The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 21.0264  Tuesday, 6 July 2010

From:         Martin Mueller <
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Date:         June 27, 2010 6:43:11 PM EDT
Subject: 21.0256  Hamlet's Feminine Ending
Comment:      Re: SHK 21.0256  Hamlet's Feminine Ending

>Shakespeare's plays, of course, manifest such duality throughout, often
>embodied as rival siblings or warring lords. I'd argue that TMP's 
>Ferdinand and Caliban represent the tamed and wild aspects of 
>Prospero's soul in his incestuous desire for his own daughter. What 
>is missing is the actual battle between knight and wodewose to rescue
>an abducted Fair Lady -- a motif so common in medieval lore. In one 
>version the Lady spurns the old knight who rescues her, preferring 
>instead a younger suitor, but pays for it in the end when she is left
>unprotected, a prey to lions, tigers, and bears (Oh my!).
>
>Joe Egert


What is the textual basis for Prospero's "incestuous desire for his own 
daughter"? Granted that he is a control freak and may not like to part from 
his daughter, it's quite a step from there to incest. We do have a father-
daughter incest motif in Pericles, and there are shades of it in The 
Winter's Tale -- much toned down from its source narrative--but where is it 
in the Tempest?


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