Breaking the Code: Understanding the Racial Terminology in Shakespeare's The Tempest

Abstract

William Shakespeare was not only the greatest dramatist in the history of English Literature but also a man of several identities. It was only in his later plays that readers realised that Shakespeare had started realising his worth in the world of playwrights. It is often referred that the character Prospero from this play is an incarnation of the Bard himself. If observed so, this is very evident of how proud and autocratic Shakespeare might have felt. Keeping in mind that this was the high time for colonisation and it was rooting itself in the English history, Prospero might also signify the power of English autocracy and ascendency.