Shakespeare's Tempest and Journey to the Interior by Margaret Atwood

Area Of Study: Discovery Texts: The Tempest by William Shakespeare Journey to the Interior by Margaret Atwood The nature of discovery entails a journey that is transformative and concerns one’s relationship with one’s self or one’s world. Discoveries can be confronting (surprising) and provocative (challenging) and can lead to good or bad consequences, ultimately, resulting with a broader knowledge of self and new perspective on humanity. In William Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest, Prospero discovers his own future by reflecting on the limitations of his mind and own power, discovering the importance of love and redemption in redefining one’s place in the world. The opposing notion between human nature and civilisation through the character of Caliban is also depicted in the context of the Age of Discovery. ‘Journey to the Interior’ by Margaret Atwood is a journey of introspection from the exterior reality to the inner depths of the human psyche. She delves into the mysteries of the human mind and examines human behaviours’ reason; understanding one’s self and the lack of knowledge of an individual, in the face of conflicting and dark forces.

Shakespeare’s The Tempest represents the limitations of the mind and power, as characters are compelled to explore the possibilities of their choices and travel through a voyage of selfdiscovery, where the gift of reconciliation, greater knowledge and true authority are received. The main character, Prospero, discovers the limitations of power based on illusions, fear and obligation and rediscovers the power of forgiveness and redemption. Shakespeare shows his transformation through Prospero’s visual and aural illusions to manipulate his enemies and to explore his true self. Significantly, it is Ariel, a symbol of reason held captive by the abuse of power, who is commanded to create the illusion of a storm that brings to the island all those responsible for Prospero’s plight and his future. In Act 5 Scene 1, Prospero morally obliges to embrace forgiveness and transform into a more empathetic character abandoning his illusions of power, ‘I’ll break my staff/ Bury it certain fathoms in the earth… I’ll drown my book’. Through the concept of imaginative journey, The Tempest demonstrates the surprising (hidden/ confronting) discoveries of possibilities as Prospero’s heightened self-awareness is revealed. In the title, ‘Journey to the Interior’ conveys parallel levels of meaning of the inner journey of selfdiscovery and the physical journey inland. Atwood examines our struggle to discover the true nature of self. She conveys the influence of nature and its appreciation upon our lives and in

doing so transforms her limits to the achievable. The poem’s structure aids its construction of meaning - ’There are similarities/ I notice’ ‘There are differences’ between the emotional journey, evaluating the ability of the imagination to adequately express an inner journey. Her use of free verse and first person persona reflects the introspective nature, where it’s ‘endless as prairies’ and how ‘there are no destinations’. Her use of the metaphor ‘the hills as endless as prairies’ is symbolic of the vastness of the mind and our difficulty in seeking clarity in our own consciousness. Atwood allows herself to explore the nature of the imaginative journey as a process of transformation, resulting in understanding (and uncovering) the individual’s perception of the world and others. (rediscovering what’s hidden) In ‘The Tempest’, Shakespeare effectively uses juxtaposition between nature and civilisation in the setting of an enchanted island in ways that metaphorically stress notions of spiritual rebirth through the characterisation of Caliban. Caliban, in the play, is a representation of many Elizabethan perceptions and assumptions about the ‘savage’ natives discovered in the New World - the Age of Discovery. Initially, Caliban is portrayed through animal imagery from Prospero’s perspective as a ‘freckled whelp, hag born… not honoured with human shape’, echoing the European belief of the inferiority of indigenous peoples. Although, he is characterised as illiterate and savage by Prospero, as the play progresses, the audience gain a deeper understanding of his behaviour. Caliban’s rich and sensuous appreciation of nature and imaginative power is revealed through his use of poetic imagery, ‘Be not afeared, the isle is full of noises/ Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not’. Through his complex characterisation, he serves as a reminder to the audience of the disjunction between the other characters’ assertions and what we perceive. Moreover, Caliban himself acts as a motif, to question and reappraise the differences between the worlds of the monstrous, the natural and the civilised. Atwood’s poem expresses the cyclical nature of the inner journey, a stream of consciousness exploring the dark and confrontational concept of the human psyche through the metaphysical representation of the Canadian wilderness. The contrasting words ‘similarities’ and ‘differences’ allow the reader to make connections between the physical world and the internal realm. The juxtaposition of the natural and man-made world, ‘the hills which the eyes make flat as a wall’ is established by the speaker who makes the connection with what is ‘out there’ and the ‘here’. As ‘the hills open as i move’, Atwood implies that she gains more understanding of herself and challenges the reader to embark on their own inner journey. In contrast, she manifests how the interior of the mind, like the physical landscape, becomes a multifarious world of danger where many have trodden, ‘but only some have returned safely’. The irregularity in rhythm, visual and sound imagery depicts the atmosphere of uncertainty and danger with ‘no destinations’. She continually expresses the adversity, how the ‘cliff is not known as rough except by hand’ and how the journey within ‘is not the easy going from point to point’. Ultimately, Atwood’s layered approach of techniques allows her to delve into hidden recesses of landscape that are physical and metaphysical in nature.

Both in ‘The Tempest’ by Shakespeare and ‘Journey to the Interior’ by Atwood explores the complex, hidden and transformative discovery on both personal and global levels, confirming the relatedness of inner and outer worlds in landscape and context. In the Tempest, characters are faced with various power-based situations to make choices that allow them to further explore the limitations of the mind and for the audience to be able to question different characters’ attitudes and the worlds of monstrosity, natural and civilised. ‘Journey to the Interior’ portrays the concept of discovering as a confronting/ surprising experience, which could result as multidimensional exploration of self-growth, identity and nationhood.