Dantes

     In Shakespeare's The Tempest, Prospero's magic is the means that Prospero teaches his lessons to the plays various characters. Whether or not those lessons were learned or not is irrelevant. The main issue is that Prospero's character is indeed a complex one, and one that deserves much attention. Two essays that look at the complexity of Prospero and his magic are Stephen Miko's "Tempest," and Barbara Mowat's "Prospero, Agrippa, and Hocus Pocus." Both of these essays, in dealing with Prospero and his magic reveal things about Prospero that only enhance the mystery of his character.

Last but not least, Caliban had an unstable relationship with Prospero. Miranda wasn’t the only one that treated Caliban as a slave, Prospero did as well. “..What,ho! Slave! Caliban!”(1.2.375). Caliban would be called names, and numerous times he is treated as a slave, but Prospero felt no guilt to how he treats him. As mentioned before, Caliban is a villain as well, which means he is also evil to Prospero. “All the infections that the sun sucks up/ From bogs, fens, flats, on Prosper fall and make him/By inchmeal a disease!”(2.2.5). Caliban hoped that all the diseases that are in swamps and marches infect Prospero, in every inch of his body so he could become a walking disease. Not only did he wish for him to be infected, but he also wanted to severely hurt him. “I’ll yield him thee asleep, where thou mayst knock a nail into his head”(2.3.67-8) He tells Stephano that he will take him to where Prospero sleeps, so he could pound a nail into his head. After they were to put a nail into his head, he wanted to continue to do evil things to him. “Beat him enough. After a little time, I’ll beat him too”(3.2.92-3) As it shows in this quotation, Caliban wanted to beat Prospero.

Prospero enslaves Caliban and Ariel, seizing the island for him and Miranda, just like Alonso and Antonio had done to him. The rightful ruler of the island is Caliban, and although Caliban at one time tried to rape Miranda, Prospero repeatedly punishes him for this one event that occurred much before this play takes place. Prospero initially “helps” Caliban by educating him and in exchange, Caliban taught Prospero and Miranda how to survive on the island. Prospero uses the act of attempted-rape to justify his seizure of the island. This take-over should have been enough punishment but Prospero enslaves Caliban, threatening to hurt him if he does not do his bidding. By endlessly punishing Caliban, Prospero inadvertently shows his malicious side. Although Prospero freed Ariel from the tree he was bound inside, Prospero blackmails Ariel and essentially enslaves him too. Prospero repeatedly tells Ariel that he will set him free but, it seems as if that is an empty

In Shakespeare's play, “The Tempest”, Prospero, the main character, is the rightful Duke of Milan. He found refuge on a distant island after his brother, Antonio, seized Prospero’s title and homeland. These events and experiences of being exiled advance character to become isolated and enriched at the same time. As a comic hero, Prospero start off as being frustrated and vengeful due to his separation from his title and homeland, but is later refined due to those experiences.

Prospero uses his language to minimize and blame Caliban. Prospero not only refers to Caliban as “filth,” but also accuses him of “lying” and “seek[ing] to violate / [t]he honour of my child” (i.ii. 348- 351). Prospero blames his treatment of Caliban to the actions of Caliban; the quote: “with human care, and lodged thee / [i]n my own cell, till thou didst seek to violate / [t]he honour of my child” illustrates how Prospero blames Caliban for how Prospero treats him (i.ii. 349-351). This is violent because it shifts the blame from Prospero to Caliban essentially blaming the

   A production of The Tempest should emphasize the idealized methods in which Prospero uses magic to solve the problem of revenge which is so prevalent throughout his tragedies, perhaps the production might be a direct allegory for the magic of the theatre itself.   In this conception of the play, the scattering and bringing together of the characters in the script is significant in that theatre also could be said to bring people together and allow them to share in an experience of emotion, magic, and finally, of resolution. In this way the production could be used as a vehicle for conveying the idealistic virtues of forgiveness, compassion, and of course knowledge. In his book, A

Prospero, the self-appointed king of the island upon which everyone eventually becomes shipwrecked, immediately oppresses Caliban and claims him as his slave, even though Caliban was the original inhabitant of the island. Prospero and his daughter are technically guests in Caliban's home. Caliban is the son of the devil and Sycorax, a witch. Prospero uses Caliban's unsavory origin as an excuse to enslave him. He claims that he is a bad seed, and he deserves a life of servitude. He never actually justifies the situation with a logical explanation, so he must use whatever information he can think of as a poor excuse to exploit Caliban for his own self-propagation. Prospero is even bold enough to suggest that by enslaving Caliban, he is actually extending charity towards him. He feels that

Prospero's relationship with Caliban differs from that of Prospero and Ariel's. Prospero does not view Caliban as a being who could be his equal. He is blinded by his prejudice against Caliban's appearance and manners. Caliban is portrayed in a negative light. He can be seen as the depiction of the victims of colonial expansion. Although Prospero seeks this righteousness, he both mistreats and insults Caliban, who ultimately attempts to kill Prospero.  In comparison to Ariel who acts only when commanded by Prospero, Caliban is wild. He refuses to be colonized and tamed. This can be taken as a reference by Shakespeare towards those who were

