{"id":482,"date":"2020-04-09T17:32:26","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T21:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/?p=482"},"modified":"2020-04-09T19:08:02","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T23:08:02","slug":"white-magic-in-a-tempest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/2020\/04\/09\/white-magic-in-a-tempest\/","title":{"rendered":"“White Magic” in A Tempest"},"content":{"rendered":"

In <\/span>A Tempest<\/span><\/i>, Caliban describes Prospero’s powers specifically as “white magic.” This white magic is portrayed as a force opposing the natural order of the island in the way that invasive technologies of colonizers had in the real world. Caliban even complains about Prospero’s technology and civilization that he brings to the island. I believe that Cesaire intended to equate the blend of white technology and culture into the force of “white magic” in order to give the power of white colonizers a name that is descriptive both of its other-worldliness to less technological cultures and its opposition to natural order.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prospero\u2019s colonization of the island is unnatural both to the natives of the island and the drunks who attempt to colonize it themselves, but for different reasons. When the drunks complain to Caliban of the rough nature of the island, he replies that the nature is unnaturally wild due to Prospero\u2019s white magic. But Caliban and the drunken colonizers are, in reality, complaining about two separate problems. Caliban is merely upset at Prospero\u2019s control of the island whereas the colonizers are upset at the island itself. Caliban blames their despair on Prospero simply so they help him reclaim the land. This scene shows that there is no \u201cwhite magic\u201d in actuality, but Prospero\u2019s technology still makes him a stronger opponent than Caliban. The two drunken whites that intend to colonize the island are not stronger than Caliban, however, because they are cut off from their technology, and therefore cannot control the unruly nature of the island.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhite magic\u201d is a direct tool of the civilizing mission that Prospero describes throughout the play. It is not magic itself, but the ability to use technology to modify and control nature to one\u2019s desire. Prospero cannot control Caliban or Ariel themselves, but his technological power threatens them enough to make them follow his orders. I think that Cesaire\u2019s use of the \u201cwhite magic\u201d theme ultimately points to the unnaturality of slavery. It is a system that is imposed on the world by those meaning to bend nature, and is therefore unnatural and otherworldly. Prospero\u2019s very existence on the island is forced due to his exile from his home country, showing that his \u201ccivilized\u201d way of life does not truly belong in the natural world. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In A Tempest, Caliban describes Prospero’s powers specifically as “white magic.” This white magic is portrayed as a force opposing the natural order of the island in the way that invasive technologies of colonizers had in the real world. Caliban even complains about Prospero’s technology and civilization that he brings to the island. I believe … <\/p>\n

Continue reading ““White Magic” in A Tempest”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3686,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437770],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-walcott"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3686"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":483,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482\/revisions\/483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/blackandgreenatlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}