Psycho-Existential Displacement in Shakespeare’s The Tempest: A Fanonian Study
Abstract
This research presents a critique on William Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1623) by using Fanon’s idea of ‘Psycho-Existential Crisis’. Unlike the traditional western criticism that enshrines Shakespeare as the champion of human values and universality, Postcolonial Criticism dethrones and subjects him to Critical Race Theory, Feminist and New Historicist Analogies. Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks (1967) and The Wretched of the Earth (2004) have been used as primary texts with the particular focus on ‘Psycho-Existential Crisis’ that permeates the ideology where whiteness is associated with humanity and one is also required to meet white standards if one wants to be a human. Caliban and many other characters in The Tempest have been depicted with this racist mentality. This research, therefore, puts a lens at the power relationships tracing out the torturing effects of this racist tendency upon the mental and physical health of the people of colour. It challenges Shakespeare’s representation by arguing that Shakespeare was complicit in racial politics.
Authors
Saba Rasheed
M. Phil, Department of English, Government College University, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
Muhammad Owais Ifzal
Lecturer, Department of English, Government College University Faisalabad, Hafizabad Campus, Punjab, Pakistan
Nida Tabassum
Lecturer, Department of English, National University of Modern Languages Islamabad, Faisalabad Campus, Punjab, Pakistan
Keywords
Displacement, Postcolonialism, Psycho-Existential Crisis, The Tempest