Erick on Tempest

Hamlin, "A New World Interepretation for The Tempest" (Erick Mendoza)

The author William M. Hamlin suggests that Shakespeare’s play, particularly The Tempest, have various allusions to America or what was then known as The New World. As some of you may know, Shakespeare lived form around 1564-1616 which was a time when many explorations were underway. According to Hamlin, 20^th century readers of the tempest will tend to interpret it with an ‘Americanist’ mind. There are three characters in particular named by Hamlin, which have resemblance to an American tale, Prospero who assumes leadership, Gonzalo who imagines he has a plantation, and Caliban who is a slave. Certain parallels exist between The Tempest and the narratives of sailors such as Sir Francis Drake and Ferdinand Magellan. One author suggests that we can gain insight to the thoughts and beliefs European people had about the New World during the 16^th century by reading the accounts of sailors exploring the New World and The Tempest. The text talks extensively on the similarities between Caliban and the view of indigenous American people during that time. Such as a scene in which Caliban refers to Stephano’s drink as “celestial liquor,” which bears some similarity between the Native American’s attraction to alcohol. Caliban also confuses the men in The Tempest for gods, which is something that the Aztecs, Incas, and some ‘Native American’ tribes also did. The author of this article suggests that in order to better understand what Shakespeare’s purpose for the play, it is important to keep in mind the tales and ideas about The New World that were prevalent during this time. These ideas mostly revolve around Caliban and the European’s view of Native Americans.