Cruelty under any circumstance is unjust. Even though some may believe that cruelty can be justified under extreme circumstances, Michel De Montaigne writes, “The Essays,” as an educated novel based off his observations in the late 1500s. One of his major observations that shaped his work was that he saw cruelty as an art of suffering, and that this is harmful in such a way that makes man inhuman. He observes cruelty not only through the actions of one individual to another, but also through the ideals that makes a human suffer spiritually.
These types of cruelty is also demonstrated in Shakespeare’s, “The Tempest,” through the dynamic character, Prospero, who is a duke of Milan that spends 12 years on an island using magic to punish and seek vengeance on his enemies. He uses this magic in such a way that almost seems manipulative to the readers, but still upholds the protagonist in the play because he is often rubbed the wrong way and betrayed by the people around him. As Montaigne writes his ultimate guideline of what he thinks is good and what he thinks is cruel, these ideas can be used to asses each character in Shakespeare’s play.
Ultimately, Montaigne would assess the main character, Prospero, as someone who is cruel because his actions and use of magic is manipulated in such a way that brings suffering to others, as well as suffering to himself. Montaigne believes that torturing any forms of life is definite cruelty and cannot be rectified under any circumstance. In the book, “On Cruelty,” Montaigne argues, “Savages do not upset me so much by roasting and eating the bodies of the dead as those persecutors do who torture the bodies of the living” (Montaigne 11:11:179).
Montaigne begins by talking about how any form of cruelty is bad even to animals because they are still a form of life. He furthers this point by explaining that not only is it cruel to enjoy and eat the death of an animal, but it is even more cruel to torture the bodies of the living that still have purpose on this earth. This idea is solely derived from his feelings and morals as an individual because he is unable to provide reason. Montaigne feels strongly that to make another human or form of life suffer is wrong because people and animals are all forms of life, which have a purpose and a meaning to this world.
To oppress another through the acts of torture makes it seem as though some individuals have a more substantial and purposeful meaning on earth than others, which is false. To torture another is to subject another as less and inhumane, which in itself is an inhumane act. This point of view is unique to Montaigne’s perception and how he views the world and writes about it as he is surrounded by these inhumane acts. stance on torture is one of the main reasons why he would find Prospero as someone who is cruel.
Prospero is a protagonist in “The Tempest” because he has been attacked and betrayed by the people around him. Even though this puts him in a sympathetic position, he is ultimately cruel because he uses his advantages in order to get vengeance and stay in power over others. In particular, Prospero tournaments, Caliban, whom he catches trying to rape his daughter Miranda. He resorts to vengeance in Act 1, telling Caliban, “If thou neglectest or dost unwillingly what I command, l’le wrack thee with old Cramps, fill all thy bones with Aches, make thee roar, that Beasts shall remble” (Shakespeare 1:2:21).
Prospero threatens Caliban by imposing torture on him. To punish Caliban for his actions Prospero threatens to cause physical pain to Caliban by giving him painful cramps during the night. The fact that Prospero’s idea of justifying the problem through torture demonstrates his standing in his sense of morality.. Prospero is wrong in the way he uses his social standing as a mean to torture others. Prospero feels a sense of authority. And this makes him like he is able to inflict suffering Caliban so that Caliban can pay for his actions towards his daughter.
It is important to understand that authority figures such as Prospero’s often turn to torture and cruelty to keep their subordinate figures in order. This contradicts the fact that all humans were created equally with the same ultimate purpose which is to live life. This dominant and subordinate relationship between Caliban and Prospero should not allow Prospero to obress Caliban through tortures actions because Caliban is still human. On the other hand, however; Prospero’s deeming and torturous actions towards Caliban is seen as a consequence of his actions more than inflicting torture on another.
Prospero tells Caliban, “And here was left by th’ Saylors, thou, my slave… Refusing her grand Hests, she did confine thee”(Shakespeare 1:2:18). In this sense, Prospero describes how Caliban tries to rape his beloved daughter Miranda. Due to this, it becomes questionable rather his vengeance on Caliban was just or unjust. There is nothing like the love that a parent shares for their child, and it could be argued that Prospero’s reaction was justified. His reaction towards this could be seen as an innocent act of him trying to protect his child.
Even though this may be true, Montagne still holds a strong belief that torture amongst the living is unjust. Montaigne believes that actions can not be rectified with the use of torture because torture is cruel. He would disagree with the morality of Prospero’s actions towards Caliban because Montaigne believes that there are other ways to solve problems. Hurting another and causing them to suffer does no good for anyone. Just because someone else imposes torture doesn’t mean that punishing them with more torture is going to solve the problem.
This is the main reason why Montaigne would find Prospero a cruel character. Prospero intentionally uses his magic source as a way to hurt the living and this makes Prospero a prime suspect of cruelty. Similarly, Montaigne believes it is cruel under all means for people to disregard and destroy other cultures. In the book of, “The Cannibal,” Montaigne points out that, “It is in the 16first kind that we find their true, vigorous, living, most natural and most useful properties and virtues, which we have bastardized in the other king by merely adapting them to our corrupt taste” (Montaigne 1:31:83).