Now that Caliban know how to speak the difference between him and Prospero grow clearer. Caliban can now fully understand his difference while also feeling trapped by the language because he sees it as something that took away his freedom. In the tempest language is a symbol of being civil, and before Caliban was thought

Prospero’s ability to mold or control nature and human wills is derived from his books and his staff. With these instruments, he wields the spirits of nature. Therefore, these instruments can be said to be the main sources of his power. The idea of Prospero’s power solely coming from his books is even expressed in the play by the character Caliban in the following lines: “Remember / First to possess his books, for without them / He’s but a sot, as I am, nor hath not / One spirit to command” (3.2.79-82). What can be taken from this and other references throughout the play, then, is that Prospero’s power comes from the possession and knowledge of the aforementioned books. Caliban, in a sense, simplifies Prospero’s power by believing that only the possession of the books gives Prospero the power to control nature and its spirits. If anything, it is the study and knowledge of the books in Prospero’s possession that give him his true power. In addition, Caliban does not take the wizard’s staff into account, which does provide

Prospero’s reason for his ill treatment of Caliban is that he allegedly attempted to rape Miranda. Prospero states, “I have used thee/Filth as thou art, with human care, and lodged thee/In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate/The honour of my child.”, and Caliban replies, “O ho, O ho! would't had been done!/Thou didst prevent me.”. This interaction does not prove the alleged attempted rape, but rather shows how Caliban reacts angrily to Prospero’s provocation. In the play, Caliban reacts as the monster that Prospero and Miranda make of him, but in Namjoshi’s reimagination, we are provided with Caliban’s initial perception of the alleged attempted

When they met, Caliban was uneducated, and did not know how to communicate with Miranda and Prospero. Under the tutelage of both people, Caliban learned to differentiate between day and night. The "greater light" in the passage referring to the sun itself. On another level, however, Prospero taught Caliban the difference between what was good, and what was evil. The fact that Caliban turned out the way that he did, points to a possible reason why Prospero treats Caliban in such a strict fashion. Because Caliban was given the freedom to choose good over evil, Prospero blames himself for Caliban?s desire to rape his daughter. Because he did not teach Caliban well enough, the responsibility of taking care of Caliban fall directly on the person who initiated him into the civilized world--Prospero. At the end of the play, Prospero recognizes his responsibility for Caliban when he says,"...this thing of darkness I/ Acknowledge mine." (V. I. 275-6) Though he tells Ferdinand that Caliban is under his control (just as Stephano and Trinculo are under Alonso), Prospero claims more than leadership of Caliban. In this instance Caliban belongs to Prospero

Shakespeare uses apostrophes in this play as there is a considerable amount of information to convey, and this compacts the speech. However, this positive relationship ended when Caliban attempted to rape Miranda. Prospero then made Caliban his slave and now punishes him using his magic, often in the form of sprites which torment Caliban. Caliban has spent all of his life on this island and is a being who is uncontaminated by the effects of civilization and class. Yet, he easily is tempted by the worst that ‘civilisation’ can offer to the island, alcohol. When he meets Stefano and Trinculo, Caliban gets drunk with them and, in return, coaxes them to help plan to murder Prospero and Miranda and take over the Island. Some people suggest that Caliban’s plotting to kill Prospero is justified. However, Shakespeare does not ratify this vengeance. Prospero has made Caliban his slave, but he had just cause to, and he does not threaten Caliban with death at all. Prospero shows little or no forgiveness towards Caliban. The only slight hint of forgiveness is hidden in an order, “Go, sirrah, to my cell;/ Take with you your companions; as you look/ To have my pardon, trim it handsomely.” Prospero also announces to Caliban: “This thing of darkness, I/ Acknowledge as mine.” Prospero’s referral to Caliban as “This thing of darkness“ demonstrates how Prospero sees

But if I ignored that faulty rationalizing and took Prospero’s enslavement of Caliban as a legitimate reply to the attempted rape, Prospero could have still doled out different and more humane paths of consequences for the savage. Probably all of Prospero’s supporters would say Prospero, as he held the seat of government, had the right to subjugate Caliban to slavery. True, Prospero wields the power of government on the island, but for a man who boasts about his past humane, good works he had done in attempting to educate Caliban, should not a more humane and just consequence also come into play? Perhaps Prospero could have banished Caliban from the island, or even tried to convince the savage of his wrong and urge him to repent. But

Later, he lovingly educates the monster Caliban and gives him freedom. Caliban returns the kindness by trying to rape his daughter. Prospero makes the same mistake with both of them. He fails to keep them in their proper position. As a perfect ruler, this would be his responsibility.