Tempest Character Prospero Shakespeare

This essay sample essay on Prospero Shakespeare offers an extensive list of facts and arguments related to it. The essay’s introduction, body paragraphs and the conclusion are provided below.

The Tempest is a play written by Shakespeare. It is quite a powerful play, it looks at the theme of love between Ferdinand and Miranda , but also deals with evil in, ‘Antonio’ Prospero’s brother. Who in my opinion is the meanest character in the play? The Tempest is a comedy, but not like we would think of comedy today, like ‘My Family’, but the audiences would have found it funny.

The play is about Prospero’s revenge and his desire to get his Dukedom back from his brother. “Twelve years since, Miranda, twelve years since, thy father was the Duke of Milan and a prince of Power.

Antonio had always been trusted by his brother “like a good parent, did beget of him a falsehood in its contrary as great as my trust was, which had, indeed, no limit.

” But Antonio’s greed for power took control. So much so, he decided to cast his brother and Prospero’s daughter, Miranda, adrift in a rotten carcass of a boat and he hoped to their death. Prospero is a powerful man with strong magical skills, a wizard he had held a superior position ‘The Duke of Milan’ before his brother had planned with King Alonso of Naples to take over this position as permanent one.

Wizard Of The Tempest

In the play we see a lot of changes in Prospero’s Character.

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He has a lot of anger and revenge inside of him and as the play goes on we see a more forgiving side to his character. Prospero was the rightful Duke of Milan when he chose to study magic more extensively, so he temporarily gave his powers to his brother Antonio to govern the country. In Act one Scene two Prospero tells Miranda how they came to the island and how they managed to survive due to the kindness of Gonzalo, (An old lord) who gave them food clothes, and Prospero’s magic books.

By providence and divine some food we had, and some fresh water, that a noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo, out of his charity,” When she becomes distressed at the story of his bothers betrayal and how Prospero has made the storm, ‘The Tempest’ to bring his enemies to him,- he makes Miranda go to sleep. Was this due to the fact that she was distressed and he wanted to comfort her or was it a form of control? “thou art inclined to sleep; ’tis a good dullness, and give it way: I know thou canst not choose .

Prospero had not been unpopular as a Duke and that was probably why Antonio didn’t want to kill him, as it would have caused problems with the Milanese people. I feel that Prospero was selfish to put his desire to study magic above looking after the needs of his people. “The Government I cast upon my brother, And to my state grew stranger, being transported And rapt in secret studies. ” However I don’t feel that Prospero deserved the fate of being abandoned on a desert island.

It also shows he was too trusting of his brother Antonio and this was a weakness in his character. I think this is one reason why he is so tough on Ferdinand because he wants to be sure that he really loves Miranda. Prospero, still desperate to have control threatens him that their relationship will not be happy if, “Thou dost break her virgin – knot before all sanctimonious ceremonies may with full and holy rite be minstistered” Prospero uses his magic for mostly selfish reasons. It is through his magic that he plans his revenge on his enemies.

He could almost be a cruel sorcerer from the way in which he treats his enemies ,But his magic gives him ‘Power’ which is the only thing he has if he is to get his Dukedom back. “The wronged Duke of Milan, Prospero: For more assurance that a living prince Does now speak to thee, I embrace thy body; And to thee and thy company I bid A hearty welcome. ” It shows that Prospero wants, justice and reconciliation rather than just power. The use of supernatural powers is widely used throughout the play.

Prospero uses magic to free Ariel from the magical prison which Sycorax imprisoned him in. “When I arrived and heard thee, that made gape the pine and let thee out”. This shows that Prospero felt sorry for Ariel, although he may also have had another reason, knowing that he could be useful to him, as Ariel too had magical powers. Prospero promises to free him once he has helped him to get what he wants. “…….. for which after two days I will discharge thee. ”

Prospero appreciates Ariel, as he too knows what it is like to be a prisoner. But he still keeps power over him. If thou more murmur’st, I will rend an oak and peg thee in his knotty entrails till thou hast howl’d away twelve winters. ” Prospero owes a lot to Ariel for without his help he wouldn’t have been able to make the storm and caused the shipwreck. He wouldn’t have been aware of Caliban , Stephano and Trinculos’s plan to kill him. Ariel also makes the music which hypnotises many of the characters into doing things they wouldn’t otherwise have done. Prospero releases Ariel as he promised, showing he is true to his word. “I shall miss thee but yet thou shall have freedom. ”

Prospero however has no similar feelings for Caliban, he calls him, “Thou poisonous slave. ” “A dull thing. ” Caliban hates Prospero as before he arrived on the island the island had been his, “This island is mine by Sycorax my mother which thou tak’st from me” But Prospero hates him most because he tried to rape his precious daughter Miranda. “Thou didst seek to violate the honour of my child. ” He keeps Caliban as his slave and threatens him that he will torture him if he disobeys him. “I’ll rack thee with old cramps,Fill all thy bones with aches and make thee roar. ”

His main enemies are Antonio and Sebastian but even for them he refuses to turn them into traitors by telling everyone of their scheming plans “But you, my brace of lords, were I so minded, I here could pluck his highness’ frown upon you and justify you traitors at this time I will tell no tales. ” He knows he has to forgive them for order to be restored to their country. However his brother Antonio doesn’t appear to have a conscience for all the bad things he did to his brother. He is a very dangerous and ambitious man. Sebastian is Alonso’s brother he too is like Antonio and doesn’t feel sorry for what he did.

When Prospero meets up with Gonzalo he greats him warmly. “Holy Gonzalo, honourable man” and thanks him for providing him and his daughter with food and water “O good Gonzalo my true preserver. ” He knows that Gonzalo is a loyal and “Noble friend. ” Alonso has a conscience and he feels remorse over the wrongs he did and asks for forgiveness from Prospero “The Dukedom I resign and entreat thou pardon me my wrongs. Prospero forgives Alonso “welcome my friends all” Its Prospero’s desire for magic that gets him into this problem, but it also helps him to restore the situation.

It shows how people can become obsessed by desires, but in the end Prospero’s appreciates that his obsession was destructive. “I’ll break my staff, Bury it certain fathoms in the earth, And deeper than did ever plummet sound I’ll drown my book. ” I think that Prospero’s is a Mixture of both victim and Villain. As he tells the story of past events it is easier to believe him than too look at the other side of the story. By the end of the play I think that most of the people get what they deserve with most of the characters learning from the mistakes they made.