“My ending is despair… Mercy itself and frees all faults” (Epilogue.15-18) Prospero begs to be forgiven for his sins; sins accumulated by multitude acts of villainy. He develops into a villain though the emersion into villainy is hindered by his true nature. In The Tempest by William Shakespeare, a variety of characters exhibit acts of villainy, yet Prospero demonstrates a developmental villain persona throughout the whole play. Prospero began as a man loved by his people as the Duke of Milan, yet he is later driven out of power by his own brother, Antonio. Antonio “supplant [his] brother” (2.1.258) because he “[believed]/He was indeed the duke” (1.2.102-3). Antonio greedily craved power that he forced away his brother from his own home. The …show more content…
Caliban is subjugated to being Prospero’s servant and when the job is not prepared to Prospero’s standards, Prospero will torture Caliban with the magic he acquired. For instance, when Caliban took too much time coming out of his dwelling Prospero spoke, “Thou shalt have cramps,/Side stitches that shall pen thy breath up” (1.2.327-28). Caliban endures torture continuously throughout his life because of Prospero. He is punished for every little wrongdoing. A harsh treatment that causes Caliban to resent Prospero and hate him passionately (3.2.86-87). Caliban’s hatred ignites within and causes Caliban to become a villain himself. For example when he tries and rape Miranda in order to make more of himself. Due to the gruesome treatment given by Prospero, Caliban changes into a villainous man just as the person he despises. In short, Prospero reveals his villain character when he treats Caliban cruelly; a treatment unjustly …show more content…
Prospero enslaves Ariel; he uses Ariel’s gruesome past to squeeze every bit of her sentence for his benefit. He baits the fact that he saved her from the punishment of the late witch, Sycorax, for her to do his bidding. For example, he uses her powers to manipulate the actions of those on the king’s boat, which helps to commence his ploy to go back home (1.2.195-206) Prospero continuously uses Ariel to get what he wants without doing work. Though he enslaves her, he does offer Ariel a completely different treatment than Caliban. Prospero “promise/To bate [Ariel] a full year” (1.2.249-50). He kindly offers Ariel an alternative that Caliban would never be offered. Prospero also treats Ariel with a favorable attitude and treats her kindly. Ariel asks Prospero whether he loves her which he responds with “Dearly my delicate Ariel” (4.1.49). Prospero is keeping Ariel under his control, yet he does so with affection and love towards the spirit; an attribute a villain does not tend to portray. The true nature of his personality arises; he demonstrates that he is is not so cruel that he does not care for others in his life. He also thanks Ariel when he dismisses her. He thanked her for all she did for him which a true villain would not do; a villain would not allow a slave to leave much less thank them (4.1.165). Prospero does
In the play Miranda does not want to look at Caliban and is afraid of him because he looks different. When Prospero came to the island he taught Caliban about his language and culture and now treats him as a slave. Now Caliban does all the manual labor. Prospero has also imprisoned Ariel into his service and promises Ariel freedom once but goes back on his word and says he will free Ariel later. Ariel has become Prospero’s servant and like everyone else, Prospero manipulate Ariel to get what he wants. Throughout the play Prospero’s way of manipulation and ruling over the island and its inhabitants show similarities to colonialism and imperialism.
Prospero would have benefited from not forgiving his enemies because they are al boarder line crazy. This story is one that takes place in a short amount of time, that’s why I find it weird that Antonio
In Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’, there is evidence both for and against the idea that ‘Prospero is a good ruler’. On one hand, he successfully conjures a plans and escapes from the island he is currently imprisoned on and also eventually gains his title back once returning to Milan. He is a powerful father for his daughter and torments those who may disobey his orders. But on the other hand, his slack approach to his role as Duke Of Milan led to his removal in the first place and there are also elements of cruelty and abused power that he continues to show throughout the play.
