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The Tempest has often been read as Shakespeare's most colonial play. Set on an island off the coast of Italy, the play features an exiled colonialist who claims an island formerly inhabited by a witch and her son. Using concepts such as subalternism, and othering, we will approach The Tempest from a postcolonial perspective, analysing its hidden ideologies and paying particular attention to Miranda and Caliban as subjects of male domination and enslavement. We will then read Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed as a contemporary rewriting of The Tempest and discuss how Atwood reimagines Caliban and Miranda, giving them power and self-determination in the face of a still strictly patriarchal, predominantly white supremacist setting.
Students will need to acquire and read both The Tempest, preferably the Arden edition, and Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed. For the latter, no specific editions are required. A selection of critical texts and further sources will be made available to participants via a Moodle course. |
