Lend Me Your Ears

Throughout the first act of Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest, Prospero employs his historical narratives to efficiently manipulate the people around him: Caliban, Miranda, Ariel. An example of his rhetoric is his sob story that he retells to Miranda to enlighten his struggle that ultimately makes Miranda react with, “alack, what trouble was I then to you!”; for, he portrayed himself as the gum on the bottom of the world’s shoe and rose above it all despite the strength of the currents. Prospero implies that he is the victim in his historical narratives to assist Miranda in overcoming her guilt over the “poor souls, they perished”. Additionally he prolongs Ariel’s freedom by reshaping her past through rhetoric, asking her “dost thou forget from what a torment I did free thee?” He accuses her of forgetting the story of her past. Although she replies that she does remember he becomes angered and indicts until he retells it, in a state assumed to be worse every time retold. At the end of this narrative she responds to him with, “I will be correspondent to command and do my spiriting gently.” Also, Prospero manipulates Caliban with rhetoric as well. When the slave who he impresses as, “…my slave who never yields us kind answer” becomes offended with Prospero’s demeaning attitude towards him shares his voice, he is threatened by his owner. Prospero terrorizes him with, “hag-seed, hence! Fetch us in fuel. And be quick, thou’rt best, to answer other business. Shrug’st thou, malice? If thou neglect’st or doest unwillingly what I command, I’ll rack thee with old cramps fill all thy bones with aches, make thee roar that beasts shall tremble at thy din.” Caliban has no other choice by to accept the work he must do to avoid severe consequence. No matter his relationship with the person or the demeanor of the historical narrative he manages to manipulate his subject to get the desired outcome. Whether he is victimized, a hero, or must threaten he manages to persuade those in which he practices rhetoric on to maintain power over the individuals.