Cota, Luca Magal

Literatura de los pases de habla inglesa I

Morning shift

MY TEMPEST: MODERN SLAVERY
(O MAYUSCULA O MINUSCULA O SUBRAYADO; NEVER BOTH)

Throughout this essay, a comparison will be made between the slavery that appears
/DEPICTED in the play The Tempest and the slavery from the real world, from early times
and the one that surrounds us now, in the 21th century. Slavery occurs on a widespread basis
in The Tempest, and IT can be perfectly represented by, at least, two characters: Ariel, an airy
spirit, loyal to Prospero; and Caliban, the deformed son of Sycorax, servant of Prospero,
Trinculo and Stephano. But first, we need to understand what slavery was, or is. Legally
speaking, this term has changeD, and what in the Slavery Convention of 1926 was said to be
slavery (defined as status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers
attaching to the right of ownership are exercised.
1
), was not the same in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 (in which Article 4 provides that no one shall be held in
slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.)
2
,
mainly because humanity evolves and new concepts appear. But, even though slavery, in the
practice, has changed, there is one thing that characterizes it no matter what the time it is
WHATEVER THE TIMES , and this is, I believe, the definition given by the Merrian-Webster
Dictionary, which says that slavery is submission to a dominating influence
3
. So now, we can
show many examples about slavery that can be quoted from the play, and understand the
comparison aforementioned. For instance, when Prospero justifies Ariels servitude because of
the gratitude that Ariel owes to him for something that he did:
ARIEL
I prithee,
Remember I have done thee worthy service;
Told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings, served
Without or grudge or grumblings: thou didst promise

1
https://www.freetheslaves.net/SlaveryinHistory
2
http://www.antislavery.org/english/slavery_today/what_is_modern_slavery.aspx
3
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slavery
Cota, Luca Magal
Literatura de los pases de habla inglesa I
Morning shift

To bate me a full year.

PROSPERO
Dost thou forget
From what a torment I did free thee?
4

The fact of having gratitude among the master or owner (MASTER) from the slave was very
common in the real world too, mainly before the 17
th
century, when slavery was still of
common practice, the owner always justified why his slave should stay with him, working and
also suffering, in order not to die, and make sure that the slaves would stay with him. But
nowadays, although slavery as we may imagine with chains and physical violence has been
abolished from all countries around the world, there is still a new kind of slavery that is being
fought worldwide: A MODERN SLAVERY. In comparison with the gratitude that once existed
between the slave and the owner, what happens now is that employees who are exploit and are
force to stay to work overtime, or those who cannot quit the job because of their monetary
dependence, this is a kind of modern slavery. Unfortunately, in some countries, forced labour
and child forced labour is still a struggle that governmental entities are trying to eradicate. Low
salaries, poor working conditions, working without a break are contemporary features of the
modern slavery.
Another perfect example, as it was previously mentioned, is Caliban, where he, as a
monster, is seen as inferior specie by most of the characters that confront him; also the idea of
ownership over him. This can be perfectly proved by several parts of the play. For example:
MIRANDA
Abhorrd slave,
Which any print of goodness wilt not take,
Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee,
Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour
One thing or other: when thou didst not, savage,
Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like
A thing most brutish, I endow'd thy purposes
With words that made them known. But thy vile race,

4
The Tempest by W. Shakespeare, act one, scene two, line 245-250.
Cota, Luca Magal
Literatura de los pases de habla inglesa I
Morning shift

Though thou didst learn, had that in't which good natures
Could not abide to be with; therefore wast thou
Deservedly confined into this rock,
Who hadst deserved more than a prison.
5

In other words, Miranda suggests that Caliban's "vile race", look, linage and lack of language
makes him deserving of his status as a slave, doomed to servitude and obedience.
After Caliban meets Trinculo and Stephano, and starts drinking with them, he speaks to
Stephano, and enforceS the idea of ownership over someone:
CALIBAN
I'll show thee every fertile inch o' th' island;
And I will kiss thy foot: I prithee, be my god.
6

Now, to compare what is represented in the play with real facts, slavery in mankind has always
been marked by appearances. First, black people was WERE discriminated and pointed as
perfect candidates for workforce and abuse. America in the 17
th
and 18
th
was the main scenario
of African slaves brought for working in crops. And this continent remained as protagonist in
later centuries, having as victim the native communities, where colonizers first took their
lands, and then they used them to work for no retributions, rather than staying alive for just a
bit longer, or not killing their children. In the 21
st
century, after years of fighting for human
rights, this does not happen in this kind of level, but, the modern slavery is represented in
other ways: physical discrimination is all around us, even more than we can imagine. Poor
people unfortunately, continue to be the main victims, because of their weakness and lack of
education that forces them to work for anything that employers offer. But, this is also present
in more important jobs, for instance, when you are asked to have good presence for a job
application, and you are not even taken into account because you dont fit the profile of the
corporation: this is discrimination, that will have as a consequence getting a lower paid job,
and making that person part of the statistics of modern slavery. On the other hand, the idea of
ownership over a person in the contemporary era is headed by women. Womens trafficking is
one of the most serious problems that the world is facing nowadays. Small and young girls are
being taken by kidnappers to an underground and unreachable mafia that appropriates women
for sexual exploitation, to finally been disposed as garbage. Also, in the Islamic world, the role
of women is a very controversy topic: here, women have no rights to suggest anything about

5
The Tempest by W. Shakespeare, act one, scene two, line 350-360
6
The Tempest by W. Shakespeare, act one, scene two, line 118-120
Cota, Luca Magal
Literatura de los pases de habla inglesa I
Morning shift

their present or future: they are force to hide behind long dresses and tunics that cover their
faces, so as not to seduce other men; prohibit to look directly into someone elses eyes; and
worst of all: in some countries, such as Pakistan, were the Taliban Regime dominates, women
are distanced from education, and punishes anyone who contradicts it, as happened to Malala
Yousafzai, Women's Rights Activist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.
Many things are changing. Fortunately, some for good. (TRY TO CAHNGE) The topic of
slavery in the Tempest may have passed unnoticed for the spectators of that time. But
nowadays this is something that we need to eradicate as soon as possible, treating everybody as
equal, giving all people the same opportunities, fighting against what we believe as unfair,
disapprove what is wrong and helping those who ask for help and those who do not request it
because of ignorance. The main basis of a free-slavery world is education. I will finish this
essay quoting one of the strongest and admirable person in this century, Malala Yousafzai, who
said at the U.N. : "One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the
world. Education is the only solution. Education first."
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7
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-23282662