Prospero's Plottings
After years of writing plays of history, tragedy, grand comedy and dramatic romance, William Shakespeare emerged from his darker writing of the past into the lighter, more peaceful style of his play “The Tempest.” This was Shakespeare’s last complete play, and, just as he bid farewell to the art he had so mastered, his principal character Prospero departs from his artful magic on the island he omnisciently controls. While Prospero’s early actions against his foes echo the ideas of a vengeful god, he strives to educate more than to correct. He portions out the justice he carries out with mercy, even when his enemies are delivered directly into his divine power, and, by doing so, proves to be the master of himself, embodying the qualities expected of a good ruler.
Prospero’s omnipresence during the play is one the more obvious physical signs that he is in control of all his surroundings. The right Duke of Milan, he was exiled with his daughter, Miranda, to a remote island twelve years prior to the play’s beginning by his usurping brother Antonio, only surviving with the help of the good-hearted advisor Gonzalo. With the help of his spirit servant Ariel, Prospero stirs up a storm to beach a passing ship containing Alonso, king of Naples, who aided Antonio’s usurpation, his brother Sebastian and son Ferdinand, and Antonio himself, so he may confront them. Ferdinand is separated from the rest, is thought to be drowned, and courts Miranda, is put to the test by Prospero, and ultimately marries her. Ironically, Antonio coaxes Sebastian to plot to depose Alonso while they are being punished on the island because of usurpation. Prospero’s deformed slave Caliban encounters two lower members of Alsonso’s court, Trinculo the jester and Stephano the drunken butler and the three foolishly plot to win control of the island, under the unblinking eye of Prospero, who punishes them through Ariel’s trickery. In the end, all are brought before Prospero who forgives all, but reclaims his Dukedom, and releases Ariel and Caliban from his control. He renounces his magical powers and returns to Italy having learned the virtues of self-mastery from his exile.
Prospero’s character is portrayed as entirely good throughout the play, using his magic only to achieve positive ends such as education. He is one with his environment as he has developed superior intellectual powers, now realizing that he marked himself to be ousted by his distance from everyday affairs.
With the semester coming to an end, many students are excited. This especially includes those who will be graduating soon. However, graduation can be seen as a bittersweet moment. On one hand, the graduates enter into a new chapter in their lives. On the other hand, they may lose communication with some of their friends. Unfortunately, this is a natural aspect of each person’s life. Everyone will experience some kind of loss in their life, whether it is person or an object. In The Tempest, Shakespeare discusses the topic of loss. While this theme is not talked about much compared to other themes in the play, it is very important since it is a theme that is included in the 1956 movie adaptation Forbidden Planet. While both works illustrate the ways people deals a loss, the later work demonstrates how the advancement in the world have affected the way modern society
Prospero is a very powerful man who is out for revenge. At this point in the play, and in his life, he seems to only care about himself and his daughter. He is bitter at the loss of his Kingdome from his own family and she has been the only one who is there for him which isn’t exactly by choice. It is easy to see how hurt he is from what has been done to both him and his daughter. For the first time he is telling Miranda about the journey that led them to the island, “I pray thee, mark me /I thus neglect worldly ends, all dedicated / To closeness and the bettering of my mind” (1.2.107-110). While he is telling his daughter this story he is making sure he is being seen as innocent, saying he was just trying to better himself when this happened.
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 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...
Shakespeare's play, The Tempest tells the story of a father, Prospero, who must let go of his daughter; who brings his enemies under his power only to release them; and who in turn finally relinquishes his sway over his world - including his power over nature itself. The Tempest contains elements ripe for tragedy: Prospero is a controlling figure bent on taking revenge for the wrongs done to him, and in his fury he has the potential to destroy not only his enemies, but his own humanity and his daughter's future.
The Tempest by William Shakespeare is one of the most relevant and studied plays of the Elizabethan period among scholars, from both, ancient and actual times. One of the many readings that have prevailed suggests that the play’s protagonist, Prospero, and his two su-pernatural servants, Ariel and Caliban, can work as a single psychological unit is constantly discussed by the academics. This reading is not new; it has been considered for longer than the idea of The Tempest as an autobiographical allegory, being first proposed by Thomas Campbell in 1838 (Yachnin).
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. 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.
Prospero, as I see it, doesn't start the play fully realizing all this. He launches his experiment from a mixture of motives, perhaps not entirely sure what he going to do (after all, one gets the sense that there's a good deal of improvising going on). But he learns in the play to avoid the twin dangers to his experiment, the two main threats to the value of his theatrical magic.
Through The Tempest play, William Shakespeare weaves together a tale that is characterized by anti-colonialist sentiments. Prospero - the deposed Milan Duke - adopts a colonialist mentality by treating his colleagues as slaves who have no rights. Characters who suffer mistreatment under Prospero include: Ariel - the spirit creature; Ferdinand - the Naples Prince; and Caliban - Sycorax’s son. Prospero possesses much magical power which he uses to oppress his compatriots. Consequently, Prospero is portrayed as a colonial tyrant who abuses his immense power. Anti-colonialism feelings are especially evident through the actions, utterances and disposition and of Caliban, Miranda, Ferdinand and Ariel. To illustrate, Caliban berates Prospero for the former’s forced labor. Likewise, Ariel protests Prospero’s reluctance to release the former as earlier agreed. Miranda also expresses her dissatisfaction with Prospero’s unfair imprisonment of Ferdinand. Similarly, Ferdinand appears to challenge Prospero’s authority by briefly stopping dragging timber so as to flirt and chat with Miranda. The foregoing four characters exhibit conduct that highlights their displeasure with Prospero’s colonial-style authority over them. From the preceding expose, it can thus be concluded that Shakespeare’s The Tempest play is about anti-colonialism based on its depiction of Caliban, Miranda, Ferdinand and Ariel’s opposition to Prospero’s oppressive authority.
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.
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 play, The Tempest, by William Shakespeare is a very cleverly thought out piece of work. Shakespeare very deliberately inter-relates several different forms of power during the course of the play. There is political power, shown through the plethora of political characters and their schemes, while at the same time parodied by the comic characters. The power of magic and love, and its ability to reunite and absolve also plays a major role in the play. Throughout the play, Prospero, the main character, takes great advantage of his power and authority, both properly and improperly. The epiphany of this however, is realized at the end of the play.
The Tempest, like any text, is a product of its context. It is constructed in relation to moral or ethical concerns of 17th century European Jacobean society. The resolution of conflict appears 'natural' or an inevitable consequence if regarded in relation to the concerns of its context. The resolution of conflict in this play incorporates Prospero being returned to his 'rightful' or natural position as Duke of Milan, his daughter Miranda getting married to Ferdinand, and the party returning to Milan leaving the island to the 'monster', Caliban. The resolution is a consequence of the concerns of the time, including the idea of the divine right of kings, courtly love, and colonisation.
Prospero orchestrates the events of the play with ease, his magic giving him the power to manipulate the characters and environment around him. This almost omniscient power that is presented pushes the audience to question what is real and what is not. Because the audience is not directed involved with the play's plot, they cannot be strung along by Prospero's magic, allowing for objective viewings of what is actually occurring. These contrasting perceptions can be applied to the characters in the play as well; What are mere illusions to Prospero is reality for everyone else on the island.
The Tempest was written in 1611 as Shakespeare’s last romantic comedy. This play is focused mainly on the theme of power. Shakespeare portrays an aging magician who has been living in exile with his young daughter on a remote island for the past 12 years. Shakespeare presents forms of power in different ways, but mainly through the characters of Prospero. In The Tempest Shakespeare shows 3 different types of power, which are through love, power over his slave Caliban, and power of magic.