The Utopic Structure of The Tempest

Author(s): THOMAS BULGER

Source: Utopian Studies, Vol. 5, No. 1 (1994), pp. 38-47
Published by: Penn State University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20719247
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Essays

The Utopie Structureof The Tempest

THOMAS BULGER

As several commentators have recognized, The Tempest directly and

fully examines Utopian ideas current at the time of the play's composition.1
But this engagement is not simply thematic. In The Tempest, form not
only
mirrors its Utopian content (the central scene presents the wonderful rela
tionship of Ferdinand and Miranda at the heart of theplay) but also acts as a
commentary on content (the pressures of harsh reality in the last act qualify
the Utopian possibilities of Acts III and IV). Presenting different perspec
tives on what constitutes a harmonious society, Shakespeare indicates struc
turally the values and the virtues belonging to theplay's Utopian vision.2
Utopias are designed to posit positive, better alternatives to existing
social, political, and cultural systems. Before these changes can be contem
plated or resolved, however, the old order of thingsmust be temporally sus
pended, spatially removed, or both. In the first scene of The Tempest, the
play shows the macrocosmic world in chaos. The turmoil in the natural
world mirrors the psychological and political turbulence in the human
world. The tempest points to a world where time is out of joint, where indi
viduals because of the life-threatening circumstances of the storm no longer
feel obligated to traditional social conventions and hierarchies, where indi
viduals are at odds with the physical cosmos, where preexisting structures
are rent or rendered inoperative. For human existence to continue, harmony
needs to be (re)established on the personal, social, and cosmic levels. Ernst
Bloch has usefully suggested that one characteristic of Utopias is that they
provide "windows which open in the direction of ultimate anticipation"
(94). The tempest affords just such a glimpse. The Boatswain's scorn of the
courtiers suggests the possibility of an order based on natural ability and the
social worth of one's labor:3 "What care these roarers for the name of
. . . use your . .
king? authority. If you cannot. [get] out of our way"
(I.i.16-7, 23-4, 27). Implicit in this opening scene is a social alternative to
the status quo of an aristocracy justified solely on heredity and divine right.
Moreover, themost significant social values on this ship of state stem from
family and fraternity,not class; as the sailors prepare to drown, they cry out,
"'Farewell, my wife and children!'?'Farewell, brother!'" (I.i.60-1).
Briefly, yet significantly, Shakespeare in this opening scene presents a view
of the commonwealth that does not simply and blindly affirm the orthodox
royal ideology of Jacobean England, but instead has a more egalitarian bent.4

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 The Utopie Structureof The Tempest 39

