they are my men.This passage shows the difference in the level of communication available when characters are of the same social ranking. Antonio and Sebastian both had the same situation, of brothers holding positions of power, and thus Antonio and Sebastian are able to communicate better with each other than they are with their brothers. This situation also enables Antonio to persuade Sebastian to kill Alonso. Whilst Sebastian is articulate, from the examination of other relationships in the play, it seems that that is not necessarily enough when the one of the characters in the conversation is of a higher social status than the other. This extract shows how status is the greatest enemy to communication by illustrating how characters of equal rank can communicate with each other.Another relationship in which status affects communication is that of father daughter, between Mira nda and Prospero. Whilst there is a level of mutual respect in this relationship that is missing from the other two that have been mentioned, there is still a clear understanding of who holds the power in the relationship, and that is Prospero.In the case of this relationship, one would assume that communication would be clear, Miranda would attentively listen to Prospero at all times; however, the first communication that the audience sees between the two characters shows Prospero anxious that Miranda is in fact listening to him. He continually checks her awareness:Dost thou attend me?The very minute bids thee open thine ear;Obey and be attentiveDost thou hear?There seems to be a slight apprehension on the part of Prospero that his status in this relationship is not enough for the channels of communication to be open. Whilst in this relationship, status is not an enemy to communication, it doesnt have as positive an affect as one would imagine.In conclusion, throughout the play, al most every single relationship that Shakespeare presents to us allows the audience to see just how much status affects communication, and what an adverse affect it has. Be it through the obvious and blatant disregard of one character to another, or the ability of two characters of the same social level to communicate well, Shakespeare clearly wants the audience to recognise this point, and the dynamics of the master slave relationship. It is clear that whilst many things affect communication in this play, Shakespeare wanted to present status as the greatest enemy.