Exploration Of Internal And External Imprisonment And Its Potential Restorative Power In The Tempest And Hag-seed

Through the provocative textual conversations between the Shakespearean 1611 tragicomedy The Tempest; and Margaret Atwood’s 2016 postmodern novel appropriation Hag-seed, the evolving presence of internal and external imprisonment and its potential restorative power is explored. Shakespeare’s humanist perspective under the influences of the Jacobean era presents a more religious element, which prioritises the theme of redemption and forgiveness in reconciling the dire consequences of imprisonment. Ultimately, the potential of imprisonment in healing the fragmented is extended and modernised by Atwood. Nevertheless, both texts suggest that text escape their temporal bounds and yet, are contextually bound to the composer’s contexts and tradition of literature which they find value with. This creates an opportunity for the audience to re-evaluate their personal judgement on the role of imprisonment in light of their own context.

The obsessive desire for revenge within both, The Tempest and Hag Seed explore the consequences of figurative imprisonment, thus highlighting a rediscovery of compassion and the restoration of sense of self and one’s humanity. The Tempest, is a reflection of Jacobean England’s paradigm shift in thought from providentialism to self-actualisation. As such, the transition of the protagonist Prospero, reflects the Christian humanism ideals at the time, that enlightenment must be governed by forgiveness, and the restriction of one’s imprisonment can only be healed by adapting the new world value of Christ. In The Tempest, Shakespeare delves straight into the presence of a physical prison by the symbolic setting of the island to a ‘poor cell’ that trapped Prospero and Miranda. Through Prospero’s repetition of the ‘cell’ motif highlights his rising anxiety, which foreshadows his growing desire to seek for revenge upon his brother Alonso in order to escape from this suffering. Prospero’s misfortune of being physically confined on the island ultimately fuels him to realise the need of gaining political power and control over others’ eros and thumos in order to achieve his vengeful goal. However that notion of revenge and gaining power comes to the costs of imprisonment of others and Prospero himself. This notion of dire consequences of imprisonment is revealed through the subjugation of Caliban which is revealed through Prospero’s description to Ariel, ‘A freckled whelp, hag-born—not honoured with/ A human shape’ and with a reference to the ‘earth’. Prospero’s use of aggressive pejoratives which refers Caliban to the son of earth and therefore dehumanizes him to a beast. Significantly, Shakespeare theorizes the relationship between Prospero and Caliban as an allegory for Colonial behaviour towards the indigenous population during the Age of Discovery. Thus criticising the mistreatment of the imperialist upon the archetypal human beings while the consequences of one’s imprisonment in impacting the archetypal human beings.