Montaigne believes that men who take over civilizations that were already established is savage and cruel. He also feels that completely changing the culture of the conquered civilization is misleading and harmful to all future generations. When doing this, people miss out on what other cultures have to offer such as their “true, vigorous, livings, and virtue. ” These foreign cultures are what the Europeans destroyed when oppressing the natives during their take over.
Montaigne dedicates this whole chapter to tell the audience how the European civilization was very savage and cruel because the Eurocentric population not only oppressed the native people but also robbed them of their roots and culture. This is seen in, “The Tempest,” when Prospero founds the Island of Milan. For instance, Prospero tells Caliban,”I pity’d thee, took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour one thing or other; when thou didst not (Savage) know thy own meaning, but would’st gabble, like a thing most brutish, I endow’d thy purposes with words which made them known” (Shakespeare 1:2:21).
Prospero goes on about how he has taught Caliban his native ways such as speaking. In this scene, Prospero appears to be a protagonist because it seems like even though Caliban was his slave, Caliban was able to advance and thrive as a person as Prospero educates him. This is true, but it is also true that the consequence of Prospero teaching Caliban these things is that Caliban overtime lost track of his own culture and practices. When Prospero thrusts his language upon Caliban, he never learns Caliban’s language or cultural ways.
This is why Montaigne would assess Prospero as cruel because his actions in founding the island he resides is parallel to the Europeans founding America. Montaigne believes that imposing practices on others is wrong and somewhat dehumanizing as people degrade and oppress other cultures. It is unfair for the Europeans to come into America and completely change the Native Americans ways, just as is it unfair for Prospero to come to the island, and oppress Caiban on his own land without any concern or interest in learning his practices.
Caliban adjusts to the language that Prospero teaches him, and shows no trace of his own language or practices in the novel. Therefore, Prospero’s actions causes Caliban’s culture to be lost and forgotten future generations. On a more spiritual level, Montaigne believes it is cruel to take it upon oneself to judge what is right and wrong. In the book of “That It is Madness to Judge the True and False,” Montaigne claims, “There is a dangerous boldness of the great consequence in despising whatever we cannot understand. For as soon as you have established the frontiers of the truth and error with the fine brain of yours … ” (1:27:78).
In other words, Montaigne is a strong believer that it is dangerous for a human being to show such boldness and certainty when nothing in the world is certain. This boldness leads to ignorance, which closes people off to other perspectives in the world. He believes that it is incorrect for a human to act upon different peoples actions because they don’t understand them. What is right and what is wrong is not definite, meaning that nobody has the right to oppress the ideas of others.
Montaigne would therefore assess Prospero as cruel because he does just that, establish that what the nobles did to him was wrong, meaning that their actions eeded to be justified. Prospero is cruel because he believes that the nobles wrongdoings must be rectified and that he is the one that has to rectify the situation. . For instance, Prospero sends Ariel to the nobles to tell them, “To execute Heav’ns Laws. Here I am plac’d by Heav’n, here I am Prince, Though you have dispossess’d me of my Millain. Blood calls for blood; your Ferdinand shall dye, [650] And I in bitterness have sent for you To have the sudden joy of seeing him alive, And then the greater grief to see him dye” (Shakespeare 3:3).
Prospero’s decision to use Ariel as an illusory instrument of “fate” is designed to govern the thinking of the nobles at the table by imposing his own ideas of justice and right action upon their mind. Prospero uses Ariel, a supernatural being, to tell the nobles that because of their actions it is fate that they suffer the consequences. This shows how Prospero is misguided in the amount of certainty he shows in this situation. By imposing and forcefully punishing the nobles, he lets his certainty and judgment of what’s right, get in the way of actual fate which can only be called upon by God.
Although the nobles actions were considered wrong, Prospero’s certain idea causes his soul to harden in such a way that he let his vengence get the best of him. This is why Montaigne would believe that Prospero shows characteristics of what it is to be cruel. Prospero is not only cruel physically, but now spiritually because he shows that vengeance has become one of his top priority. His manipulative verdict is often hidden by his passiveness, which makes his cruelty less noticeable. In the end, however, Prospero’s vengeance and tampering of supernatural things (such as magic) is wrong.
Prospero has a drastic advantage over everyone else in the novel and because he only takes into account that he must get vengeance, he uses this advantage to the worst of his abilities. Instead of inflicting happiness and good/pure things amongst others, he uses this advantage as a way to enforce his certainties upon others. Therefore, his certainty of what he feels is good and bad is used poorly in how he inflicts those certainties amongst others. Montaigne assess what is good and what is cruel through his perception of the world.
He believes that anything to certain is in fact cruel physically and spiritually. Cruelty is directly linked to the idea of suffering, and if one isn’t doing good for others, then they are ultimately harming themselves and others. Montaigne ultimately finds Prospero as a cruel person because his character shows these elements of suffering and certainty through his social standing, and how he treats the people around him. Prospero is someone who seeks vengeance, through the acts of torturing and feeling the need to fix the “wrong” actions of others. All in all, Montaigne would indeed asses Prospero to be cruel.
