Reply to Stephanie Kleckner from Stephanie Kleckner Parent of this post↑
33 days ago
The Power of Ferdinand in the Tempest
In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, there is a constant competition or struggle for power. It seems as
though power is precarious in that it is not fixed or stable, but rather power is both fluid and
mobile. Ferdinand has a blatant amiable charm to his character which aids him in conquerin g
Miranda’s heart. Though Ferdinand holds most power, he is entranced by the beauty of Miranda,
comparing her to a beautiful nymph or goddess. Her beauty and innocence may have the capability
of weakening his power to an extent, but he would still have the most power in the relationship
between the two. Ferdinand seems to be quite a handsome man with flirting habits; it may be
assumed that he was to some extent quite a ladies man before being cast off onto this island.
Because of the reason that he is in fact male, this automatically gives him power over Miranda, a
female presence in the novel. All of this unique character attributes that Ferdinand has, gives him
the ability to control and manipulate Miranda. Miranda has never seen a man before at the island ,
besides her father and Caliban, so Ferdinand uses Miranda’s innocence and the power of language
as a tool to gain power over Miranda. These persuasive skills along with Ferdinand’s attractive
appearance lead him to have some dominant power over young and ignorant Miranda. Ferdinand’s
way with words, his sweet talk, or rather, his seductiveness, is noticeable to the reader. For
example, in lines 451-453, Ferdinand uses his commanding confidence to say "O, if a virgin, and
your affection not gone forth, I'll make you The Queen of Naples." In other words he’s saying, "I give
you no choice but marry me and let's hope that you are a virgin because I want you to be pure and
all mine." Though flattering or romantic sounding to many, this statement hints at not only greed
and desire, but that one [mostly the male] gains power through marriage. Unfortunately, one
cannot have power forever; power may be gained, but it may also be taken away. Miranda's father,
Prospero, does have power over Ferdinand since he is olde r than him and is Miranda's father. For
example, Prospero says to Ferdinand, "but then exactly do all points of my command" (504). This
means that Prospero wants him to follow all of his commands. Because of his relation to Miranda,
along with his male gender, as well as age, Prospero does hold a kind of authority over Ferdinand.
Therefore, the struggle for power is real for Ferdinand, as each of the three characters seemingly
juggle their power in a triangular pattern in this particular section of the play.