Although the Utopian impulse became progressively stronger in seven

teenth-centuryBritish literature,5Shakespeare's England at the time of the
composition of The Tempest (1611) was not prepared for a social revolution
grounded in liberty, fraternity,equality; itwould not be until 1642 that an
English non-aristocratic commonwealth would come into being. Thus the
concrete Utopian alternatives to the existing political system remain couched
in terms ofmonarchical rule. So against the severely disordered macrocosm
is set the supremely ordered island kingdom of Act I, scene two. Because of
his wisdom and power, Prospero has constructed a littleworld superior in
its social order to the civilization he has left.6Under his governance, the
island society is free from (or limits) the problems that plague all political
states. His upbringing and education of his daughter produces a person who
approaches die perfection of a Utopian individual; as Miranda's name indi
cates, she is "wonderful." Furthermore, Prospero (using Ariel as his instru
ment) controls the elements of nature inimical to human survival and draws
on the aspects of the physical universe conducive to well-being. Finally, a
seemingly clear-cut system of justice reigns here, where virtue is preserved,
good is the norm, and the punishment fits the crime (a harsher fathermight
well have given Caliban a more severe sentence than "cramps" for his
attempted rape ofMiranda). That Prospero through the power of his magic
and the agency of Ariel causes the storm to occur indicates that he has the
kind of absolute control any monarch (James I comes quickly to mind)
would desire.7 That Prospero has attained his power due to his superior edu
cation would also seem to intimate thathe has achieved a synthesis ofmoral
and political virtue that theRenaissance associated with enlightened, exem
plary rulers.8
Yet this island kingdom is neither ideal nor idyllic. Two of the indu
bitable sources for The Tempest areWilliam Strachey's account of recent
voyages to America and Montaigne's essay "Of the Cannibals."9 In
Strachey's description of Bermuda, the island appears as an earthly par
adise. But Shakespeare treats the enthusiasm forNew World Utopias in his
sources with heavy doses of irony. Prospero's island has, among its other
natural delights, a pool of "horsepiss" (IV.i.198), not exactly consonant with
a lush edenic refuge; and Ariel is sent to the "still-vexed [not tranquil]
Bermoothes" (I.ii.229) by Prospero. The natural world does not contain
Utopian refuges.
Also problematic are the island's social arrangements. Ariel as well as
Caliban lacks freedom; both are engaged in a master-slave dialectic with
Prospero.10 Though not as overtly,Miranda is also locked into a subservient
posture; she is the silent, chaste, meek, obedient "foot" (I.ii.470) to Pros
pero's governing head. Nor is Prospero always dispassionate and benevo
lent in the disposition of his power. Throughout the play, he harbors
vengeful and angry thoughts towards Antonio and Alonso for their usurpa
tion of Prospero's ducal title; even in the last scene, Ariel gently reminds
Prospero that his "affections" need to "become tender" (V.i.18-9). Tom
maso Campanella's City of the Sun, published 1623 but written around the

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40 UTOPIANSTUDIES

time of The Tempest, describes a Utopian society ruled byMetaphysic, with

three deputies: Wisdom, Power, Love. Lacking the third of these, Pros
pero's island is deficient in the first as well. Knowledge is power; wisdom
requires knowledge combined with and emanating from love. What is
absent is a view on love that transcends the filial affection ofMiranda and
Prospero. Without a more inclusive sense of the common weal, Prospero's
kingdom in its "harshness" (III.i.9) bears a close and uncomfortable sem
blance to Plato's strict and stratified republic. The exercise of absolute
power is inherently dangerous; one person's benevolent despot is another's
repressive tyrant.11
It is through Ferdinand that the gap between larger and smaller worlds
will be bridged. Significantly, he is the only one of the shipwrecked party
who appears in the second scene; moreover, he is immediately granted a
place (albeit a subservient one) in Prospero's kingdom. The love of Ferdi
nand and Miranda at first sight (I.ii.441-2) intimates what will become
explicit inActs IV and V?though Utopian communities are impossible in
large-scale political systems, Utopian relationships are potentially available
toworthy individuals.
But for such relationships to flourish, a number of barriers have to be
overcome; and this is the burden of the following action. Both scenes inAct
II contain false or incomplete views on utopianism thatmust be dispelled
before the "harmonious" and "majestic vision" (IV.i.l 19, 118) of the
nymphs and the reapers comes to fruition; and both scenes also illustrate
human faults and foibles that prohibit the achievement of Utopian content
ment on a grand scale.
The first scene revolves around the social/political utopianism of Gon
zalo's famous commonwealth speech. Taken fromMontaigne's primitivistic
"Of Cannibals" and based on theGolden Age of classical mythology, Gon
zalo's description is at once noble, romantic, and absurd. It defines human
happiness by negation ("no kind of traffic," "letters should not be known,"
"no use," "no sovereignty"), an inherently contradictory proposition as
Antonio points out. As attractive as it seems, Gonzalo's picture is flawed in
two ways. Itwillfully overlooks (rather than thoughtfullycontains) the self
ish and vicious proclivities of human nature that are illustrated in the sar
castic asides of Antonio and Sebastian; and it posits a static model of
perfection that is unreal and unrealizable in this or any other time or place,
as Alonso remarks: "Thou dost talk nothing to me" (ILL 175). Extolling
what Bloch labels as the "primitive commune" concept of Utopia, Gonzalo
is ridiculed by the cynical Sebastian and Antonio for celebrating a commu
nistic society with Gonzalo as sovereign: "the latter end of his common
wealth forgets the beginning" (ILL 156). The scene dismisses Utopian
ideologies thatdepend on a reductive, reactionary primitivism.
Whereas scene one considers some of the crucial ethical/intellectual
problems in establishing this or any Utopia, scene two exposes the appeti
tive/physical shortcomings of humanity thatpreclude such social perfection.
Caliban is the ironic antithesis to Gonzalo's vision, the bestial reality of a

