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Character analysis in othello by shakespeare
Character analysis in othello by shakespeare
Write about the characters analysis of by william shakespeare
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Shakespeare characterizes Prospero as tyrannical and despotic through the use of threatening language in his relationship with Ariel. In act 1 scene 2, Ariel confronts Prospero’s authority when broaching the stipulation that Prospero grant him his freedom, explaining “thou did promise to bate me a full year”. Prospero describes the punishment he will inflict if Ariel persists with these demands, saying “I will rend an oak and peg thee in his knotty entrails till thou has howled away twelve winters”. This vivid imagery reminds Ariel of his torment when imprisoned by the ‘foul witch Sycorax’ for ‘a dozen years’, thus instilling fear and forcing Ariel to mentally relive an arduous past. In this way, Prospero can be construed as being unduly cruel in his treatment of Ariel; his lack of compassion is revealed as he puts Ariel through calculated pain in order to suppress him back into thraldom, and is only kind to Ariel when he is entirely subservient.
Ariel’s use of subtext communicated to Prospero that his power and consumption with vengeance was causing him to become inhumane. Prospero experiences an epiphany when Ariel says, “[m]ine would, sir, were I human” (V i, Shakespeare). Ariel points out to Prospero that his power is so strong and the revenge consuming him is making him into an evil person. Once Prospero has this moment of realization, he turns his behavior around by first denouncing his magic. Prospero shows how he is done using magic when he says, “[b]ut this rough magic I here abjure; and, when I have required…And deeper than did ever plummet sound I’ll drown my book” (V i, Shakespeare). This illuminating episode and reveal of Prospero’s true character is used by Shakespeare as the casement to emphasize the inner meaning of the work. Shakespeare’s intended meaning of the work as a whole was that things such as hatred or revenge should never overcome and alter your true identity. Prospero exemplifies that revenge is a dangerous tool and can consume the one who uses it. Prospero’s epiphany allows him to find the human part of himself again and he has a realization that he should no longer be a
The Tempest presents the character of Prospero the usurped duke of Milan. In the beginning Prospero’s character can be described as foul, spiteful, and selfish. This can be seen in various scenes in acts one and two of the play where he treats the people around him as his servants especially the fateful Ariel who reminded him of his promise only to be threatened of imprisonment. He’s selfish in the sense that he would do anything to accomplish his goal of executing his plan. Like a master puppeteer he is manipulative and deceptive. He even manipulates his daughter to fit according to his scheme. However, all of his foul characteristics left him as his plan nears its end. It is as if the shedding of his clothes represented his change is personality and attitude. After Prospero discarded his staff, drowned his magic book, and wore his duke garments he became more responsible and sympathetic. Instead of exacting revenge on the king of Naples a...
Throughout the play, Prospero is a figure who talks at rather than to the other characters, including his daughter Miranda, Prince Ferdinand, and Ariel, his airy servant. At the end of Act IV Prospero is caught up in the ecstasy of punishing and determining the fate of his foes. The beginning of Act V, however, marks a change in the character of Prospero, which averts a possible tragedy. Prospero is unsettled even though his plans are reaching fruition. In his talk with Ariel for the first time we see an actual conversation take place. In addition, in the line "...And mine shall." (Shakespeare V.i.20) we see a change of heart on the part of Prospero, and in the following monologue the audience is privy to introspection and contemplation even beyond that of the end of the masque in Act IV "We are such stuff as dreams are made on..."(Shakespeare).
Prospero’s Abuse of Power in The Tempest. In William Shakespeare's The Tempest, Prospero lives with his daughter Miranda on a deserted island. On the surface, he appears to be a benevolent leader doing his best to protect and care for the inhabitants of the island, especially for Miranda. On closer inspection, however, Prospero plays God, controlling and creating each individual to fit the mold he desires.
The Relationship Between Miranda and Prospero in The Tempest Works Cited Missing Act one scene two opens with Miranda and Prospero standing on an island, after having just witnessed a shipwreck. Right from the first line we can establish the relationship between Miranda and Prospero. "My dearest father" (line 1). As the scene commences, we begin to learn a great deal about the two roles. Miranda opens the scene as she questions her father about the huge storm.
To expound, after running Alonzo’s ship aground, Ariel verbally demonstrates his opposition to Prospero’s forced servitude, thus alluding to the anti-colonial nature of The Tempest play. Believing that his master will free him one year earlier as agre...
This interpretation of the play places more emphasis upon the character of the spirit Ariel, who could also be considered as a native of the island. Prospero frees Ariel from a tree and then enslaves the spirit to do his bidding under the promise of total freedom.
