Quote 22
PROSPERO
To cry to the sea that roared to us, to sigh
To th' winds whose pity, sighing back again,
Did us but loving wrong. (1.2.177-179)
Nature has always interacted in Prospero's affairs. Here, he highlights that nature is not one big capital "N" Nature, but a mix of different elements, each with moods and tendencies. At the time of their exile, Prospero remembers the sea like an enemy, and the wind like a lover.
PROSPERO
Thou most lying slave,
Whom stripes may move, not kindness, I have used
thee,
Filth as thou art, with human care, and lodged
thee
In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate
The honor of my child. (1.2.412-418)
Was it in Caliban's nature to ignore Prospero's nurturing? When Caliban tried to violate Miranda, was he compelled by his own natural forces, greater than his moral reasoning?
Quote 24
PROSPERO
Then, as my gift and thine own acquisition
Worthily purchased take my daughter. But
If thou dost break her virgin-knot before
All sanctimonious ceremonies may
With full and holy rite be ministered,
No sweet aspersion shall the heavens let fall
To make this contract grow; but barren hate,
Sour-eyed disdain and discord shall bestrew
The union of your bed with weeds so loathly
That you shall hate it both. Therefore take heed,
As Hymen's lamps shall light you. (4.1.14-24)
Miranda's virginity, outside of its socio-cultural implications, is really also a simple mark that she is just as she was created: being a virgin, she is still in her natural state. If we think about virginity as a mark of childhood and naturalness, not as some deep moral and religious issue, we can take the edge off. What is Miranda's state of nature, and is anything natural being lost in her union to Ferdinand?