Character Sketch of Miranda
Miranda is one of the most charming feminine character of Shakespeare. In the words of Ferdinand, Miranda is “so perfect and so peerless”, and “created of very creature’s best”. She fascinates us by her simplicity, her trustfulness, and her tenderness of disposition.
• Her Physical Beauty
Miranda is fifteen year old daughter of Prospero who is beginning for blossom into a beautiful young woman. Her beauty has been conveyed to us not through the qualities of her features, face or figure but through the effect which her image produces not only on her youthful lover but also on elderly people.
It is not only Ferdinand who thinks her to be a goddess when he sees her the first time. Even Alonso at first sight says – “Is she the goddess that hath served us and brought us thus together?”
Caliban goes almost poetic in his reference to the loveliness of Miranda.
• Her Sympathy and Tenderness
The most conspicuous quality is her sympathy. Having seen the shipwreck, she has suffered greatly. She says –
“O, I have suffered / with those that I saw suffer.
The cries of the ship’s passengers “did knock against her very heart”.
On hearing her father’s narration of his banishment, her heart is filled with sorrow, thinking of his distress.
Her deepest pity is aroused to see Ferdinand suffering under the burden of toil imposed upon him by Prospero. She pleads with her father on behalf of Ferdinand.
• Her Innocence
Miranda is just a child who looks at the unusual sights and sounds on the island with wonder.
Miranda is so innocent, she has never seen another woman and having no knowledge of any other human except her father.
She is not aware of the existence of evil on the island. Moreover she is incapable of coping with evil and intrigue. She is safe because she lives under the protection of his powerful father.
She is unaware of her beauty because she does not know what feminine beauty is suppose to look like.
Miranda is free from hypocrisy and deceit, her innocent nature knows no concealment. She declares her love for Ferdinand with remarkable frankness, discarding false modesty. As she says –
” I am your wife if you will marry me ;
If not, I will die your maid”.
• Her Love for Ferdinand
Miranda loves Ferdinand sincerely and affectionately. She falls in love with Ferdinand at first sight which is quite natural because she had never seen a man except her father.
Ferdinand is young and good looking, but her love, though sudden is not a passing fancy. Her love is deep, genuine and passionate. Miranda is so straightforward that she offers her hand to Ferdinand in marriage who accepts her offer. Miranda and Ferdinand provide an element of idyllic love between two simple lovers.
Miranda’s love for Ferdinand is so intense that she cannot bear to see him piling logs of wood under Prospero’s command. She offers to share his hard labour.
She is so tender and loving that she appeals to her father not to be so harsh towards him.
At last, her father Prospero is fully convinced of the depth and lasting nature of her passion that is why he offered her to Ferdinand in marriage. He comments on their love:
“Fair encounter of two most rare affections;
Heavens rain grace on that which breeds between them!”
In all, we can say that Miranda is sweet innocent, pure, simple, honest and loving.
Question : Miranda attracts us most by her child-like: innocence. Do you agree? What do you think of her as a character in the play “The Tempest”?
Answer: Miranda is the most charming character in “The Tempest”, though her character is not so much of drams importance, but her charm lies in her innocence, simplicity and straightforwardness.
Miranda is not only beautiful, modest and tender,but also she is so perfectly unsophisticated and delicately refined that she is all but ethereal. She is an unsophisticated and innocent young maiden. She is a simple and compassionate woman. She is deeply moved by the miserable plight of the passengers on the ship that is facing the fury of the storm. She feels so sympathetic towards the passengers that she asks her father, Prospero to end the storm.
She relies on others for guidance like a child. She looks at the unusual sights and sounds on the island with wonder. She is so innocent and ignorant that she doen not know that there are other men and women in the world, besides Prospero and herself. She is not aware of the existence of evil on the island. Moreover, she is incapable of coping with evil and intrigue. She is protected by her powerful father, Prospero.
Miranda is a pure product of nature. She is very far from hypocrisy, cunning, deceit, crookedness, etc. The conventions of society and the artificial life imposed by the society displace the simple, unmixed and generous impulses of the heart. But in the case of Miranda, nature as an impulse and her father’s affection take the place of social conventions. Her innocence and simplicity are best shown in the love scene between herself and Ferdinand. She declares her love to Ferdinand with a remarkable frankness, discarding all false modesty or bashfulness. Her spontaneous nature knows no concealment. Her natural simplicity is seen in the following words spoken by her to Ferdinand :
“Hence, bashful cunning!
And prompt me, plain and holy innocence:
I am your wife if you will marry me;
If not, I will die your maid.”