Knowing that there was only one female character in The Tempest, I decided to approach it from a feminist angle. When I began reading The Tempest, I thought I had a clear idea of who the characters were. Prospero was the wily magician bent on revenge (but with a softness for his daughter), Caliban and Ariel his indentured servants, Ferdinand the love-struck prince, and Miranda, the quiet and obedient daughter. While I felt most of these generalizations were relatively correct, my assumptions about Miranda's character did not ring true as I actually read the text. While she possessed the traits of Shakespeare's by now predictably naive, beautiful, and enamored teenager, she also surprised me with many other aspects of her personality that I didn't think would show through such a two-dimensional character. After researching a bit about critic's approach to analyzing Miranda, I was surprised to find so few that accepted her as a developed and strong female role. To me, even though she is a secondary character, the fact that she is the only female automatically places her in the running. Here are some of the facts that make me believe that Miranda should be given more consideration:
1. She is naturally intelligent. While Prospero is telling her of their personal history in Act 1, she constantly asks questions and makes insightful comments. Like in these lines: "And now, I pray you, sir - for still 'tis beating in my mind - your reason for raising this sea storm?" This also shows her intense desire for knowledge, undoubtedly inherited from her father
2. She has an incredible memory. I think I can safely say that most of us do not remember our lives before the age of three. It is remarkable that Miranda recalls memories from such a young age, and so specifically: "'Tis far off, and rather like a dream than an assurance that my remembrance warrants. Had I not four or five women once that tended me?"Even Prospero is surprised that his daughter can remember things from so long ago. He states that he doesn't think it possible for her to remember so long ago, and says, "How is it that this lives in thy mind? What see'st thou else in the dark backward and abysm of time?"
3. She is educated. Prospero is a very intelligent and learned man, and in their twelve years on the island he has played the role of schoolmaster, instructing and teaching his daughter, making her "more profit than other princes." This gives Miranda, a young women, an equal (and even better) ranking with the best of her male counterparts.
4. She is a teacher. Miranda is knowledgeable enough to be able to share her learning with others, in this case Caliban. She (speaking to Caliban) "endowed thy purposes with words that made them known" and "took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour one thing or other."
5. She is observational. Not being in any contact with human beings besides her father and Caliban, she is confused when she first sees Ferdinand. "What is't? A spirit? Lord, how it looks about! Believe me, sir, it carries a brave form, But 'tis a spirit." She knows at first sight that the creature cannot be a spirit because of its form and nature, but yet she can only deduce that it is a spirit because that is all she knows. However, the fact that she didn't simply assume he was a spirit reveals her skeptical mindset and observational skills.
There are more that I could discuss, but I want to share this great article by Jessica Slights entitled "Rape and the Romanticization of Shakespeare's Miranda." While I focused on Miranda's intellectual abilities, Slight examines other qualities. Slights rejects earlier commentaries that Miranda is simply a prototype: "the woman who is chaste, silent, and obedient" (361) She definitely shares my feminist viewpoint of Miranda, stating that "past and present readings of The Tempest alike have misread the play by emphasizing the nature of Prospero's relationship with the island of his exile without considering the alternative models of selfhood, moral agency, and community life posited by the magician's daughter" (359). This is a really great article for anyone who wants to look at The Tempest from a feminist lens. (I wanted to include a link, but it's from the BYU library so if you want to find it just search for it online at HBLL.)