Prospero's magic is a display of power, a power which he only foretells renouncing. While in some stage productions Prospero will break a staff or burn a book, the text itself switches from a future tense first person description of the renunciation, in the play, to a past tense description, in the epilogue; the event itself is never enacted. The precise moment at which Prospero destroys his books, however, is irrelevant, as his power lies not so much in them as in Ariel. Ariel is not given freedom until the King's ship "shall catch/ [the] royal fleet far off . . . Ariel . . . that is thy charge" (V.1 315-17). By retaining Ariel after the reconciliation Prospero remains empowered, a necessity in the event that Alonso suffers ...
Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest is set on a mysterious island surrounded by the ocean. Here the magician Prospero is ruler of the isle with his two servants Caliban and Ariel. Caliban is the abrasive, foul-mouthed son of the evil witch Sycorax. When Prospero was shipwrecked on the island Prospero treated him kindly but their relationship changed when Caliban tried to rape Prospero's daughter, Miranda. Caliban then became Prospero's unwilling servant. Caliban serves his master out of fear Prospero's wrath. Prospero's other servant Ariel is a graceful spirit who has courtesy and charm. Ariel has put her services at Prospero's disposal out of gratitude for his kind actions towards her. Prospero saved Ariel from the confinement of Sycorax who held her prisoner.
The relationship between Prospero and Caliban is a perfect demonstration of the dependence relationship between a coloniser and the native of whichever colony he set his eye upon. Colonialism was a subject easily related to by Shakespeare's contemporary audience; with James on the throne the British Empire was beginning to thrive and would soon become the largest in not only the 17th Century world, but one of the largest in history. At the time 'The Tempest' was first preformed, 1611, Britain had begun to lay claim to North America and the smaller Caribbean isles, a fact the King was no doubt proud of and, similarly to his addition of the supernatural (a subject that fascinated James), aiming to impress Shakespeare chose to make colonialism a central theme in 'The Tempest'.
The play, written in 1611, showed all the qualities that a Jacobean court audience would have admired. Prospero, much like King James I, is a learned man, in possession of natural authority and an understanding of magic. He was considered by E. Dowden in Shakespeare: His Mind and Art (1875), to be a ‘harmonious and fully developed will.’ And yet a modern audience struggles to consolidate their understanding of Prospero with the archetypal Shakespearean hero. In fact, E. Baughan wrote in a Daily News Review (Jan 8, 1926), he calls Prospero both an ‘insufferable bore’ and a ‘cruel egotist.’ It’s that latter description of the protagonist and hero Prospero that a modern audience is likely to relate to.
Throughout history, the struggle for power has led mankind to commit unspeakable acts of violence in order to obtain or maintain dominion over others. Imprisonment, torture and murder are all tools tyrants such as Caligula of Rome, Ivan IV of Russia and Pol Pot of Cambodia used to subject their will on others. At the most basic level these are all stories of men obsessed with power. The Tempest, by William Shakespeare is another such story that shows just how far a person will go to gain control and power over others. The character relationship between Prospero and his slaves, Ariel and Caliban, provides insight into the overall theme of the story which is the struggle between those who have power and those that are envious of that power and will stop at nothing to take it from themselves.
The nucleus of the plot in Shakespeare's The Tempest revolves around Prospero enacting his revenge on various characters who have wronged him in different ways. Interestingly enough, he uses the spirit of Ariel to deliver the punishments while Prospero delegates the action. Prospero is such a character that can concoct methods of revenge but hesitates to have direct involvement with disillusioning his foes. In essence, Prospero sends Ariel to do his dirty work while hiding his involvement in shipwrecking his brother, Antonio, from his daughter, Miranda.
William Shakespeare’s last famous play “The Tempest” illustrates the theme of betrayal throughout the play. From the opening scene, the play begins with a storm that Prospero has created in order to provoke a shipwreck that contains all the people who have betrayed him. The ship contains his brother Antonio, who stole his Dukedom of Milan and the king of Naples Alonzo, who aided him in unseating him. Prospero was banished from Milan and landed in an island in which he was forced to live there for 12 years with his daughter Miranda. Not only do we get to see Prospero’s determination on seeking revenge for the injustice done to him but along the way we also get to witness how other characters plot against each other and plan on taking power from one another.
The illusions of justice and freedom, and what they truly are, has been a reoccurring theme throughout the works. The definitions of justice and freedom have become so construed throughout the times. In William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Prospero tries to enthrall his audience in his narrative of social justice. The idea of justice the play portrays represents one individual who controls the fate of all others. Their freedom is controlled by the interference of those around them. Although he spends most of the play righting the wrongs done to him, he is misdirecting so to hide his true motive. Prospero misconstrues the definitions of justice and freedom by enslaving Ariel and Caliban, using magic for his own good, and creating a false happy