Desire For Power In Shakespeare's The Tempest

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In the story The Tempest by Shakespeare, the desire for power can be seen through the characters of Stefano and Antonio. Stefano is one of the men who was on the ship along with Antonio and other characters like Gonzalo, and Alonso, etc. The ship was caught in the tempest, which is a violent storm that was created by the protagonist, Prospero, and the sailors were pretty much goners. However, all of the people on the ship did make it out alive onto the island of which Prospero resides and the characters reveal their desire for power and how much it affects their actions and mindset. With regard to Stefanos desire for power, it can be seen through his interaction with Caliban. Stefano leaves with companion Trinculo to wander off and …show more content…

Before Prospero was sent to this island and before he even knew all this magic, he was the Duke of Milan. However, the reason behind his leaving was due to Antonio and Alonso kicking him out. Already we can see how Antonio from the start is a character who loves power. It can be seen as he was not caring of his brother and would leave him to rot in the ocean and take over his position of power instead of letting him be. In the story, after the shipwreck, the reader still get glimpses of his desire for more power as he heads for Alonso’s position of power. Gonzalo and Alonso fall asleep unexpectedly and it sparks an idea in Antonio’s mind which he shares with Sebastian. Because they Golanzo and Alonso have fallen asleep, he feels it would be a perfect opportunity to kill them and take over their positions. No one would know. He convinces Sebastian to kill Gonzalo while he himself kills Alonso. In the story Sebastian says, “as thou got’st Milan,/I’ll come by Naples” (II.i.333-334). This line reveals how Antonio has already got Milan and Sebastian will now be the ruler of Naples. The fact that Antonio was so easily able to convince Sebastian to kill someone for power and pretty much dethrone and kill Alonso for more power shows how he is blind by his desire for power. As he got his position from Propspero, he already feels he needs more and wants to take that of Alonso too. Antonio’s desire for power helps enhance the plot as it too shows how he has control over his actions and is able to choose his ending, but power blinds him so instead of thinking rationally he doesn’t think at all and just wants to absorb power. Thus, revealing how his desire for power continues to grow and he isn’t able to control his actions due to

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