The Meaning of Magic in Shakespeare’s The Tempest
Magic is an essential device in works of fantasy because of the layer of mystery and wonder it provides. Though, in a work like The Tempest, magic has a deeper social meaning expressed in how and why Prospero wields his magic and in the varying effects of magic on the play.
Magic as a way to illuminate the true nature of humanity is a powerful theme in the play. The magic that Prospero uses often reveals the character of those whom his spells ensnare. For example, in the midst of Prospero’s fabricated tempest, with clapping thunder and roaring waves drowning sound, Antonio reveals his murderous tendencies by threatening the boatswain with hanging if he doesn’t rescue them from peril. Conversely, Ferdinand shows his love for Miranda to be true when Prospero binds him with a charm. With these two pivotal characters, readers receive two major themes of love and violence shown through the gaze of Prospero’s magic.
In a seventeenth century societal context, both tempest and charm have meaning. The magical tempest provides negative commentary on the cutthroat nature of politics and how those without power can be blamed for crimes if they perform a single misstep; Prospero’s charm and the extremes Ferdinand is willing to go to court Miranda in his bound state is a satire of courtly love, presented as a silly game between the pursuer and the one being pursued.
Magic also extends to the scientific world because, at the time, scientific discoveries were considered radical, something that was beyond the realm of understanding. Shakespeare refers to Prospero’s magic as “the liberal arts” that Prospero learned through “secret studies” (The Tempest 17). This scholarly approach to magic elevates it beyond the typical notion that magical ability is innate and is proof that Prospero’s magic is scientifically grounded.
Prospero’s exile can be read as an allusion to the poor treatment of scientific figures like Galileo who were persecuted for their ideas. In the eyes of the Church, science was as heretical as magic. Prospero sacrifices worldly possessions to study these radical ideas. His magic or “fortune” is drawn from a star, alluding to the scientific study of the mysterious universe. But reasoning is not what Prospero uses his magic for. Ironically, Prospero is the most powerful man on Earth despite being trapped on an island, and he exercises that power to serve his desires.
To Prospero, magic means absolute control. By obtaining “fortune” from a star, Prospero can channel that energy to perform illusions, charms, and curses. In Act 1, scene II of the play, Prospero charms his own daughter into a deep sleep in order to speak with a spirit called Ariel. He exerts control of his daughter in order to hide the truth from her and then turns around to influence Ariel. When Ariel complains of his service to Prospero and desires a break, Prospero further amplifies his dominion over Ariel by saying, “I will rend an oak and peg thee in his knotty entrails till thou hast howled away twelve winters”( 33). The threat of dark magic acts like a whip to keep his slaves in place. He uses similar threats on Caliban in order to earn Caliban’s obedience. Magic is also an expression of Prospero’s internal and external state. He is a prisoner on an island and a prisoner of his desire. Hunger for revenge drives Prospero to create the tempest that traps those who have betrayed him and blinds him from love.
Magic apart from that of Prospero comes in other forms. Sycorax’s magic confined Ariel in a cloven pine once upon a time. This transformative magic references the psychology of slave owners where, from the perspective of the slave owner, the person enslaved is no longer seen as human but as an object whose sole purpose is to perform tasks. Transformative magic manifests itself in the dynamic between Prospero and Caliban. Prospero psychologically transforms Caliban into a demon, forcing him to perform household chores under the threat of curses to the point that his daughter Miranda hardly recognizes him as a fellow human being, causing her to say, “Abhorred slave, which any print of goodness will not take, being capable of all ill!”(39).
Caliban later says in response to Miranda, “You taught me language, and my profit on ‘t/ Is I know how to curse. The red plague rid you/ For learning me your language”(39). Earlier, on his entrance, Caliban cursed Prospero with blisters. Caliban’s curses, though not evidently magical, reveals magic as an instrument of rebellion. For Caliban, the notion that he can inflict curses on his masters by inheriting the powers of his mother not only serves as a coping mechanism for all the mental abuse he suffers under Prospero, but it also serves as a warning that fortunes are reversible. By reminding Prospero of his lineage, Caliban’s curses foreshadow Prospero’s downfall. His curses also illuminate the power of knowledge.
The first act of The Tempest, beginning with the storm, provides a titanic display of magic and its power to delineate class difference, to highlight the nature of man, and to boldly remark on how power corrupts absolutely.
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