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 The Utopie Structureof The Tempest 41

purely "natural" existence. Gonzalo's golden age abolishes the need for
education and for sovereignty. Yet both are necessary for social order, as
the irresponsible, ignorant, and incorrigible behavior of Caliban, Stephano,
and Trinculo demonstrates. Without education, human society would be
inane; even Caliban perceives this, when he later on in Act III warns
Stephano and Trinculo that to overthrow Prospero theymust "remember
first to possess his books; for without them he's but a sot, as I am"
(in.ii.89?91). Because human nature is not uniform, some kind of system
that recognizes this disparity proves an essential part of human civilization,
as evidenced by Caliban's automatic substitution of a new master (Stephano)
for his old one (Prospero).
This scene, therefore,does yeoman service in the play's examination of
Utopian idealism in light of humanity's foibles, follies, flaws. First it quali
fies sharply Gonzalo's golden age by showing its sordid human counterpart.
Second, it shows how disgusting is a view of happiness based solely on sen
sory pleasure; the eat, drink, and be merry attitude of Caliban, Stephano,
and Trinculo results not in the happiness of theLand of Cockaigne but in a
paradise of besotted fools. Third, the criticism of a sovereignty (Stephano
appoints himself king) that is drunk with its own power here is also perti
nent to the Stuart court. The courtly masques of James I celebrated his
monarchy as the apotheosis of the golden age restored. As Graham Parry
has demonstrated, James not only encouraged the comparison, but appropri
ated themyth as part of the official Stuart iconography. But by the time of
The Tempest's performance, the court of James had become notorious for its
excesses, including its drinking revels. The Stephano-Trinculo plot exposes
this gap between the stated noble aspirations and the actual sordid practices
of the court. Stephano is a "butler," hence theKing's wine steward; and as a
pretense king, he may well covertly function as a parody of James as a
drunk Stuart king.12
There are several positive alternatives to Act IPs false Utopias. The
first (and, I would argue, themost important) comes inAct III scene one,
the structural center of the play.13 This is the unconditional and virtuous
love of Ferdinand and Miranda. Miranda by virtue of her isolation and her
education from her liberal arts scholarly father has the "innocent and pure"
character ascribed by Gonzalo to the inhabitants of his golden age; and
though Ferdinand has been exposed to the corruption and guilt of his civi
lization (he does resist Prospero at first, and there is some question as to
whether or not he attempts to cheat in his chess game with Miranda at
V.i. 172-5), he quickly proves amenable to Prospero's educational pro
gram.14 Both Miranda and Ferdinand recognize the other to be "so perfect
and so peerless . . . created of every creature's best" (III.i.47-8); each
rejoices in the happiness of the other; each finds "bondage" together to
be superior to "freedom" (III.i.88) alone. Theirs is (or soon becomes) a
freely-chosen, reasonable, and time-tested love that on an individual level
enacts the kind of harmony, solidarity, and equity essential to a genuine
Utopian community.

