Commedia Dell Tempest: a Marxist Study of Shakespeare S

Clinch 1

Commedia dell’Tempest: A Marxist Study of Shakespeare’s

Historical Intent with The Tempest

Sarah L. Clinch

ENG 311/ Literary Study and Research

Dr. Livinus Odozor

12/15/08

Sarah Clinch
ENG 311 / Dr. Odozor
12/12/08

Marxist criticism regards literature “not as works created in accordance with timeless artistic criteria, but as ‘products’ of the economic and ideological determinants specific to that era” (Abrams 156). When viewing William Shakespeare’s The Tempest through a Marxist lens, the “economic and ideological determinants” significantly impact the Bard’s tale. The Italian theatre form of Commedia dell’Arte employs “stock characters” to create “largely improvised dialogue around a given scenario” (Abrams 42), and through the relationships of these stock characters in terms of the characters of The Tempest, these “economic and ideological determinants” can shine light on Shakespeare’s intentions for the population of his play. The Commedia dell’Arte art form flourished in the mid-1500s, well before Shakespeare was believed to have written The Tempest (c. 1610-11), and so its influence had already pervaded the culture by the time Shakespeare penned his classic play. Interestingly, Shakespeare placed the setting of his play on an isolated island, which brings all his characters into a close and intimate confrontation with each other (an element common to the theatre and Commedia dell’Arte); the island serves as the stage on which Shakespeare places his scenario.

To begin the comparisons, the main character Prospero, usurped Duke of Milan (which, interestingly, is a city in Italy, where Commedia dell’Arte was born), learns the spells and secrets of the supernatural, becoming a mage of sorts. He also, because of his magical skills and also because of his noble authority he preserved after his banishment, asserts himself as the monarch of the island, assuming leadership and mastery over the natives of the island, supernatural and mortal. Prospero mimics the characteristics of the Commedia dell’Arte character Pantalone. Pantalone, portrayed as a patriarchal figure of power (Allardyce 253), resides at the top of the hierarchy ladder and attempts to control everyone and everything surrounding him. While not every trait of Pantalone mimics that of Prospero (such as his lecherous nature (Oreglia 79)), the similarities are enough to hint at the influence the Commedia dell’Arte character had on the former Duke of Milan.

Pantalone’s main objective in the lazzi (or loosely-structured scenarios commonly acted out by the Commedia dell’Arte characters), besides controlling the flow of money, is to marry off his daughter to a wealthy man (Oreglia 80). Comedic conflict arises when the daughter, commonly named Isabella (Oreglia 116), falls in love with a young, beautiful and somewhat juvenile man, commonly named Lelio or Fabian (Oreglia 116). Prospero’s daughter, Miranda, closely resembles the daughter of Pantalone from Commedia dell’Arte: Isabella. While Prospero does not attempt to marry Miranda off to an older, wealthy man (he in factavoids pairing her with Caliban, the only other male Miranda knows other than her father at the start of the play), he does accept Miranda and Ferdinand’s love with a grain of salt: he forces Ferdinand to prove his love by working for Miranda’s hand. Miranda’s love-struck sickness for Ferdinand matches the emotional plight of Isabella; while she loves Fabian, she wants to please her father, which would mean marrying the older man (commonly Il Dottore (Oreglia 80)). Miranda’s circumstances are comparable to that of Isabella, and these parallels set the stage for further conflict in The Tempest, like Isabella’s do in Commedia dell’Arte lazzis.

Ferdinand’s love for Miranda transcends any physical struggle, for he works diligently as Prospero’s help in order to win his love’s hand. His toil for the one he loves mirrors the fidelity of the lover Fabian of Commedia dell’Arte. Fabian, while usually a character of noble birth, humbles himself through his infatuation for Isabella, similar to Ferdinand’s humbling of himself as Prospero’s servant to win Miranda. Because of the deep infatuation the characters feel for each other, Commedia dell’Arte’s stereotypes Isabella and Fabian often have trouble expressing thoughts (due to nerves and excitement, or confusion, when together) (Oreglia 116). Miranda and Ferdinand often become nervous and unintelligible when they meet: when Miranda boldly proposes to her lover, she has to firmly collect her wits by calling for “cunning” and “plain and holy innocence” to strengthen her before she proceeds. Ferdinand from The Tempest closely resembles the love-struck Fabian from the collection of stock characters of Commedia dell’Arte.