In addition to power and greed, the relationship between slave and freedom also plays a big role. Ariel aids Prospero for all the spiritual work. In the play, Ariel is portrayed like a spy for Prospero and has to report everything back to him. In return, Prospero will grant Ariel’s freedom. However, Prospero was furious when Ariel reminded him of their promise. Prospero threatens Ariel by saying,
He takes advantage of his authority over the people and situations he encounters while wearing a facade of integrity and compassion to disguise his wily intentions and to retain love and respect. In Act I of the play, Prospero finally tells Miranda the woeful story of how she and he arrived on the island. From the beginning, Prospero plays his subjects and his sympathetic audience as pawns in his game of manipulation. He explains that twelve years ago he was the Duke of Milan, but being enthralled with his studies, he left most of the governmental responsibilities to his brother Antonio. Antonio, hungry to be "Absolute Milan" himself (1:2, p.6), proceeded to betray him with the help of King Alonso of Naples.
Once Prospero is mean to Ariel, he soon becomes nice and sweet talks Ariel into doing more favors; this is a tactic of manipulation. Ariel is one of the most loyal to Prospero than anyone else on the island and genuinely cares for Prospero. Karol Berger explains how “Ariel, the performer of magic, appear in his true form… only to Prospero; to all others either he is invisible” or in the form the Prospero wanted (Berger 217-218). This shows how Ariel is loyal to Prospero because only Prospero can see him in his true form. Ariel goes to great lengths for Prospero’s appreciation, like causing a shipwreck and controlling the seas (1.2.246-253). In addition, Ariel sees Prospero as a hero and this “great being”; Ariel performs “his orders faithfully as the medium through which Prospero transmit the influences to the person whom he acts” then Prospero is shown to have magic (Berger 215). In reality, Ariel is the only one that has true magic, but he is manipulated by Prospero and makes it seem like Prospero controls the magic and Ariel is a helper. So on, Ariel not only takes orders from Prospero, but reminds Prospero of worries and things that Prospero still has to do. For example, when Prospero forgets about Stephano, Caliban, and Trinculo are plotting against Prospero, Ariel reminds Prospero about it, so they do not rob him (4.1.202-205). On another note, Ariel is still promised
During his reign he became consumed in his studies of magic, and was neglecting his people, as a result was exiled to a desolate island, by order of his brother Alonzo. On this island Prospero met another outcast to society, just like himself, named Caliban who is native to the island. Caliban originally trusted Prospero, but due to misunderstanding of events, Prospero claimed Caliban as his slave and the island as his own, and thus Caliban hates Prospero for taking his island. Even though these two have little in common, they both feel as though something has been wrongfully taken from them, Prospero in his Dukedom and Caliban with his island. Up until the later acts of the play, Prospero is filled with hatred and desire for revenge on those who took his Dukedom from him, very similar to the hate that Caliban has toward Prospero for betraying him. Prospero’s hatred manifests itself against Caliban, as shown through the verbal abuse Caliban suffers from Prospero, along with the magic abuse he endures as
Prospero is falsely sweet with Ariel, but doesn’t bother to do the same with Caliban. He seems to have wanted Caliban to revolt, in order to teach him a lesson before he leaves him and the other spirits on the island. He continues to dangle freedom in Ariel’s face like a carrot on a stick: “Shortly shall all my labors end, and thou / Shalt have the air at freedom” (Tmp. 4. 1. 295-296). It is worth contemplation that Prospero never really carries out the magic himself - he commands Ariel to do it for him. Perhaps Prospero never had magic powers, he was merely clever enough to use his book learning to make those less knowledged than him obey
In William Shakespeare's The Tempest, the character of Prospero brings about a great deal of debate. Modern literary critics are quick to use him as a poster child for English colonial practice in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Many see him as person who desires complete control of everything around him from the fish-like monster Caliban to his spirit servant Ariel, even his own daughter Miranda. Others believe that Prospero's sole motive is revenge on his brother Antonio and those associated with the established power in Naples and Milan. Taken out of context, these are reasonable conclusions. However, in the development of the play, it is quite clear that these critics are incorrect. Shakespeare does not use Prospero as the symbol of European expansion westward and although Prospero is quite powerful, he is not a power hungry egomaniac. Instead, Prospero is the very figure of a noble father. He loves his daughter so much that he sacrifices everything to give her the best opportunities for a good life. He is the slave of duty, working for the good of his people. His desire for revenge is also clearly not a motivation as he finds the strength to forgive his brother at the play's conclusion. Therefore it seems that Shakespeare's character is not being used to show the dark side of humanity, but rather the nobility of humanity and the model of a seventeenth century father.