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 42 UTOPIAN STUDIES

For this kind of wonderful relationship to exist and to flourish, the con
ditions governing society as a whole must be modified. Thus the two threats
to the island's harmony (the aristocratic interlopers of ILL, the plebeian
interlopers of Il.ii) are displayed in theirworst forms in the other two scenes
of Act III. (IILiii. mirrors and unfolds the implications of ILL, HLii. mirrors
and unfolds the implications of Il.ii.) The comic actions of the drunken Cal
iban, Stephano, and Trinculo have a darker side, as the plot to kill Prospero
and possess Miranda reveal. The "brutish" (I.ii.357) instincts that drive
these three are too dangerous to ignore; the three characters attest to a
dimension of human nature that cannot be eradicated or educated and there
foremust be curbed.
The more serious threat to the new order thatProspero attempts to bring
into being via Ferdinand and Miranda lies in the premeditated evil of the
"three men of sin" (IILiii.53), Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio. Utopian
societies depend on thewillingness of all citizens to abide by the dictates of
right reason, by communal interests, by higher spiritual callings; but for
some individuals, malice and selfishness are endemic. In this scene, Ariel
articulates what the three need to do in order to be a part of the common
wealth; their "heart's sorrow" will ensure a "clear life ensuing" (III.iii.81-2).
The evil are not condemned immediately; they are firstgiven the opportu
nity to ask forgiveness. That only one (Alonso) of these threewill repent at
the end of the play indicates to what degree human reformation occurs in
even themost regulated and most ethically-centered of societies.
Having identified, isolated, and to a degree contained the characters
inimical to the establishment of Prospero's social order, Shakespeare
turns to his fullest and richest presentation of the Utopian ideal inAct IV.
Whereas Gonzalo's Utopia is essentially one of negation and absence, the
nuptial ceremony of Ferdinand and Miranda is an affirmation of the highest
and noblest possibilities of human intercourse. The culmination of a utopic
civilization has frequently been associated with its religious and matrimo
nial rituals as those sacred moments when the potential of the human spirit
is realized; so Hythloday ends his description of Utopia, so Charlotte
Perkins Gilman concludes her firstversion of Herland with an account of
contract
religion and a trio of marriages. Miranda and Ferdinand join in "a
of true love" (IV.L133), wherein erotic desires and jealous emotions have
no part (Venus and Cupid are pointedly excluded from this ceremony).
Prospero's masque culminates this ceremony by giving form to the
fruitfulunity of
play's ultimate Utopian horizons. The masque discloses the
the natural world (personified by Ceres), human society (personified by
Juno, the goddess ofmarriage), and the divine (personified by Iris, themes
senger of the gods) that exists within the ideal pastoral society embodied by
the dance of the nymphs and reapers. And this ideal can be recognized by
those rare individuals who are noble, virtuous, selfless, and enlightened. As
Ferdinand exclaims, "This is a most majestic vision, and harmoniously
a genre associated with
charmingly" (IV.i. 118-9). The use of themasque,
the court, ironically underscores the nobility of the vision; the humble social

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 The Utopie Structureof The Tempest 43

