“on Balance, the View of Human Nature Which Emerges in the Play Is Not Particularly Optimistic.” Discuss This View of the Tempest with Comparative Reference to Dr Faustus.

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We are immediately faced with a pessimistic representation of human nature in The Tempest in Act 1 Scene 2 through the character of Caliban and his actions in regards to Miranda, the protagonist’s (Prospero) daughter. Prospero alludes to Caliban attempting to rape his daughter as he says "...I have used thee, / Filth as thou art, with human care and lodged thee / In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate /The honour of my child." For Shakespeare to almost open the play with such a savage representation of Caliban allows us to interpret that he is going to explore the extent to which freedom within human nature can often lead to abhorrent actions. However, we must consider that we only have Prospero’s account for the said occurrence and it is evident that Prospero arguably loathes Caliban, Regarding him as a "beast" and a "poisonous slave, and so it’s possible that the things he says about him are not necessarily wholly true. Despite this, we must consider that Prospero and Miranda initially took on the role of caring and educating Caliban in replace of his Mother and Miranda endeavours to scold Caliban for being ungrateful regarding her attempts to educate him in Act 1 Scene 2 - “When thou didst not, savage, / Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like / A thing most brutish, I endowed thy purposes / With words that made them known.” From this, we can gather that Shakespeare is attempting to argue the futility in humans attempting to help one another through Caliban’s rebellion and failure to adopt a moral stance which is another criticism of human nature. It’s possible to consider how the protagonist in Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus is also unable to take a moral stance when he willingly sells his soul to the devil in return for power and knowledge. Rather than utilising this power in an effective way, he chooses to merely abuse it for things like

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