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Professor Martin Kwan
English 220
18 March 2013
Imagery in The Tempest as Metaphor for the Conflict of Nature versus Art
In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the dual imagery of earth and air function together as
metaphors for one of the play’s primary themes of nature versus art. Both images are featured
constantly throughout the play, and often in opposition to one another. Earth is usually
represented by Caliban, who embodies a savage and primitive nature and the base instincts of the
body. Air, on the other hand, is primarily represented by Ariel, and is a metaphor for magic and
the intellectual capacities of the mind. Throughout the course of the play, air (art) is consistently
shown as superior to earth (nature). This is shown largely through Prospero’s use of magic to
exert control, both over nature and over himself. The juxtaposition of art and nature brings to
light another theme of the play: the legitimacy of power. The island, with its complex mélange of
nature and magic, can perhaps be seen as a gateway through which the characters must pass in
order to legitimately take power. The capacity to accept art and magic is essential to this process;
however, in the end one must leave magic behind to return to the real world.
Images of earth and a ‘low’ form of nature permeate the play, primarily in the scenes
involving Caliban. Caliban, from his first entrance, is described in words that bring to mind
images of earth, savagery, and a primitive nature. In fact, one of the first things that Prospero
says to Caliban is “Thou earth, thou!” (1.2.313), therefore immediately equating Caliban with
something low-down and base. Not long after, Prospero refers to Caliban as “filth” (“Filth as
thou art” (1.2.346)), which further associates Caliban with dirt and earth. Numerous other
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references to Caliban’s ‘earthiness’ can be seen throughout the play. For example, Prospero says
of Caliban that he was “Deservedly confined into this rock” (1.2.361), referring to the cave in
which Caliban is forced to live. In addition, Caliban is responsible for all of Prospero’s manual
labour, such as carrying wood and doing other tasks that force him to get his hands dirty, so to
speak. Aside from representing actual, physical earth, Caliban also stands for the base desires of
the body. Such desires, embodied in Caliban’s attempt to rape Miranda, were associated in the
public mind at the time with a natural state. Frank Kermode suggests this in his article “Art vs.
Nature”, when he says “In an age when “natural” conduct was fashionably associated with
sexual promiscuity…” (146), and he later refers to “Caliban’s straightforward natural lust…”
(146). Therefore, the images of earth are related to instinctual desires, such as lust, through
Caliban and the play’s understanding of the concept of nature.
Throughout the play, images of air provide a counter to the imagery of earth. Air, or wind,
is predominantly associated with the mind: magic and the intellect. Ariel, as a magic spirit,
embodies these qualities – “[He] is a servant of the mind rather than the body” (Clark 53) . He is
invisible, like the wind, and he is capable of flying through the sky, “on the curled clouds”
(1.2.192), as he says at his first entrance. Later, too, Prospero says to him “Thou shalt be as
free/As mountain winds” (1.2.499-500). Ariel at one point even describes himself in terms of the
wind, when he says to the courtiers that their swords “may as well/wound the loud winds…as
diminish/one dowle that’s in my plume.” (3.3.61-64). Perhaps most striking, however, is the
linking of music with both Ariel and the wind. Music, one of the greatest forms of art, is
prevalent in many scenes. One of the earliest instances of music is in Act 1 scene 2, when Ariel
leads Ferdinand to Miranda through his song. By its very nature, music is carried on the air, and
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Ferdinand’s reference to “…[the music’s] sweet air” (1.2.394) further suggests this relationship.
Ferdinand also comments that “…[this is] no sound/that the earth owes” (1.2.407-408), which
underlines the disassociation between music and the earth. Later, during the banquet in Act 3,
Ariel accuses Alonso and the other courtiers of their crimes, and Alonso exclaims “Methought
the billows spoke and told me of it;/The winds did sing it to me” (3.3.96-97). Shakespeare’s
linking of music with wind through his imagery therefore indicates the correlation between art
and the air.
These two opposing images of earth and air, and the concepts of nature and art which
they represent, are not both simply present in the play. Rather, it is through the relationship
between these images that their true importance to the play’s themes is shown. In the course of
The Tempest, the art and magic of the air is consistently shown as being superior to the base and
natural instincts of the earth. More to the point, the control of nature by art is considered within
the play to be the preferred way of things. Prospero, through his magic, wields great control over
nature within the play. He has control over the elements, most notably when he has Ariel conjure
the tempest and in his enslavement of Caliban. Prospero’s magic is sharply contrasted with that
of Sycorax, whose magic is natural and whose “earthy and abhorred commands” (1.2.273) Ariel
refuses to follow. Prospero’s magic, on the other hand, was learned through years of scholarly
study and is above natural magic, which Dr. Sandra Clark refers to as “the lowest form of magic”
(33). Prospero’s magic, furthermore, represents his ability to control his own natural impulses.