status of the participants points to an essential human nobility that exists

prior to and independent from class distinctions. The dance of the nymphs
and the reapers in themasque effects a reconciliation of the fundamental
dichotomies in human existence?nature and culture, nature and nurture,
sense and spirit,male and female, act and idea?appropriately embodied in
that time-honored image of formal grace and cosmic harmony, the dance.
The integrating effect of this bond of love is mirrored structurally by the
presence inAct IV of a single scene, as opposed to themultiple, discrete
scenes of the preceding three acts.
Finally, however, such bliss is attainable only in a microcosmic (indi
vidual) sense; other than Ferdinand, Miranda, and Prospero, only "spirits"
attend this wedding. Moreover, such perfection is temporary; immediately
after Ferdinand mistakes Prospero's vision for "paradise" (IV.i.124), there
comes the reminder of the "plot" of the "beast Caliban" (IV.i. 140-1). Thus
"the baseless fabric of this vision" (IV.i. 151) must of necessity dissolve in
the light of basic social realities (identifying via class status who is "noble"
and who is "base"). Magnificent as it is, themasque of Prospero is an aes
thetic emanation or specter, wherein the artistwills or wishes into being the
clarity of absolute beauty and truth instead of representing the ambiguities
of life and the darkness in the foul rag-and-bone shop of the human heart.
If qualified by mundane realities, Prospero's vision is not altogether
invalidated by these realities. The masque is an "insubstantial pageant"
(IV.i. 155); it acts as what Max Weber calls an "ideal type" for individuals
to strive to attain. Act V, likeAct IV, has only one scene. The final act pre
sents a relative Utopia that is complementary, rather than antithetical, to the
absolute utopianism of Act IV. (The movement frommicrocosm tomacro
cosm brings the structural progression of the play full circle, since Act I ini
tiated a process going frommacrocosm tomicrocosm.) A new, better social
arrangement emerges at the close of the play. Many positive changes occur.
Ariel is released after twelve years of servitude; the spirit is free to go
whither it list. Alonso repents of his political transgressions and is recon
ciled to his son and future daughter-in-law. The loyal and virtuous Gonzalo
is restored to his role as political advisor and political visionary. Antonio
and Sebastian are put in theirplace, warned by Prospero against any subse
quent wrong-doings: "But you, my brace of lords,were I so minded,/I here
could pluck his highness' frown upon you,/And justify you traitors.At this
time/Iwill tell no tales" (V.i. 126-9). Even Caliban recognizes his mistakes,
requests grace, and vows to be "wise hereafter" (V.i.294). Stephano unwit
tingly articulates the selflessness that is at the heart of the play's Utopian
vision: "Every man shift for all the rest, and let no man take care for him
self (V.i.256-7).
These changes do not ensure a perfect world. It is easy to overlook,
ignore, or dismiss the altruistic sentiments of Stephano's statement; Stephano
knows not whereof he speaks (he will always take care of himself first), and
the realities of self-centered human nature and class-stratified European
society remain intact. The reformation of Caliban is circumscribed by his

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44 UTOPIAN STUDIES

limitations; the implication of his seeking grace is thathe will always be in

a servile position and can never be significantly improved through educa
tion. (Prospero has already tried this.) Furthermore, not everyone is willing
to reform, as is evident in Antonio and Sebastian; as the latter's sarcastic
comment on how the drunks "stole" their "luggage" (V.i.300) illustrates,
cynicism and evil will always exist within human nature and in human soci
eties. Not to recognize this is fraughtwith danger; hence Miranda's paean to
"beauteous mankind" and a "brave new world" (V.i.183) elicits Prospero's
"
more measured response: 'Tis new to thee" (V.i.181). Such pragmatism is
a commentary on all naively optimistic utopianism in general and Stuart
political mythology in particular. The communalism and communism of the
golden age is a wonderful ideal to entertain and to strive for but also a seri
ous delusion if regarded as a spatio-temporal historical reality.
Yet in the final balance, a kind of Utopia has been achieved. By promis
ing to break his staff and drown his book, Prospero acknowledges the desir
ability of a society based primarily on love rather than on power. A just
society must allow for some freedom of choice (even if this entails wrong
choices) and some amount of personal liberty (even if this risks licentious
ness); and so Prospero relinquishes his absolute authority, instructingAriel
to "set Caliban and his companions free" (V.i.252) and allowing Ariel to fly
"to the elements" and "be free" (V.i.317-8). More to the point, Prospero
foregoes the love of power (particularly the power of intellectual knowl
edge) for the power of love (and its corollary, forgiveness). The reasonable
love which is the foundation of Ferdinand's union with Miranda will
become the foundation for theirpolitical administration. For a true commu
nity to be established, superior as well as inferior individuals must subscribe
to a common justice advocating both equity and mercy.
That Prospero comes to such an understanding about justice is indicated
by his willingness to include Caliban in the concluding reconciliations ("this
thing of darkness 1/Acknowledge mine"?V.i.275-6) and by his request in
the epilogue for the audience's forgiveness: "As you from crimes would
pardoned be,/Let your indulgence set me free" (Epilogue, 19-20).15 The
audience's response will measure how successfully this principle extends
beyond the play and is enacted in the larger social macrocosm. The
reciprocity of the epilogue (Prospero and the audience become linked
together in an inclusive community) stands as an artistic commentary on the
hierarchical/monarchical realities of European society and culture in Shake
speare's time.16The Tempest, then, is at once a sober acknowledgement of
the fragility of Utopian ideals and also a testament to the enduring vitality
and desirability of the concept of the utopic community.

