Vengeance and Forgiveness in Shakespeare's The Tempest
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.
The Tempest, it is clear, features an experiment by Prospero. He has not brought the Europeans to the vicinity of the island, but when they do come close to it, he has, through the power of illusion, lured them into his very special realm. The experiment first of all breaks up their social solidarity, for they land in different groups: Ferdinand by himself, the court group, Stephano and Trinculo by themselves, and the sailors remain asleep. The magic leads them by separate paths until they all meet in the circle drawn by Prospero in front of his cave. There he removes the spell of the illusions; the human family recognizes each other, and together they resolve to return to Italy, leaving behind the powers of the magic associated with the island.
Before considering the purpose of Prospero's experiment, we should note how central to all his magic Ariel is. And Ariel is not human but a magical spirit who has been released from natural bondage (being riven up in a tree) by Prospero's book learning. The earlier inhabitants of the island, Sycorax and Caliban, had no sense of how to use Ariel, and so they simply imprisoned him in the world which governs them, raw nature. Prospero's power depends, in large part, on Ariel's release and willing service. In that sense, Ariel can be seen as some imaginative power which makes the effects of the theatre (like lightning in the masts of the boat) possible. One of the great attractions of this view of the play as a celeb...
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... vengeance. (5.1. 18-28)
Here, the imaginative sympathy for the sufferings of others leads to an active intervention based upon "virtue" rather than "vengeance." This is a key recognition in the play: virtue expressed in forgiveness is a higher human attribute than vengeance. And in the conclusion of the play, Prospero does not even mention the list of crimes against him. He simply offers to forgive and accept what has happened to him, in a spirit of reconciliation. Unlike other Shakespeare plays, the ending of The Tempest requires neither the death nor the punishment of any of the parties.
Works Cited and Consulted:
Gervinus, G.G. "The Tempest." The Shakespeare Criticism Volume 8. Gale Research Inc., Detroit. 1989: 304-307.
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Greenblatt, Stephen. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1997.
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” is a play written by William Shakespeare in early 1600s that has been previewed in different kinds of movies, such as the one made in 2010, directed by Julie Taymor. It is a play containing themes such as; revenge, allusion, retribution, forgiveness, power, love and hatred. When it is compared to the play, there are specific differences seen in the movie, such as; Prospero is reflected as a woman in the movie. The time differences between the play and the movie and how the spirit Ariel is shown as a white man in the movie. The play starts with the story of Prospero, the Duke of Milan. He gets banished from Italy and was cast to sea by his brother Antonio. He has perfected his skills during twelve years of exile on a lonely island. Prospero creates the tempest to make his enemies’ ship to wreck and lead them to the island. Meanwhile, Antonio takes Prospero’s place and starts to make everyone believe he is the duke and makes an agreement with the King of Naples, Alonso. Besides the drama happening in the island, Prospero forgives Alonso and the others.
The Tempest begins in the middle of a story; Prospero has already been exiled to an island with his daughter Miranda. As the Harvey Theater filled up a man wandered around the stage sipping on a water bottle. Then he sat on a stool and chatted with a woman at the keyboard on the left wing of the stage. The general consensus was that this man was the Stage Manager, checking to see if the stage and the musicians were prepared to begin. However, he began to walk around the circle of sand that covered a large portion of the stage. In that sudden moment, the man assumed to be a backstage worker, was shown to be Prospero, already trapped on his island. Having Prospero on stage before the show even starts emphasizes that the play begins in medias res. The audience has a few seconds to ponder what Prospero had been doing on the stage before they entered the theater. Does he sit on the stage alone? Does he talk to h...
Mowat, Barbara A. & Co. "Prospero, Agrippa, and Hocus Pocus," English Literary Renaissance. 11 (1981): 281-303. Shakespeare, William. The. The Tempest.
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...
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square Press, 2004.
William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, one of Shakespeare’s final plays and debat-ably his final play ever written, focused on man’s gluttonous desire for power. Power manifests itself in “The Tempest” in many different ways, including the exploration of the power of betrayal, the universal desire for power between men. The power of a mas-ter over his slave, and the power of magic and illusion. Although this is clear, many in-terpretations over time have changed regarding the theme of power, which has resulted in questions as to whether power in the play is represented as good or bad. Shakespeare pre-sents these forms of power in different ways. Namely, through his character Prospero, who was once the duke of Milan but was betrayed by his brother, Antonio, and Alonso, the king of Naples. Prospero was kidnapped and left to die on a raft at sea, but Prospero and his daughter survive because Gonzalo leaves them supplies and Prospero’s books, which are the source of his magic and power. Prospero and his daughter Miranda arrive on an island where Prospero takes control after the witch dies. Also on the island is the spirit, Ariel, and the witch’s son, Caliban. Prospero appears to hold the majority of the power throughout the play.
