“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
Prospero tries to justify enslaving Caliban, but all he really does is place Caliban into a category of bestial and uncivilized and as a result enslaves him. Even Miranda, Prospero’s daughter, speaks in a way that categorizes Caliban as an uneducated and uncivilized savage. “I pitied thee, Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour [.] When thou didst not, savage, know thine own meaning [. ]” (1.2.356-359) Miranda doesn’t stop there; she continues labeling Caliban, “But thy vile race, though thou didst learn, had that in’t which good natures could not abide to be with; therefore wast though deservedly confined into this rock [. ]”
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.
One of the last plays by William Shakespeare was a play that moved beyond tragedy, but voices Shakespeare’s self reflection while he leaves the field of theatre. The Tempest by Shakespeare tells a story about a duke, Prospero who is exiled with his daughter to an island where there are few inhabitants. Prospero finds opportunity to still rule over these select few on the island by developing magical powers with the help of his slave, Ariel. Although Prospero has magical abilities, he also uses other tactics to get what he wants from people. In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Prospero uses his tactic and power of manipulation to control other characters, like Miranda, Caliban and Ariel to gain their loyalty. Each of these characters are manipulated
Prospero treats his two servants in very different ways as their behavior and attitudes towards him are contrasting. From this, the question arises why he treats his equally hard-working servants in different ways and if he is wise in his actions.
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,
Shakespeare wrote many plays, and his morals seemed to fit with that of the time period - “faith in human reason was unshakeable”, and they preferred an “empirical and analytical approach” to issues (Dewald, et. al., vol 4: 460-461). “The Tempest was intended as Shakespeare’s farewell to the theatre” (“William Shakespeare”), and many scholars interpret the character of Prospero as being Shakespeare himself, as “He behaves like a dramatist in charge of the whole play as well, arranging her life and that of the other characters” (“William
... 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.
Since the Tempest, Prospero says that his “project gather to a head” having spirits obey and work to torment his enemies (V.i.1). However, Ariel gives Prospero a wakeup call pushing Prospero to reflect on his actions and finally decides to take part in his “nobler reason/ in virtue than in vengeance” (V.i.31-33). Besides continuing to pursue revenge, Shakespeare uses Prospero realizing that actions should be driven by noble impulse rather than vengeance to portray the power of forgiveness. Because Prospero turned away from revenge, his forgiveness reconciled relationships and prevented the play from turning into a tragedy. Considering the two paths, vengeance and forgiveness, illustrated throughout the play, Shakespeare creates a contrast between violence and peace. Along the course of The Tempest, he wants readers to know that people possess the capacity for forgiveness to bring joy and peace back into the world, and restore hope for
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 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
The Tempest is the shortest of Shakespeare’s plays, it takes place in the span of 3 hours. The Tempest is Shakespeare’s most original play that’s not based on something else. This play is also said to be the last play the Shakespeare wrote alone. It was not wise for Prospero to forgive his enemies. Prospero should not have forgiven his enemies because they are boarder line crazy, they have already screwed him over once already, and because there is still a chance his enemies because they are capable of sending him away again or worse killing him.
William Shakespeare's last play The Tempest is a story about Prospero (the rightful duke of Milan). He is betrayed by his brother Antonio and left on a ship with his daughter Miranda to die. Only things are not going according to plan and Prospero and Miranda arrive on an island. Prospero is seeking his revenge. Coming back from a wedding in Africa a ship containing Prosperos enemies is attacked by the tempest and scatters its passengers about the island. Prospero exhibits three major character traits: forcefulness, protectiveness and forgiveness.
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
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.