Abstract

René von Schomberg’s article “A Vision of Responsible Research and Innovation” becomes a stimulus for my discussion about ethical implications of imitation. His main concerns are how a new invention is introduced to society, whether it is thoughtfully planned or constructed, and how will it be legally supervised. Imitation naturally can become an invention. It is also a frequent topic in literary and visual works. In my analysis I observe that three works of art, which vary in their genre, similarly alert to the aspects of irresponsible science, especially to imitation of nature which deceives the consumers, allows to take control over them or misuses products of imitation. In my opinion, Shakespeare deliberately gives Prospero the magical power to imitate the natural phenomena in order to present that imitation may become either a tool for entertaining the audience or a weapon to regain the control over the others. I focus on particular scenes in The Tempest, namely, scene 3 in act 3 about the banquet in the forest and scene 1, act 4 about Juno, Ceres and Iris’s performance for the engaged couple. The methodology of close reading allows me to find clues in specific expressions or stage directions which prove my assumption that Prospero with his god-like features is both a director and a mad scientist. The first conducts fairies as his puppets to create a cathartic spectacle for the characters and the real-life audience; the second experiments on the characters with magic to satisfy his selfish needs. Additionally, I notice that Prospero can be also seen as a colonial force which misuses his labour: fairies and Caliban, and has a monopoly on the access to knowledge and information. As I observe, in Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis imitation is understood dualistically: on the one hand, it is a creation “in the shape of something,” on the other, it is a clone. Moreover, imitation is a way of learning the secrets of nature; science in New Atlantis is a language to communicate with and understand God’s creation. Like Prospero, Bensalem is physically and mentally isolated from other civilisations; they withdraw from any kind of cooperation with other nations, simultaneously observing their progress.