Ferdinand, the son of Alonso, King of Naples, closely resembles Fabian in that the stock character’s father, commonly Il Dottore (Allardyce 257), strongly bears a resemblance to the King of Shakespeare’s play. Alonso, along with Ferdinand and others, shipwrecks on the isolated island after Prospero sent forth the tempest. While he stands with Antonio and the other conspirators who had banished Prospero from his position as Duke of Milan, he greatly regrets his influence in the events, and wishes to have no more part in them. Il Dottore commonly contrasts Pantalone as either a friend, mentor or adversary (Oreglia 86). Alonso in Shakespeare’s interpretation exists as all of these roles: because he knows not how he stands in terms of favor with Antonio or Prospero, his potential for any of these roles exists. Because Alonso arrives on the island with Antonio, he begins the play as one of Prospero’s rivals; however, because Prospero forgives all the conspirators at the end of the play, his role shifts into that of friend (and perhaps mentor, because King is a step up in hierarchy from Duke). Because of Alonso’s evolving standing throughout The Tempest, he mimics the Commedia dell’Arte character Il Dottore, because the Doctor (as the Italian translates) himself shifts in roles depending on the lazzi and what the events require of him.

Alonso’s brother and co-conspirator on overthrowing Prospero as Duke of Milan, named Sebastian, follows the roles and responsibilities inherent in the Commedia dell’Arte character Il Capitano. Sebastian, much like his Commedia dell’Arte counterpart, speaks brazenly and without a thought to how others will receive his words (such as when he confronts Alonso and accuses him of creating many widows in Milan and Naples: he blames the shipwreck on Alonso because he believes the king foolishly married his daughter off to an African (2.1. 99-111). His bold appearance and words, however, wane dramatically when audience members realize his arrogance only covers his cowardice. Il Capitano from Commedia dell’Arte stereotypically represents a military official with all bark and no bite (Allardyce 248), and Sebastian embodies these qualities strongly in The Tempest. Sebastian not only covers his cowardice with overconfidence; he also excuses his behavior as laziness (2.1. 88-89). Whether through pride or laziness, Sebastian’s cowardice reveals itself through, in one of the most obvious instances, Sebastian’s hesitation in striking Alonso dead. Once everyone awakens, he explains away the sword in his hand as protection from “bulls, or rather lions” (2.1. 276). Alonso’s brother Sebastian imitates Il Capitano through his cowardice hidden by a poorly-hung cover of arrogance and supreme complacency.

The main antagonist throughout the story of The Tempest, Antonio, is Prospero’s brother and main conspirator who threw his kin out of Italy and to the isolated island the mage calls home at the time of Shakespeare’s play. Antonio manipulates the other characters that travel with him into doing his will, and acts as the ultimate schemer toward obtaining his desires (disguised as good for the group). As a manipulator and schemer, he echoes the Commedia dell’Arte character Brighella. Brighella is “self-seeking” (Allardyce 283); he pursues what he does not possess, and does anything to achieve his goals. Antonio wanted his brother’s office, got him banished, and took his place as the Duke of Milan. His schemes and plans get him what he wants until he arrives on the island, where his disorientation forces him to focus on survival and control over those people he is with (which is, in fact, still a focus on what he desires to have). Like Brighella, Antonio is the ultimate mastermind and plotter, and makes a brilliant nemesis to Prospero’s protagonist role in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

While the previous characters discussed from The Tempest were of a higher class, the following three characters and their similarities to Commedia dell’Arte characters belong to a lower class, below the statuses of everyone else in the population of the play and the company of characters in the Italian theatre style. Trinculo, a jester who shipwrecks upon the enchanted island with Antonio, Alonso and Sebastian, serves his lords by entertaining them. One of the most entertaining characters from the Commedia dell’Arte collection of stock characters is Arlecchino (Oreglia 56) (who is so popular he has been “Americanized” into the fairly well-known Harlequin-jester character). The quintessential costume of Arlecchino is the brightly colored, often diamond-like pattern (Oreglia 57), which still is connected with Harlequin characters today. Diamond patterned clothing often represents the jester as well, and so in understanding Trinculo as Arlecchino, the costuming of the stock character and the career of Shakespeare’s character serve to prove the similarities between the two characters.

