Theme Of Power In The Tempest

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The Tempest is a play written by William Shakespeare, and involves the main themes of power, control, betrayal, forgiveness and revenge. Shakespeare very intentionally inter-relates numerous diverse forms of power throughout the course of the play. There is political authority, shown through the plethora of political characters and their schemes, while at the same time there is parody provided of by the comic characters. The power of magic and love, and its ability to unify and absolve also plays a main part in the play. From the beginning to the end the play, Prospero, the main character, takes excessive advantage of his control and authority, both properly and improperly. Shakespeare skilfully makes use of the ambiguity and insinuendo. One example of this occurs in Caliban’s use of the word “Farewell master” this makes the reader believe that Caliban is a slave mainly due to the vocabulary choice of “Master” as the connotations of this word are: powerless, being ruled, …show more content…

By using these derisive words, Prospero shows his contempt for Caliban, and indicates the extreme hatred between the characters. Prospero unequal treatment of Caliban is especially clear given that he literary addresses Ariel as “servant” and reserve the derogatory term “slave” for Caliban. When the writer refers to “lying slave” it shows us Caliban is not trustworthy. This links to the characters Caliban owns Prospero by repaying him to be his servant because Prospero released Ariel from a tree where Sycorax confined her so she obeys Prospero order however Caliban does not. Caliban defiance is in sharp contrast with Ariel obedience. The reader is also aware of their respective servitudes. Whereas Ariel voluntarily accepts obeying Prospero orders out of gratitude for her release, Caliban is full of seething

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