Miranda in the Tempest

Miranda in the Tempest

1. Caring and innocent

   • " o , I have suffered with those that I saw suffer- a brave vessel... o , the cry did knock against my very heart "
     • " brave vessel" - she does not know who is one the boat but assumes they are brave and noble- she assumes the best in everything
     • Metaphor " o the cry did knock against my very heart" - emphasises how deeply she feels others pains.

2. Exploited as an object of value , submissive

   • " rich gift " , "worthily purchased " - seen as a valuable commodity .
     • CRITIC INTERPRETATION: Mike Brett - Prospero is "well aware that she is a coveted prize"
   • " she will become thy bed...And bring thee forth brave brood " - she is an object for lust and desire.
     • Mike Brett: there is "political value " in " Miranda's sexual appeal in an all male society " - caliban uses her beauty to convince Stephany he should kill Prospero and take her for his queen - almost like a trophy.
   • Although she thinks she chooses to love Ferdinand out of her own free will - it is all planned and approved by Prospero .
     • 2013 production at the Globe
     • However Prospero does care about Miranda and wants her to be happy - " I must uneasy make, lest to light winning " - wants to test Ferdinand to make sure his love for Miranda is genuine.

3. Clever and manipulattive

   • " If by your art, my dearest father , you have put the wild waters in this roar , allay them"
     • Personal pronoun " my " and adjective "dearest" - could show her admiration of her father, or could be interpreted as her trying to flatter him to get her way.
       • CRITIC INTERPRETATION: Barbara Bleiman - " Shakespeare's daughters defy patriarchal authority at every turn , defying their fathers"
   • " Had I been any god of power I would have sunk the sea within the earth or ere it should the good ship so have swallowed"
     • Challenging her father saying she would use power differently to how he does.
     • " Abhorred slave" -harsh verb "abhorred" - emphasising her intense hatred of Caliban . Not the delicate language you would expect to hear from a gentle female member of the nobility.
     • "And now farewell till half an hour hence" - emphasis on time suggests she has thought and calculated her relationship with Ferdinand- she knows having a husband would benefit her - at the time women had very few means provide for themselves.
       • This idea about time and planning is very like Prospero - "The time 'twixt six and now" - Has inherited Prospero's controlling nature.
   • " Miranda- o my father I have broken your hest to say so"
     • Not afraid to go against her fathers wishes and talk to Ferdinand when she has been forbidden to . Pause created by medial caesura suggests her father was an after thought.
       • CRITIC INTERPRETATION: Mike Brett - Miranda is an "anomalous character having been brought up on a Mediterranean island , far away from the restrictive social attitudes of her time"
         • " Do you love me?" - blunt simple statement - Echoed by Ariel in act 4: " Do you love me, master? " -
     • Mentions her father again to Ferdinand " my fathers precept I do forget" - could be intentionally mentioning her father has forbidden their love as it makes her appear more desirable and mysterious if she is prohibited.