The Tempest

[han401]

“O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people in’t!” ( William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 5.1).

This particular quote is spoken by Miranda when she saw many men for the first time. Prior to this she knew only her father and Caliban, who is described as a monster. She meets Ferdinand before she says these lines and immediately falls in “love” with him. Ferdinand was the first “heavenly” male figure she saw. It is interesting to note that Miranda does not necessarily know what a “beautiful” male looks like since she has never seen a male, besides the people mentioned above, before. At one point, her father even says that Ferdinand is ugly for a man, but she says she does not care for she is humble and would not want a more handsome man. It makes me wonder what would happen when Miranda actually went back to Italy and saw more beautiful male figures.
Q: Do you think Miranda loves Ferdinand?
Q: Do you think she would stay “true” to him once she saw other males?
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[Charles Darnay]

The line you quoted is meant to be funny and would have registered as such. Miranda has more in common with Ariel and Caliban than Ferdinand - in a sense she is not quite "human" - she, like Ariel and Caliban - is almost a servant to her father. She knows nothing but his control, and he is no more relaxed with her than he is with Caliban or Ariel - that is, until he drowns his books.

So your question is hard to answer and one which there is no indication for in the text. It's sort of taken for granted that she and Ferdinand end up happy married in that traditional Romance sort of way - but there not much basis to question whether she really loves him - for what does she know of love?

[han401]

Yes, it is true she does not know what loves is, that's why I wonder can she really "love" Ferdinand? You make a good point that the line was supposed to be taken as funny, but I think there is a lot behind it. I agree that this is a hard question to answer, especially because Miranda has minimal speaking lines and is not a major character. I think that is why I posed this question, I was curious what people thought about her character.