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William Shakespeare’s The Tempest has very few female characters and when a female character is to act or say something in the play, it should be thoroughly and deeply analyzed. Shakespeare’s Sycorax for example, is said to be an ugly hag but is also considered a very powerful woman. Miranda on the other hand, is a young and innocent girl who doesn’t rise up against her father. Beautiful women have the power to provide choices, while powerful women have the power to make their decisions. Claribel is woman of both sides. In The Tempest we can see the thought that female beauty and power almost never coexists, and that when it does, no one really knows what to do.
Miranda and her Beauty
Miranda, the first female character, is a young, obedient and naïve wild-child born from nobility. Her first appearance in the play is as the character of a daughter pleading to her father. Born from a noble bloodline, Miranda definitely has power over the less fortunate, however, she will always be under the power of those above her—namely Prospero in this case. She has the power to plead and let Prospero consider whether or not he wants to dissolve the storm or not, but Prospero is the one who has the power to choose to end the storm. Similar to this scene, we have the act of Miranda falling in love with Ferdinand. She asks “Do you love me?” (93) and pushes for Ferdinand to be “my husband, then” (93). In this case, Miranda suggests marriage between the two (because of her naivety and inexperience in love—Ferdinand was only the third man she ever saw) but Ferdinand is the one with the power to confirm the marriage by saying “Ay, with a heart as willing…Here’s my hand” (93). In a more general sense, Miranda’s “nonpareil” (101) beauty was what caused Ferdinand’s heart to “fly to [her] service” (91). Ferdinand was the one to decide that he was worthy of Miranda’s love. The treatment of Miranda as an object by the men in the play is similar to a person choosing whether or not an object is worthy of their time.
Caliban’s attempt at raping Miranda is seen by Miranda, and more importantly Prospero, as one of the worse things to ever happen. To Prospero, the “honor” (37) and unbroken “virgin-knot” (117) of Miranda are the most valuable features to his child. When Ferdinand’s first question to Miranda is whether or not she is “a virgin” (45) the importance of innocence is emphasized even more. The importance of staying a virgin and remaining innocent until marriage is what a man takes into account when eyeing a woman for marriage. In this case, the innocence of a woman and the fact of whether she is a virgin or not contributes greatly to the beauty that is assigned to a woman. In Miranda’s case, only after her virginity is confirmed by Ferdinand, does he offer to “make [her] the Queen of Naples” (45). To the other side of this case, is Sycorax. If, following the line of thinking that more innocence is equal to more beauty, then Sycorax isn’t necessarily hated by all men because she has the power to decision, but also because she is no longer innocent. Her innocence was taken away the moment she engaged in sexual interactions with another man to avoid execution. The proof of her innocence being taken away is the existence of Caliban. To add onto this, the fact that Caliban is born “not honored with human shape” (31) is a confirmation that all things tainted and unvirtuous are doomed to a life of alienation and estrangement from others in society.
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Sycorax and her Power/Knowledge
Much unlike Miranda, Sycorax of Argier, is characterized as the “foul witch Sycorax” (29) full of “age and envy” (29). There is nothing beautiful or innocent about her. The first mention of Sycorax in Shakespeare’s play is when Prospero uses her as a comparison to Ariel on which master treated it worse. The result of this is that Sycorax is now associated with a negative connotation. The fact that she was “banished” (31) from her home country of Argier adds to the negative characterization of Sycorax. However, her banishment was a result of the decision that she made. Sycorax’s decision to get pregnant to avoid execution is evidence of the power that she has over others, as well as herself. It is also noted that to become pregnant, some man would have had to engage in sexual interactions with Sycorax, which is then an indication that Sycorax has some sort of beauty possible of attracting a man to impregnate her. A different sort of power by Sycorax is also seen by her being the past ruler of the island. She has the power to care for the island by herself, as well as the power to subdue the unearthly creature that Ariel is—even “a dozen years” (31) after her death.
Claribel married off/Women in politics/keeping peace
Though only roughly mentioned, Claribel is one of the three name-mentioned women of this play. She is first mentioned by Gonzalo, “an honest old counselor” (3) to Alonso, when he talks about her marriage to the King of Tunis. Being the daughter to Alonso, King of Naples, Claribel is practically sold off to Tunis so that relationships will remain steady and smooth. Sebastian, brother to the King of Naples, even admits that her “sweet marriage” (55) let the nation of Naples “prosper well in [their] return” (55). In other words, Claribel is used by the two kingdoms as a symbolization of the start to good relations between two nations. Because she is a “fair” (55) woman—a woman of beauty (“fair”, in archaic terms, refers to a beautiful and attractive woman)—she is not given the choice of marriage. Instead the marriage happens between the two kings of the nations, not between her and the King of Tunis. It makes sense though; what nation would send unpleasant, unsightly objects as a sign of cooperation to other states?
However, the result of Claribel being married to the King of Tunis is that she is now the Queen of Tunis. She is now a beautiful woman capable of providing choices, as well as a powerful woman capable of making her own decisions. With Ferdinand thought to be drowned and gone, the next heir to Naples rightfully goes to Claribel. As queen to a kingdom, it is safe to assume that Claribel is a woman who has risen and claimed power of her own—a power that surpasses the beauty she holds. Because marriage gave Claribel power, she is considered the next heir to Naples. But because Claribel is still a woman of beauty, the choice to rule over Naples is quickly shot down by the men and her power to decision is taken from her. As another deterrent to Claribel’s gaining of a second nation, the play’s depiction that women can only be like Sycorax or Miranda, rules that Claribel, a woman of both sides, should not be in the running to becoming the next ruler of Naples.
For the reasonings above, Claribel’s character is a sort of gray area when it comes to the female characters that Shakespeare incorporated into his The Tempest. Is the addition of Claribel into the story to say that the power that a woman has overrides her beauty, and therefore, makes her out to be a vile, evil woman with “mischiefs manifold” (31) and “abhorred commands” (31)? Is it to say that any woman with the power to make decisions on her own behalf is ugly?
All three women are mentioned, but only Miranda appears
Women, like Miranda, who are passive and obedient to the patriarchy are the type of women that all women should strive to be. Youth, beauty, and innocence is what is looked for in potential wives and there should be little to no room for influential powers. On the other hand, women like Sycorax, who take advantage of the powers they have, are to be criticized and denounced. Women like Claribel should not exist, but the inclusion of her character in this play is a way to say that there are women like that in the real world. There are many women with only beauty, and many women with only power, however, there are few women that have both. Of the three women mentioned, the fact that Miranda is the only female character to physically appear in the play says a lot about what sort of women should be shown and praised in the world that Shakespeare created in The Tempest—other women should not be readily accepted.
Conclusion
William Shakespeare’s The Tempest has very few female characters when compared to the amount of male characters in the play. However, of the three female characters, each has her own distinct relationship with beauty and power. The play establishes that beautiful women who have the power to provide choices are held higher in Shakespearean worlds than the women who have the power of choice. It also rules that women who are both beautiful and have the power to choice, are women that are in the gray area.