In The Tempest, there are kind and forgiving characters such as Ariel Miranda, and Ferdinand. However, there are also brutal characters such as Caliban, Antonio, Sebastian, and -to some extent- Prospero. Miranda is a particularly forgiven character, something that is noticeable when she sees the sinking ship and says "O, I have suffered with those that I saw suffer: a brave vessel, who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her,dash 'd all to pieces. O, the cry did knock against my very heart. Poor souls,they perish 'd. Had I been any god of power, I would have sunk the sea within the earth or ere it should the good ship so have swallow 'd and the fraughting souls within her."(1.2.5-13) Very similar to her is Ferdinand, who forgives Prospero for enslaving him simply out love for Miranda. There is also Ariel, whose kind and loyal nature is shown in its love and forgiveness towards Prospero, the man enslaving it. This is good forgiveness in some characters is often countered in many positions such as Antonio 's power seeking betrayal, and his arrogance and inability to acknowledge Prospero and his generosity in forgiving him. This is shown where Prospero says to Antonio in Act 5, Scene 1 “For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brother would even infect my mouth, I do forgive thy rankest fault; all of them; and require my dukedom of thee, which perforce, I know, thou must
The tempest in the beginning of the play is a symbol of Prospero’s magic. His magic is used as an abusive form of power, utilized for the purpose of self indulgence and personal profit. Prospero’s magic and the manner in which he uses his powers unethically reveals his willingness to go to any lengths to achieve his goals. He uses physical and psychological manipulation to achieve his goal of regaining his dukedom, disregarding the possible effects of his actions on those he manipulates. Prospero abuses his power over his servants so they can perform the tasks needed to execute his plan. Prospero also benefits from his manipulation of his own daughter. His influences in Miranda and Ferdinand’s relationships are to his advantage in furthering his scheme for vengeance. The members of the royal party are those which suffer the most from Prospero’s unethical use of magical power. Prospero first creates the Tempest to capsize their ship for the purpose of enacting his plan for revenge. While on the island, he continuously uses his magic to terrorize the group, he allows Alonso to grieve Ferdinand and believe him dead. Prospero also manipulates them with magical illusions in sending Ariel as Harpy to threaten them, “Lingering perdition, —worse than any death / —shall step by step attend / You and your ways” (3.3.77-79) After which he works their minds into a madness, and then later imprisons them. Even Prospero’s supposedly virtuous decision to give up his magical powers and release the prisoners is a selfish one. Moreover, it is Ariel, not Prospero, who proposes that the royal party be pardoned. From the beginning of the play until this point, Prospero has been wholly consumed by his need for power and revenge. Prospero shows no mercy or remorse to those he manipulates until
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest, edited by Louis B. Weight and Virginia A. LaMar, published by Pocket Books, New York, 1961.
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 Tempest. Arden Shakespeare, 1997. Print. Third Series Smith, Hallet Darius. Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Tempest; A Collection of Critical Essays, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969.
...specially the island that they are inhabiting. Prospero can’t see that he has stolen any type of chance that he could be the ruler of the island. Soon enough, Caliban understands that Prospero sees him as someone to be ruled. Caliban eventually realizes that he has been cheated of ever becoming the ruler. As the consequence of his realization, Caliban turns harsh and savage-like, which only confirms Prospero’s view of him. Shakespeare brings out the harsh reality of what characters believe to be “the right way” in The Tempest. With Caliban, Shakespeare showed his audience how degrading it can be to be the person who will always be considered the “savage” even though they hadn’t had a chance to show their true potential.With Prospero, Shakespeare showed the readers that he was wronged in the beginning of the play, but his quest to prove them wrong, he wronged others.
Novak, Maximillian, and George R. Guffey, eds. The Tempest, or The Enchanted Island. Works of John Dryden vol. X. Berkeley: U of California P, 1970. 1-103.
Sometimes it takes any advantage to attain power. Prospero secures power on the island through his use of magic and manipulation. He is in control of all of the events in the play since he essentially has all of the power. It is also revealed how he maintains his power by exploring the use of his manipulative magic and the hold he has over those around him. By using his magical influence over the natives he has enslaves, Prospero invokes fear in Ariel by stating, “If you complain any more, I’ll split an oak tree and lock you up in it till you’ve howled for twelve years” (Shakespeare 37). He uses his power as a fear tactic to make the native people do his bidding for him. He also uses his magic against those he has shipwrecked on the island. He puts them in a trance to keep him busy until he needs them again, “My magic powers are in full swing, and my enemies are confused and running around in circles. They’re under my control, and I’m keeping them in their crazy fits” (Shakespeare 143). By entrancing the men from the boat, Prospero can keep them under his bid until he sets himself on a course of action. As he states, “.., my enemies have happened to wreck their ship on this island. As I see it, my fate hangs on this lucky event”, he must be precise in how he handles cultivates these people or he will risk the possibility of his plan unraveling before him (Shakespeare 27). The idea behind him having magic is to set him apart