Trinculo’s companion after the company shipwrecks upon the enchanted island, Stefano, strikingly emulates the Commedia dell’Arte character type Zanni. Stefano’s social status is quite low, since his is a butler, and this career position corresponds to Zanni’s own status within society. Zanni is quite lowly placed on the ladder of rank (as a server to the highly ranked characters (Allardyce 263)), and often fails to do well at his job (probably due to a lack of desire). Stefano also does poorly at his job, as evidenced by his excessive drinking and the glee he seems to feel at being shipwrecked, isolated from any responsibilities as a butler. The comic relief Stefano and Trinculo provide to counter the seriousness of Prospero’s plans for revenge and Antonio’s and Sebastian’s plots for murder take influence from the zany jests of comedic characters Zanni and Arlecchino (Allardyce 266), respectively.

Trinculo and Stefano, after shipwrecking on the island, encounter the only native inhabitant: Caliban. Caliban is a deformed, twisted, savage monster who is forced into servitude by Prospero. He resents Prospero and wishes to conquer the island and make Miranda his queen; however, until he meets Trinculo and Stefano, he suppresses his feelings and quietly rages from within. The two foreigners, however, introduce alcohol into Caliban’s system, which quickly gets him talking about his plans for the island, Prospero, and Prospero’s beautiful daughter. The native’s wicked demeanor and savage impression he gives those he meets suggest similarities with Pulcinella, a debauched and crafty trickster of Commedia dell’Arte. Pulcinella is also usually deformed (Oreglia 92), and is at the bottom of society (Allardyce 290). With no hopes of climbing the ladder of society, he forgoes any manners or niceties of proper behavior, and so can seem savage in demeanor and class (Oreglia 93). Caliban, like Pulcinella, is actually an extremely tragic character. He is hopeless, and the vicious circle he exists in (his hopes to conquer Prospero are beaten down by his depraved nature) keeps him hopeful for a better life. Pulcinella’s qualities clearly further Caliban’s own, and through Shakespeare’s invocation of the Commedia dell’Arte trickster, audiences can better understand the monster’s callous nature.

Each of these characters, as discussed from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, clearly shares similarities with various characters from the Italian art form Commedia dell’Arte. The similarities are so obvious they suggest an influence from the stock characters on Shakespeare’s own, unique characters. This influence, when viewed from a Marxist historiographical lens, significantly impresses upon audiences the idea of class and hierarchy and the consequences of the clash between these social positions. The bourgeois, consisting of the wealthy middle-class, influenced the creation of the stock character stereotypes in Commedia dell’Arte, which in turn influenced the formation of those characters in The Tempest which belong to the higher class. The proletariat, comprised of the lower middle-class, created other stereotypical characters which the Commedia dell’Arte theatre embraced as part of their collection of characters, and because the Bard took influence so heavily from Commedia dell’Arte for his play The Tempest, the proletariat directly inspired several characters from Shakespeare’s classic supernatural play.

The bourgeois class inspired such characters as Pantalone, Il Dottore, Il Capitano, Brighella, and the lovers Isabella and Fabian. Because they were presented as fairly wealthy, the events which transpired in the lazzis often revolved around money: Pantalone often attempts to marry his daughter Isabella off to a rich older man to gain profit, etc. The characters of The Tempest which correspond to these bourgeois stock characters, Prospero to Pantalone, Alonso to Il Dottore, Sebastian to Il Capitano, Antonio to Brighella, Miranda to Isabella and Ferdinand to Fabian, also struggle for wealth and position throughout Shakespeare’s play. The most obvious struggle is the conflict between Prospero and Antonio to be Duke of Milan. At first, Prospero is overthrown by Antonio and his followers, banished to the island that becomes the setting of the play proper; then, near the end of the play, Prospero confronts the conspirators and subsequently forgives them, but he asks Antonio for his position as Duke of Milan back: “my dukedom of thee, which perforce, I know, Thou must restore” (5.1. 137-8). Another struggle in The Tempest, while not dealing with wealth or position, is the toil Ferdinand undergoes to win Miranda’s hand. Prospero puts Ferdinand through voluntary servitude to prove him faithful toward Miranda and determined to marry her. While money and social rank are not at issue, struggle still exists, because Prospero’s reluctance to wed the two immediately causes tension between father and daughter and son-in-law to be and father-in-law to be. These conflicts, and others, between the members of the bourgeois class in Shakespeare’s The Tempestprovide the audience with examples of how the bourgeois class interacted when in conflict with each other, and hints at the intentions Shakespeare had when dealing with the bourgeois class.

