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Theme of nature vs nurture in the tempest
Explain the nature of the characters of the tempest
Character analysis essay on the tempest
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Punishment plays an extremely important role in the Tempest because Shakespeare uses it as a way of manipulation and control. Many characters in the play perform acts that are unusual and unnecessarily cruel to others including their own family. Attention is drawn to these acts when the punishments are given out to chastise them. Some punishments seem even more unusual than the acts that warranted them. One character, Antonio makes it through the play without receiving a punishment fit for the acts he commits. The supporting paragraphs will detail what Antonio does throughout the play and why his punishment seems less than what he has coming to him. Antonio is the jealous younger brother of Prospero who is a sorcerer and the Duke of Milan. Antonio wants to be Duke, so he has his own brother, Prospero and his niece, Miranda, exiled. They are sent away on a decrepit ship without a sail and with nothing but magic books. Antonio takes over as Duke and rules Milan in place of his brother. King Alonso was Antonio’s partner in crime and they have no regrets in extraditing Prospero and his daughter on the …show more content…
Prospero knows this is happening and has Ariel, one of his servants, conjure up a huge storm to cause Antonio’s ship to wreck on the same island that Prospero and Miranda have settled. It is at this time that the punishments begin. When Sebastian is caught attempting to kill his brother, Antonio insists they were only protecting the king from wild animals. A huge feast is prepared for them and laid by welcoming spirits who invite the king and company to feast. Just before they can devour the meal Ariel appears as a harpy and announces that three men of sin are at the table. The men draw their swords but with the help of white magic Ariel and the spirits reappear taking the entire feast away as their
A longing for revenge can hold people captive in their own minds, influencing thoughts and speech. The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, is a play that follows the story of Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, after he is overpowered by his own brother and left to die with his daughter in a cramped sailboat. He seeks vengeance against many; however, he is not alone in his pursuit of revenge. His servant, Caliban, yearns for revenge toward Prospero for commanding him to be his slave. As Prospero seeks revenge on Antonio and Caliban, he does not realize Caliban’s own craving for revenge against him.
In the comedic, yet thrilling play, The Tempest, William Shakespeare uses characters such as Caliban, Alonso, and Ariel to show Prospero’s immense cruelness and pure monstrosity. Moreover, these Shakespearean characters are also used to highlight Prospero’s change in character into a kinder and more forgiving person. Prospero starts the play out as a vengeful monster, after an illuminating moment however, his persona transforms into his true identity of a compassionate man.
The first difference between the play and the movie “The Tempest” is; the protagonist Prospero, the Duke of Milan, is played by a female character named Prospera in the movie filmed in 2010, directed by Julie Taymor. He is a complex character in the play however the personality that Shakespeare created was slightly changed in the movie. The key point of this gender difference is to highlight the role of women’s empowerment over the last two hundred years. Taymor’s movie is making a statement on how Prospera’s power is limited for the island, she is still able to empower throughout the text sexually,...
There are many elements in Shakespeare's play, The Tempest, which one cannot reconcile with the real world. The main theme in The Tempest is illusion, and the main focus is the experiment by Prospero.
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.
In summary, Shakespeare’s The Tempest play explores the theme of opposition to the colonial-style authority of Prospero based on various characters’ covert and overt reactions to the master’s antics. For instance, Ariel opposes Prospero’s continuous detention of the former regardless of an earlier agreement to the contrary. Moreover, Caliban expresses his dissatisfaction with the forced labor that her does for Prospero. To prove his opposition to Prospero’s authority, Caliban plans the master’s death. Miranda also makes a statement that indicates her displeasure with the way Prospero executes his authority especially with regard to Ferdinand. The imprisoned Ferdinand also indicates his opposition to Prospero’s power through a disproving statement made before Miranda.
Having been usurped and wrecked on an Island Prospero and his young daughter Miranda have to settle. It is here in Prospero's past that it first clear to see where any confusion about his character may appear. As a learned and powerful man Prospero is able to take direct control of the island, he frees a trapped and tortured spirit (Ariel) and befriends the inhabitants (Caliban). Prospero 'helps' Caliban, he tries to educate him and teaches him to communicate, in exchange Caliban helps Prospero to survive on the Island. But in taking power of the Island Prospero is committing the same act that happened to him as Duke of Milan, now Prospero himself has become the usurper. In this act of goodness Prospero has unknowingly shown his evil side.
