Imagining the Colonial Subject:

The Tempest by William Shakespeare & Oroonoko by Aphra Behn

In the sixteenth century, individuals of Black ancestry or individuals from non-European contexts were often portrayed in British literature, as seen in works such as The Tempest (1610-1611) by William Shakespeare & Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave (1688) by Aphra Behn. Nonwhite individuals were symbolically significant, even in the works of white European authors. However, the portrayal of nonwhite individuals was not always thematically consistent in a positive or negative way, though nonwhite individuals were consistently portrayed as the other, in other words, as non-Christian, non-European, and having a different appearance than the intended audience.

This paper will examine the view of the nonwhite, colonial subject in both texts, one which validates enslavement and subjugation (in the case of The Tempest) and one which attempts to articulate antiracist ideas (Oroonoko). It will also argue that Behns gendered position as a woman author adds additional veracity to her validation of the title character of her short story as noble, versus threatening. Behns work has been called the first literary abolitionist text, according to scholar Moira Ferguson, one in which the narrator admires Oroonokos heroic stance against slavery and deplores his punishment when captured even though it is somewhat ambivalent as an anti-colonialist text (Ferguson 339).

The Tempest and Good and Bad Servants (Slaves)

In the case of The Tempest, even if nonwhite or colonial subjects are represented, their non-whiteness is only represented obliquely. Equally importantly, in Shakespeares drama, the main hero of the play and the storys fundamental struggle takes place within the life of Prospero, an exiled duke who has taught himself magic from books. The play depicts a tropical island with native inhabitants, but with the conceit that they are inhabitants of a magical fairytale world, rather than one subjugated by political acts of colonialism. The magical Prospero is clearly European, but his residency is the result of involuntary exile, rather than a desire for enrichment. Individuals such as his servant Ariel and Caliban represent different facets of the islands character, but they are only portrayed in light of how they reflect upon Prosperos essential struggle to return to civilization and to rehabilitate his reputation, not as subjects worthy of attention themselves. The characters of Caliban and Ariel do articulate their unique points of view, but ultimately their perspectives are peripheral to Prosperos personal struggle.

Furthermore, at least one of the island beings in The TempestCalibanembodies many of the stereotypes Europeans held of non-white, non-European individuals at the time. He is ugly, inarticulate, and violent. This can be seen in one of the very first extended scenes in the play, when Prospero calls upon Caliban, despite his daughter Miranda saying she is afraid. Prospero points out that Caliban is necessary to act as their slave so they may have wood and fire. Prospero explicitly and unapologetically uses the language of slavery in his wording, even calling upon Caliban as a slave.

Caliban is said to lack language until Prospero taught him words. According to Caliban, spitting at Prospero: You taught me language; and my profit ont/ Is, I know how to curse (I.2, 362-363). On a very basic level, this does not even make sense, given presumably Caliban and his mother must have had to communicate with one another before Prosperos arrival. Not having language is said to be synonymous with not speaking English, and Caliban never learns to use language properly (in other words, not to curse).

Secondly, Caliban is explicitly said to have menaced Prosperos daughter Miranda and tried to rape her, again confirming stereotypes that non-Europeans are bestial and wish to have sex with European women. Caliban does not even deny this fact. Prospero says to Caliban that he showed kindness, 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 (I.2. 347-349). Caliban rather gleefully responds that he would have happily peopled the island with little Calibans (I.2.349-350). However, despite Calibans possessive claim the island is his, he quickly falls under the spell of two lower-class English individuals, who ply him with drink, and who he vows to worship as gods. The implication is that the magical islands natives are incapable of governing themselves, and instinctively seek white people to keep them in line.

Only at the very end does Caliban soberly repent of his folly. What a thrice-double ass/Was I, to take this drunkard for a god, /And worship this dull fool! (V.1.296-298). Of course, it could be protested...

…Shakespeare buries these concerns by transposing concerns about colonialism to an island where slavery is of ostensibly magical beings (some of whom are innately wicked, like Caliban and his mother), Behn wrote in a way to challenge the Royal African Company which had a monopoly on the slave trade (Ferguson 341). Behns work is intended to motivate real, political chnge, rather than turns colonialism into a fantasy story for spectacle and delight. On the other hand, Behn has still been criticized for the ways that her text engages with the questions of freedom and slavery in relationship to monarchy. Oroonoko is a prince, and is shown as having a nobility above and beyond other Black Africans within the text. This seems to endorse European notions of hereditary monarchy. Also, it is grandfather who sells his beloved into slavery, and the complicity of Africans as well as Europeans in slavery is likewise stressed.

Finally, the end of the text specifically states that Oroonoko is destined for a better place in the world to come, in a highly Eurocentric and Christianized vision of heaven. This is in keeping with the notion of the prince as a noble savage, and one above the morals, intelligence, and integrity of his fellow enslaved persons. Behn ultimately endorses a vision of Oroonokos exceptionalism, rather than stressing his connections to others like him. He is a leader among his people, morally, as well as a leader of a rebellion. But it should be noted this may also simply be keeping with the emphasis of many tragedies of the era, which focused upon great men, rather than ordinary individuals.

Conclusion

Still, in considering Behns text in relationship to Shakespeares, the radicalness of her vision is striking, as is her willingness to question colonialism, the assumption of innate Black inferiority, or the idea that nonwhite and non-Christian cultures must be reformed. Additionally, it is Oroonokos struggle which is at the forefront of the prose narrative, and the author mainly draws attention to herself as a writer, not as a subject within the drama. In Shakespeares play, the struggles and conflicts of the Europeans, and the romance of the younger white characters, are more important than either Ariel or Calibans freedom. Slavery in Shakespeare is depicted as relatively benign. Behns story, in contrast, ends…