The proletariat class inspired characters like Arlecchino, Zanni and Pulcinella in Commedia dell’Arte, and because these characters share ties with the Shakespearean characters Trinculo, Stefano and Caliban, the three minor characters can be considered part of the proletariat working class. All three of these characters serve the other characters considered part of the bourgeois, whether as a jester, a butler or a slave. All three characters, when together on the enchanted island, consider themselves free from their social ranks and free to govern themselves. Trinculo and Stefano find their freedom when they get separated from the rest of the group who survived. Their subsequent exploration of the island brings them to Caliban, the deformed monster-like native of the island. Caliban finds his “freedom” when he meets up with the pair of shipwrecked proletariat, and finds himself emboldened to seek his own way apart from Prospero. Because these characters seek freedom from their employers, they emulate the Marxist ideal of social revolution and upheaval of the classes. Each minor character wishes for his own individual freedom and advancement beyond the working class: they wish to become the bourgeois and to have the current bourgeois in power become their workers. Because none of these characters actually achieve revolution from their class, due to Prospero’s settling with Antonio, Alonso and Sebastian over his banishment, Shakespeare could be suggesting his intentions contrary to those ideals Marxism fosters.

Through a Marxist historiographical lens, The Tempest obviously borrows from the culture and ideas of Shakespeare’s time to create the uniquely inspired supernatural play. Marxist historiography contends that literary works are “‘products’ of the economic and ideological determinants specific to that era” (Abrams 156), and so Marxist historiography would consider the Commedia dell’Arte influence in The Tempest as an extremely significant factor to the play. Seeing these characters as unique, individual embodiments of Commedia dell’Arte characters gives a new outlook on their personalities and qualities as characters, instead of as just figments of Shakespeare’s imagination he put onto paper to form a play.

When considering the impact of class structure in The Tempest, the Marxist view would see the play as pro-bourgeoisie. Marxism in general views “human consciousness” as “constituted by an ideology” (Abrams 155): “an ideology is, in complex ways, the product of the position and interests of a particular class. In any historical era, the dominant ideology embodies, and serves to legitimize and perpetuate, the interests of the dominant economic and social class” (Abrams 155). In Shakespeare’s day, the bourgeois were that dominant social class, as evidenced by the upper middle class benefactors toward the lower working class (specifically to Shakespeare, the actors). Clearly, as seen in The Tempest, the interests of the bourgeois were kept first. Because Prospero was banished from his position as Duke of Milan, it could be assumed that social upheaval knocked the mage from his rank and the Marxist ideal would be complete; however, at the end of the play Prospero forgives his brother Antonio and the co-conspirators, and in fact regains his position as Duke. Further, Trinculo, Stefano and Caliban plotted to start a revolution and free themselves from social entrapment by the superior bourgeois; however, at the end of the play, their plans were foiled by Prospero’s forgiveness of those who had wronged him, and in fact no revolution took place. The fact that Caliban fails in his desires suggests Shakespeare’s stance against social revolution and for keeping the bourgeois in power: a uniquely bourgeois ideal. Therefore, because the bourgeois kept their place and the proletariat did not experience a revolution, Shakespeare’s The Tempest could be argued to portray pro-bourgeois literature. As a member of the working class himself, Shakespeare seems to contradict himself: as a member of the proletariat, he should ideally want to obtain the social class and distinction as one of the bourgeois. Whether he truly believed the bourgeois belonged in the seat of power, or whether he was brainwashed, Shakespeare’s play The Tempest follows the ideals of the bourgeoisie.