The play opens with a fearful tempest threatening to destroy the king's ship and all of its passengers. This situation along with the terrified emotions of the characters appears to the reader to be very real. However, in the second scene, the reader meets Prospero and his daughter Miranda. Through their conversation we learn of Prospero's magical powers, his brother's unjust claim as the Duke of Milan, and the exile of the two to this mysterious island. Next unveiled is Prospero's plot of revenge to regain his rightful title, the first step being to shipwreck the royal party on his island with the creation of the magical tempest. The reality of the situation is that there never was any danger from the storm at all.
The shipwrecked people also play into Prospero’s hand, but they don’t even realize this. Even Miranda is dutiful to her father, and does what he says with little complaint.
Sebastian's stubborn and easily manipulated personality also meets the same fate as Antonio. On the other hand, many characters are rewarded for their forgiveness. Alonso gets his son back as a reward for his remorseful mentality towards what he did to Prospero, something that definitely reflects the good people receive for forgiving or asking to be forgiven. Another great example of this is Ferdinand, who is threatened with enslavement in Act 1, Scene 2, but remains content. Ferdinand simply proclaims "“Might I but through my prison once a day behold this maid: all corners else o'the earth let liberty make use of; space enough have I in such a prison,” (1.2.495-499) thus forgiving Prospero for enslaving him merely out of love for Miranda.
Before being forced out of Milan, Prospero valued magic more than his dukedom. Shortly after the Tempest, Prospero feels the need to tell Miranda about her past. “My brother and thy uncle, called Antonio— I pray thee, mark me (that a brother should Be so perfidious!)—he whom next thyself Of all the
Ariel listens to Prospero’s remarks and asks Prospero for forgiveness. Prospero tells Ariel to finish his tasks without complaining and Prospero will set him free in two days. Prospero knows that he needs Ariel’s magic and that is why he gets so upset when Ariel reminds him of his freedom. It is quite obvious to the reader by this point that Prospero has a clear motive and that after the next two days Prospero will no longer need Ariel’s magic. That being said, Ariel is necessary to Prospero if he wants to successfully claim revenge on his brother Antonio.
To reassure her further, he continues by explaining his motives in creating the storm. Here the reader learns that Prospero and Antonio are brothers, and that Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan but that his brother usurped his kingdom and exiled Prospero and his daughter Miranda. Fortune saved the two from their rotting ship which had been set to drift, and brought them to the island where Prospero has been granted supernatural powers by the enemies of Antonio. From the above description, it is clear that the play embraces both the natural and the supernatural world. Twelve years before the action takes place, we are told that Prospero was a prince who had a different type of power than he has now.
Prospero, the "rightful" duke of Milan, primarily seeks revenge against two people, Antonio and Caliban. But, Prospero allows his anger toward them to trickle to the other castaways on the island. He encourages Ariel to separate Sebastian, Duke Alonso's brother, from his son Ferdinand during the raging sea storm, causing Sebastian to assume his son has drowned. (1.2.213-224) The other "drunkards" on the island also feel the brunt of Prospero's revenge against Caliban when Ariel tempts them with a banquet stocked with alcohol and then disillusions them into thinking the banquet was a figment of their imagination. (2.1)
However, imagine if the most person that you trust and love in life went betrayed you and tries to harm you. What would you feel! anyone will lose trust in everyone and that what actually happened with Prospero. He started telling her about the story of her family and how he was a duke and she is a princess, then he starts telling her about the story of her betrayed uncle named Antonio by trying to convince the king of Naples of how bad Prospero is, he did that just because he wanted to be in Prospero’s spot and be the Duke of Milan instead of his brother because he believed that he deserves this title more than him, “intrigues of my ambitious younger brother”, Antonio thought only of himself. So Antonio sent an army to get rid of both Prospero and Miranda, he kicked them out of Milan.