... maybe then one might wonder if Prospero’s shift of actions can be justified. But this may not be entirely true, if we look at the history before the Tempest. We do know that Caliban was born from a witch and from an incubus which is defined as an evil or unholy male creature who has sex with women in their sleep, so he was not conceived from love but from lust which can be interpreted as sinful.This automatically makes him below Prospero who was born into a noble status; he was born to be ruler of Milan. Partly because of Caliban’s upbringing, and knowing he attempted rape on Miranda he can be characterized as as someone who is driven by pleasure. Prospero on the other hand, is driven by intellect. He tries to do what he thinks is right to maintain his position of power. He has to put more thought and planning into his decisions to manipulate situations and people.
Prospero takes advantage of people out of desperation to get home and own what he sees as his. For instance, Prospero frees Ariel and makes him his slave as part of Prospero's long-term plan of freedom, revenge and to claim back what is rightfully his (in his eyes). As well as this, although, he does seem to care for his daughter, Miranda, he uses her sexuality to help intrigue Prince Ferdinand to further his long-term plan. At heart, Prospero appears to be a good man who wants to lead a good life, but is
Prospero appears to be a ruthless tyrant that strikes fear into Caliban to make him work but further on in the text we learn that this is not the case. Caliban's foul-mouthed insults,
Throughout The Tempest, Shakespeare depicts Prospero as the ultimate puppet master, pulling each individual’s string towards his master plan. Along with his bossy and controlling attitude, Prospero claims “it was mine art/ that/… let thee out” (I.ii.351) to force Ariel into obedience. Hence with Prospero’s demands, Ariel sets up the encounter between Miranda and Ferdinand, causing them to fall in love, resulting in Prospero “rejoicing/ at nothing can be more” (III.ii.114-115). Considering the amount of power he possesses, Prospero wants to try to maintain the power. In order to keep the power, Shakespeare makes Prospero’s attitude demanding to explain the effects of having excessive amounts of power. Presenting Prospero as the bitter tyrant, Shakespeare expands on how power corrupts a person. Not satisfied with their current status, he addresses the issue of these people constantly craving
Prospero is a very powerful person and using his spell books he is able to conjure up some mighty magic. Possibly the most powerful thing he controls is Ariel (a spirit). An example of this is when Prospero says "Hast thou, spirit, Preformed to point, the tempest I bade thee".(718) Ariel had the power to create a great sea storm and Prospero had the power to control Ariel which gave him great power. Another reason why Prospero is powerful is because of his knowledge of Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculos plot to kill the king. So when Prospero reclaims his place in Milan again he'll have some mighty blackmail just incase he needs any favors or they try any thing stupid. This way they'll think twice before going against Prospero. Especially considering that Miranda will become queen. These are the reasons why Prospero is powerful.
Throughout The Tempest Prosperos character portrays an image of a nearly Nietzchean superhuman capable of disclaiming authority, killing God. He is in control of every situation and event as if the chain of causes and effects would be a conductible melody waiting for an artists touch. On the other hand he is very human: a wronged duke and a father, a symbiosis which Shakespeare displayed with the use of Prosperos garment as a theatrical tool. An artist is the creator, the maker of realities yet he remains human, an animal with feelings and urges, ties only waiting to be cut. The view implied is not far from the ideologies that emerged from the great suffering of the second world war: a man is capable of constructing himself a framework of personal and social meaning, but his true animal nature remains unchanged. In the heart of existence, life has no predefined meaning, it is a mere passage of survival from necessary birth to necessary death. Prospero's and his daughter's situation on the island was hopeless, however Prospero had chosen a function for his life - revenge.