Alien Habitats in The Tempest

This essay will focus on notions of place, home, and habitat in The Tempest; therefore, I will start with definitions. “Habitat,” from the third person singular, present tense of Latin habitare, literally meaning “it inhabits,” was originally a term used in books of flora and fauna written in Latin to designate the natural place of growth or occurrence of a species, especially where the species finds the food, water, and shelter that it requires. ¹ “Habitat” conjures up images of the complex ecological relations of all living organisms to their physical surroundings, habits, and modes of life. Underscoring the experiential and cultural nature of our engagement with the physical environment, Douglas Pocock writes that “place relates to an area which is bounded and has distinctive internal structure, to which meaning is attributed and which evokes an affective response.” ² “Home” is a specific kind of place; it suggests both the house or dwelling in which one habitually lives or regards as one’s proper abode and a place, region, state, or country to which one properly belongs and in which one’s affections center or where one finds rest, refuge, or satisfaction. ³ “Home” evokes “the remembered field of familiar experience” and “the loci of memorable personal events.” ⁴ The English Franciscan scholastic philosopher Roger Bacon (c. 1214–1294?), known as the Admirable Doctor, underscored the importance of place in our lives when he wrote that “place is the beginning of our existence.” ⁵