Prospera Compared To The Tempest

William Shakespeare, born on April 15, 1564, left behind a legacy when he passed away four hundred years back, on April 23rd, 1616. It was through his work, that Shakespeare created his own empire of sorts. An empire that still lives on through the many poems, sonnets and plays he wrote. Over the years, many of his plays, especially The Tempest (1610) have been reimagined and rewritten, allowing the play to keep up with the changing times. These adaptations either challenge, extend or reinforce Shakespeare’s work. One such adaptation is the film The Tempest (2010) by Julie Taymor. Julie Taymor, born on December 15, 1952, in Newton, Massachusetts, is an Academy Award-nominated playwright, designer and a director of the theater with her much-known
The end scene makes the audience wonder whether Prospero, who neglected his duties as the Duke, deserved his dukedom back, compared to Prospera. When Prospera was a Duchess, she never allowed her love for her books interfere with her duties as a Duchess. The reason Prospera had to flee her country was because of Antonio, Prospera’s brother who in order to take the throne from Prospera, after her husband, the Duke died, falsely accused her of being a witch who used black magic. Changing the back story of how Prospera was banished, Taymor not only justifies Propsera’s return back to Milan but also shows that it was easy for women to be blamed for being a witch and using witchcraft and black magic for destructive purposes, “especially a female who moved beyond the traditional sphere of her gender” (Turner 692) like Prospera, a well-educated woman, in a time when women were not given much