Nature vs Civilisation

• • Gonzalo discusses how desirable a 'natural' , uncivilised society would be
  • his words are shaped by Montaigne's PRIMITIVISM -> the idea that a natural, primitive and uncivilised society could actually be happier
• • in the play, using the island, Shakespeare explores ideas of nature and civilisation, prompted by the exploration of America, and the discovery of an actual New World
• • some Elizabethans viewed the New World as a new place of new opportunity- where a more natural, less hierrarchal and less corrupt way of life might be better
• • in the play, we see that the citizens from the Old World behave badly
  • the Old World is a place of masters and servants
  • a place of political scheming and wrangling, of hierarchies and dynamics.
• • the New World may be a more 'natural', but it can still be a wild and bestial place
  • the natural, uncivilised world can be both good and bad
• • Shakespeare's presentation of the 'New' and 'Old' World seems more ambiguous and balanced than Montaigne's.