NOTES
1. Boss identifies and analyzes three Utopian traditions invoked in The Tempest. As will
become clear in subsequent discussion, I see the play as a response to particular political and
historical circumstances as well as to the generic traditions mentioned by Boss.

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 The Utopie Structureof The Tempest 45

Other assessments of The Tempest's utopianism include Marx's chapter in The Machine
in the Garden entitled "Shakespeare's American Fable"; Seiden's article; and the editorial
introductions written by Kermode and Orgel (31-6).
2. Many of Shakespeare's plays cannot be given a strict structural reading because of the
uncertainties of textual authority. Since The Tempest was first printed in the 1623 Folio, and
since the text exhibits scrupulous editing and exact stage directions, it is reasonably certain
that the Folio text reflects (or is very close to) the final form Shakespeare intended. That The

Tempest conforms to the unities of time, place, and action also intimates the care and concern
for structural integrity in the play's composition.
All references to The Tempest are from the Oxford University Press edition (1987),
editedby StephenOrgel.
3. Rockett has drawn out the connections between labor and virtue in The Tempest: "Through
labor one purges the spirit, mortifies the passions, and grows in understanding and grace"

(84). Ferdinand must become a laborer, a "log-man" (III.i.67), so as to prove his noble worth
is intrinsic as well as extrinsic. See also Patterson 157 for the emphasis on the social value of
labor in Shakespeare's drama.
4. In this respect, the first scene affords a glimpse at what Bloch sees as the progression in

history towards humanitarian (thus "Utopian") ends: "Everywhere there is an advance from a
primitive commune, through class societies, to the ultimate maturity of socialism" (123).
5. For a complete listing of sixteenth and seventeenth-century British Utopias, see Sargent 1-6.
6. Prospero's name is Italian for "fortunate," thus invoking themyth of the Fortunate Islands.
See Bennett for the tradition of this myth in Renaissance English literature. Moreover, The

Tempest has in itmany elements derived from courtly masques (including a full-blown
masque at IV.i.); and in the courtly masques of the Stuarts, Britain is frequently idealized as a
blessed or fortunate island, most notably in such later Jonsonian masques as The Golden Age
Restored (1625), in such entertainments as The Masque
but also of Beauty (1608) and Tethys
Festival performed prior to the composition of The Tempest.
(1610)
7. In Basilikon Down and The Trew Law of Free Monarchies, James set forth at length his views
on the necessity of absolute sovereignty. As Barroll reminds us, the attitude of James was by no
means universally shared: "For itmay have been James, the new-fashioned monarchist with
absolutist notions, who was inEngland, as he had been in Scotland, the subversive force" (463).
8. Paul Cantor 253-4 argues that Shakespeare presents Prospero throughout the entire play as
the "idealruler," modeled on Plato's philosopher-king. Marx has a similar perspective: "As
the shaping spirit of the play, Prospero directs the movement towards redemption, not by
renouncing power, but by exercising it to the full. His control is based on hard work, study,
and scholarly discipline" (56).
9. Strachey's letter chronicling the exploits of the Virginia Company's voyage to Bermuda,
dated 15 July 1610, was brought back to England by Sir Thomas Gates in September 1610.
Gonzalo's speech at ILL 152-169 is based closely on John Florio's 1603 translation of
Montaigne's essay. For more background on these two sources, see Kermode's introduction.
10. Prospero refers to Ariel as "my slave" (I.ii.270), and Ariel repeatedly calls Prospero
"master" (I.ii.293). For an extended analysis of this dimension of the play, see Patterson's

chapter, *"Thought is free': The Tempesf (154-62).

