Would Montaigne assess Prospero as having been cruel?

Introduction

Montaigne in his essay: A Selection shows the importance of humanity since he describes human beings as fragile people who need to be handled with care. He does not support colonization since colonization make humans suffer which is contrary to what he believes in. he believes that human beings need care and treated right without being discriminated. He believes that human beings need to have rights which should not be violated since people are important and need to be well treated. Montaigne supports the human race and says that people need to be corrected in the right manner without having to suffer. He says that colonization is wrong since individuals suffer under the hands of the colonialists who mistreat them and treat them as if they were less important people. He shows the importance of respecting people and treating all people equally. He believes that all people are equally and should be treated equally regardless of the sexes of the people. He observes that people are treated unfair based on the gender and thus does not support this since all people are equal and should be handled as equal people. Religion should not be used a one of the factors that promote mishandling and mistreatment of the human race and rather should be used to bring people together. Religion should be used to support the issue of equality and respecting each other’s rights since human beings are the most important. Therefore this essay will discuss Prospero as he is described by Shakespeare and assess whether Montaigne would judge him as being cruel or not.

To begin with, Prospero is one of the main characters in Shakespeare’s The Tempest where he is described as a person who practices magic and therefore an occultist.  He has lived in exile for a period of twelve years in an island therefore has not associated with people in his past years. He has a daughter named Miranda and is a master to two people namely Ariel and Caliban who are his servants (Shakespeare et al, 126). The servants have different characteristics since Ariel is a good servant while Caliban is not as good as him. Prospero is observed to be an oppressive leader who oppresses and abuses his servants especially Caliban since he is seen as the bad servant. Montaigne would therefore asses Prospero as a bad leader and person since he oppresses other people instead of treating them with respect. He mistreats all people including his daughter through using magic and other religious cults (Ray et al, 223). He thinks he is better than all people and thus treats other people as his subjects. His behavior cannot be supported by Montaigne since he mistreats people, oppresses them and make them suffer instead of ensuring the rights of the people remain respected. Prospero is a bad example of a leader since leaders should not treat their juniors as their minors and instead should respect their people. He frightens people with his magic since he manipulates people through using magic. Use of magic to manipulate other people is wrong and cannot be accepted since it is against the humanity principles. Prospero revenges in every single situation and does not forgive people and instead make them suffer for their mistakes, which is wrong. He is an example of a person who does not respect humanity and thinks that people should be treated as slaves.

All people are equal in the eyes of religion and law. All people should be treated equally with no man regarded better compared to others. Prospero thinks he is better compared to other people whom he often mistreats which are against the beliefs of Montaigne who observes human as equal people who should be treated with respect. No man is better than another since all people are seen to be equal both in the eyes of the law and religion and thus no man is allowed to treat other people as slaves (Montaigne et al, 112). Prospero manipulates other people and even threats to send Ariel back to where he rescued him from in case he fails to follow his discriminative and oppressive ways. He threats to return him to the suffering he took him from incase he fails to obey him. Caliban on the other hand is pissed by both Prospero and his daughter since they he discovers they are not treating him well and instead focus more on benefiting themselves. Prospero does not love Caliban since he is not able to manipulate him like he does to Ariel. Their behavior cannot be supported since it is manipulative and discriminative in nature and is against the humanity principles. Oppressing people is not fair thus Prospero is viewed as a cruel person who does not respect other people and the views of other people as well (Montaigne et al, 112). He is an oppressor who does what suits best for him which is wrong since Montaigne believes in respecting people and handling them with the respect and care they deserve.

Prospero controls almost everything that should happen in his society without minding the opinions of other people. He makes decisions which are not subjected to any discussion and thus whatever he decided is right and should be followed by his servants. He even controls who should get married to his daughter since he want to benefit from the relationship. He controls his daughter’s relationship and notes that his daughter cannot date someone who is not his choice (Shakespeare et al, 126). This shows that he is manipulative in nature and wants people to do what is best for him. He wants people to obey him and failure to which he uses magic to make people obey him. Montaigne would not support such a person since he needs people to respect others and does not support those people who manipulate others for their own interests. He cannot support Prospero since he is cruel and does not deserve leadership since he does not even have the character traits of good leaders. He is a bad example of a leader since he mistreats the people close to him who are his servants and controls everything that is happening even in the lives of other people.

Prospero wants people to follow and obey him even though what is followed is oppressive and violates the rights of people. He wants people to respect him yet he does not respect the people thus people do not support him and are disgusted. People cannot support an oppressive ruler since people wants someone who listens to them and listen to their opinions and does not manipulate them. Prospero is cruel and does not qualify being a leader since he is self-minded and does not listen to other people. He is cruel and uses fear to manipulate Caliban even though he is not depicted as a real person (Shakespeare et al, 224). He even oppresses sprits through use of magic and fear thus he is cruel and oppressive and does not deserve being treated as a leader. He is not given any power to punish people or even spirits but he does this so that he can benefit and the servants can remain loyal to him. Prospero justifies his actions and does not seek for forgiveness from the servants since he believes he is doing the right thing. He believes in revenge and thus mistreats Caliban in the name of revenge. This shows that he is an oppressive and cruel person who does not deserve leadership or any form of support.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it can be viewed that Prospero is a cruel leader and his behavior cannot be supported since it against humanity principles since human beings need to be treated with respect. He is cruel to all people including those close to him since he wants to manipulate them and ensure they carry out whatever pleases him. He does not give people chances of expressing themselves since he believes his own ideas are right. He is an example of a cruel person who needs to change since his behavior is unaccepted. Therefore Montaigne would assess such a person as a cruel person who deserves punishments since he oppress people and manipulate them in an oppressive way. He is an example of a bad person since he values revenge and cannot forgive his people regardless of the situation therefore indicating he is an oppressive person who love to mistreat other people.

Work cited

Montaigne, Michel , and M A. Screech. The Essays: A Selection. London: Penguin Books, 1993. Print.

Ray, Ratri. William Shakespeare's the Tempest. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers & Distributers,    2007. Print.

Shakespeare, William, Helen Stratton, Charles Lamb, and Mary Lamb. The Tempest. London:     Alexander Moring Ltd., the de la More Press, 1904. Print.