Essay about Prospera, Thy Role Is Woman - 972 Words

William Shakespeare, in his play, The Tempest, tells the story of a fictional exiled Duke of Milan. In the original play, Shakespeare casts the duke as a man, Prospero. In a modern movie version of the play, writer and director Julie Taymor casts the duke as a woman, Prospera powerfully portrayed by the very convincing performance of Helen Mirren. The play, surprisingly, requires only a few very minor line changes to substitute a woman lead for the original male role. While the actual dialogue changes are minor, the impact to the play is substantial as it totally transforms the duke and an audience’s prospective of the character. With very few exceptions, having a woman as the Duke of Milan in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, makes the duke more†¦show more content†¦The first examples can be seen in Prospera’s ouster and exile starting with how apparently easily Prospera was usurped. It is clear Prospera had the support of her people when she tells Miranda, â €Å"so dear the love my people bore me† (Shakespeare 1.2.141). If the duke had the support of the people and magical arts to manipulate people and events, it seems unlikely a rightful ruler could so easily be usurped, but it becomes more plausible in Taymor’s version where the position was only assumed by Prospera upon her husband’s death. Given it was not originally her position to begin with and the predominant acceptance of male leaders at that time, it is much more realistic that a woman could be usurped by her brother. Similarly, the fact that Prospera was not killed outright and that she was aided by Gonzalo also becomes more believable with the duke being a woman. To kill an ousted rival would seem of little consequence at the time if that rival were a man, but it takes on a much less noble air if that rival is a woman, and Gonzalo’s actions to aid Prospera defying Antonio and the king become more believable as it is not only an act of kindness, bu t also a chivalrous act. In addition to Prospera’s ouster and exile, other examples of where having a feminine duke is more believable can be seen by her actions on the island. One of the first is Prospera’s treatment of Caliban. AfterShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s The Tempest And Julie Taymor s Film Version Of The Play1424 Words   |  6 Pagescontract to the play, the film plot is the same however the audiences sees Prospera casted the magic when she was in her cave. She was casting magic with these science experiment jars and dropped a black feather into the jar to make Ariel visible to be seen by others as he is an air spirit that are only seen by Prospera and appeared in front of Alonso, Antonio, Sebastian and Gonzalo. This scene gives the peak of Prospera s arrangement. The audience saw what kind of harpy that he appeared as. Prospera’sRead MoreThe Tempest Adaptations and Transformations2100 Words   |  9 Pagesheightened by makeup, camera angles, casting, costuming and t he performances of the actors themselves. Taymor uses these visual techniques of film to her advantage, even adding in an extra scene at the end of the film. The transformation of Prospero into Prospera affects the way the reader views the judgement, treatment and release of Caliban. The parent-child relationship is also altered by the gender change, as is the protagonist’s interaction of Ariel. Taymor uses the sex transformation, the differenceRead MoreJulie Taymore ´s Film Interpretation of The Tempest by William Shakespeare1459 Words   |  6 Pagesmakes out. But does the role become weak now that its being playing played by a female? Or a thought that crossed my mind when Shakespeare was neither working writing this play did he consider whither nor not Prospero should have been Prospera? Another important ques-tion, does the ending of the play leave a lot of unanswered questions? During the Renaissance era when Shakespeare did his many of his writings and even in his plays males would play both the male and female roles. This brings up the question