As Kermode states, “the primary requirements [of magic] are learning and temperance” (146);
learning magic requires great discipline and control over oneself. Another example of the
perceived necessity for controlling the body’s urges with the mind is Prospero’s firm insistence
that Ferdinand does not “break [Miranda’s] virgin-knot” (4.1.15) before their wedding.
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Intertwined with the necessity of using art to control one’s natural impulses is the theme
of legitimate power. There are five primary characters in The Tempest who either hold power or
who seek to gain it: Prospero, the wronged duke of Milan, and Antonio, his usurper; Alonso, the
king of Naples, and Sebastian, his prospective murderer; and Caliban, who seeks to retake
control of the island. Each of these characters was, at one point, undeserving of the power they
held in some way – and some never deserve it. In the case of Antonio, Sebastian, and Caliban,
their inherently evil natures prevent them from being able to hold legitimate power. Prospero’s
failure to educate Caliban effectively is an example of nature triumphing over art, and is
consequently one of the things that Prospero is most bitter about. Caliban, with his inherently
evil nature, is unable and unwilling to accept the “world of the mind and the possibilities of
liberating the soul” (Kermode 146). Similarly, the fact that Antonio and Sebastian do not hear
Ariel’s music and do not fall asleep like the rest of the courtiers do indicates that “their minds are
untuned to [the music’s] harmony [because] they have murder in their heart”. Art and the
intellect are only open to those who are willing to accept them; those whose minds are closed to
this higher world will remain corrupt. Accordingly, at the end of the play it is Antonio, Sebastian,
and Caliban who do not repent of their evil. Each of these characters is unable to overcome their
evil nature and they show no signs of learning to control their desires with intellect.
On the flip side is Prospero and Alonso, both of whom prove worthy of holding power by
the end of the play. It is through these two characters that we most clearly see the concept of the
island as a gateway, through which they must pass in order to become true leaders. Prospero’s
fall was, ironically, a result of his love for learning and the pursuit of knowledge. When he was
the duke of Milan, he was so caught up in his books that he was unable to rule effectively, which
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eventually allowed Antonio to usurp his position and exile him. In spite of this, learning is, as
Kermode puts it, “a great aid to virtue…and by its means he is enabled to return” (147). During
his years on the island, Prospero learns complete mastery of himself. Perhaps Kermode states
this best: “Prospero is, therefore, the representative of Art, as Caliban is of Nature. As a magician
he controls nature; as a prince he conquers the passions which had excluded him from his
kingdom and overthrown law; as a scholar he repairs his loss of Eden; as a man he learns to
temper his passions, an achievement essential to success in any of the other activities.” (146)
The final segment proves to be one of the most important aspects of Prospero’s mastery.
With his ability for intellect and reason, Prospero is able to conquer his desire for revenge
against his enemies, and in the end he is capable of those qualities which are so essential to a true
leader: justice and forgiveness. One final step is necessary for Prospero to return to the real
world and rule. He must relinquish his magic and break his staff at the end. Doing so symbolizes
his ascension as a legitimate leader: “When Prospero achieves this necessary control over
himself and nature he achieves his ends (reflected in the restoration of harmony at the human and
political levels) and has no more need of the instrument, ‘rough magic’” (Kermode 146). The
island has played its part, and Prospero must now leave and return to the world. As Robert
Langbaum states in his introduction to The Tempest, “the enchanted island is no abiding place,
but rather a place through which we pass in order to renew and strengthen our sense of reality”
(lxxvi).
Alonso also undergoes a rebirth, as it were, on the island. Complicit in the crime twelve
years ago of robbing Prospero of his rightful dukedom, Alonso cannot be seen as a truly
legitimate ruler. While his power as king of Naples was legitimately acquired, his part in the
exile of Prospero makes his sense of justice and morality appear questionable. Unlike Antonio,
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however, Alonso is moved by the island’s art and he repents of his crimes. During the banquet
scene, he is overcome by the guilt of what he has done when Ariel accuses him of his sins. While
Sebastian and Antonio do not accept the island’s art, as represented by music both in the banquet
and in the earlier scene when Ariel plays music to send the other courtiers to sleep, Alonso
accepts the accusations put forth by the island and is truly penitent.
Shakespeare uses the imagery of earth and air effectively to show the themes of The
Tempest. Both images are found throughout the play, and can be seen as metaphors for the
opposing concepts of nature and art. Just as the air is considered, both literally and
metaphorically, to be higher than the earth, so too is art proved to be superior to nature within the
context of the play. Only those characters who are willing and able to accept art and control their
baser natures are able to become true leaders and take legitimate power. For them, the island
serves as a passageway from which they emerge complete and in control. Having used magic and
art to attain this control, in the end magic must be left behind if they are to return to the real
world.