11. Prospero's potential tyranny is indicated not only by Caliban's (admittedly biased)
remarks at II.ii.156 ("a plague on the tyrant that I serve") and III.ii.40 ("I am subject to a
tyrant"), but also by the names Prospero gives to the dogs he sics on Stephano, Trinculo, and
Caliban: "Fury, Fury! There Tyrant, there!" (IV.i.258). It should also be noted that Caliban
proposes to kill Prospero by "knock[ing] a nail into his head" (III.ii.60). By Shakespeare's
time, this peculiar method of killing was associated via Biblical exegesis with the assassina
tion of tyrants,modeled on the story of Sisera's death at the hands of Jael in Judges 4:21.

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46 UTOPIAN STUDIES

12. A first-hand account of this Jacobean courtly custom more honored in the breach than the
observance is recountedby Sir John Harington (in Nugae Antiquae). When Christian IV of
Denmark (the brother-in-law of James I) came to visit the English court in July 1606, a four
day debauch ensued, with the following sordid conclusion to a pageant featuring the three
virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity:

Hope did assay to speak, but wine renderd her endeavors so feeble that she

withdrew, and hoped the King would excuse her brevity; Faith was then all
alone, for I am certain she was not joyned with good works, and left the court
in a staggering condition: Charity. . . returnd to
Hope and Faith, who were
bothsickand spewinginthelowerhall. (CitedAkrigg80)
Jonson's Oberon, performed just prior to The Tempest, implicitly criticizes this aspect of
the Jacobean court in its presentation of the inebriated satyrs. Marcus has explored the satiric
elements in the masques of Jonson and other Stuart masque composers: "The masque
becomes double-edged, setting the king against the king and urging him to a self scrutiny
which will smooth out the contradictions between ideals he espouses and nefarious practices
he allows to undercut them" (11).
That Stephano's arrogant assumption of power and his disgraceful drinking is a parody
of James I is reinforced at III.ii.119-21, in the song he and Trinculo sing: "Flout 'em and cout
'em/And cout 'em and flout 'em,/Thought is free." This is a direct echo of the first line of
what is presumed to be the first poem written by James: "Since thought is free, thinke what
thou will" (James, II, 132).
13. To illustrate this, the following Freytag Pyramid might be helpful:

Ill.i.
Convergenceofmacrocosm andmicrocosm
(Unionof FerdinandandMiranda)

14. As a young prince who is being educated and who is a prospective partner in a dynastic
marriage, Ferdinand resembles the idealized portraits of James's son and heir, Prince Henry,
as depicted by Jonson in two masques dedicated to the Prince ofWales, Prince Henry's Barri
ers (1610) and Oberon (1611). (The motto of the Prince ofWales is, "I serve"; and Ferdinand

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 The Utopie Structureof The Tempest 47

is specifically identified as being in a servant's role.) Though James in his intransigent adher
ence to monarchical absolutism had shown himself incapable of embracing the idea of the

sovereign as servant to the state, there was still the possibility that Prince Henry would not be
so intractable. (The untimely death of Henry a year later in 1612 scotched that hope.)
15. As Orgel notes, this epilogue is unique in the Shakespearian canon in that Prospero
"declares himself not an actor in a play but a character in a fiction; and instead of stepping out
of character, he expands the fiction beyond the limits of the drama." Orgel adds that this

empowers the audience to create a new social relationship, one where traditional roles and
hierarchies are reversed: "the spells are now ours; we have become the enabling factor in the
fiction" (55).
The inclusiveand mutually beneficial society suggested by the epilogue is to a very

large extent Utopian in its aspirations. As such, the epilogue is consonant with the conclusions
of many courtly masques, where the masquers and audience (aristocrats and non-aristocrats)

merge and become united. Schmidgall in his book provides an extensive examination of The

Tempest as an embodiment of Jacobean courtly aesthetics.

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions