Explore the theme of rebellion in the first 3 acts of 'The Tempest'

The nucleus of the plot in Shakespeare's The Tempest revolves around Prospero enacting his revenge on various characters who have wronged him in different ways. Interestingly enough, he uses the spirit of Ariel to deliver the punishments while Prospero delegates the action. Prospero is such a character that can concoct methods of revenge but hesitates to have direct involvement with disillusioning his foes. In essence, Prospero sends Ariel to do his dirty work while hiding his involvement in shipwrecking his brother, Antonio, from his daughter, Miranda.

The Tempest is about an ousted Duke of Milan ,Prospero, who has been living in exile on a remote island for the past twelve years with his daughter Miranda. He is a powerful magician, who happens to be the master of Ariel and Caliban, and a guy who really likes his books. When Prospero's enemies wash up on shore, he uses his black magic to seek revenge and restore himself to power. The Tempest belongs to the genre of Elizabethan romance plays. It combines elements of tragedy with those of romantic comedy, and like one of Shakespeare's plays previously, it asks deeper questions that are not completely resolved at the end. The tone that seeps into the play is one of wonder, amazement, and admiration. Mystery is still present , but the magic performed is not black and scary. The version that seems to grasp my attention more, would have to be the Utah Valley University interpretation because it takes Shakespeare’s main purpose and tone but shows it in its own unique way. Furthermore, with its silly drunkards, the play has a certain lightness to it and even the so called killers of the King tell hilarious jokes and are lighthearted. But there is also the tone of revenge and reconciliation in the play. We feel a revenge burning in Prospero while, at the same time, a wish for forgiveness and reconciliation with those who have wronged him.

The Tempest was Shakespeare’s last play that was written shortly after England colonized Virginia in 1609. Throughout the play, there are many different references to imperialism and colonialism within the characters. The Tempest analyzes the imperialistic relationships between England and America but applies it to personal human interaction between the central characters. The island gives newcomers a sense of endless possibilities like claiming the land for themselves because of the belief in the Great Chain of Being and the seventeenth century being an age of exploration. The idea of ruling a colony lured many people into the idea that having that kind of power over a large group of people is attainable. Master-servant relationships are

    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.

He encouraged two other men to join him, Stephano, a butler, and Trinculo, a jester. All three of these men shared one thing in common: a low place in society. In an effort to free themselves from society’s pressure, the men plotted to murder Prospero. Stephano says, “Monster, I will kill this man: his daughter and I will be king and queen, save our graces! and Trinculo and thyself shall be viceroys” (Act 3 Scene 2 Lines 106-108). Before they got the chance to kill, Prospero caught them, proving society’s power, once again, to be too strong. Many times, Stephano and Trinculo talked about how they would break from their low place in society. At the end of the story, however, they find themselves stuck under King Alonso’s power, just as they were before the shipwreck. Despite all of their efforts, Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban all were stuck in their low place in society.

He seeks for control in his nemesis towards his brother Antonio, control of the fate of his daughter Miranda, and the control of his servants Ariel and Caliban. Prospero uses force and debt to have greater authority over the spirit Ariel. When Ariel asks for his freedom and “liberty,” Prospero brings up the “damn’d witch Sycorax” from whom he saved him (1.2.247-264). Sebastian and Antonio also abuse their powers by plotting an attack on Alonso, the King of Naples, so they could gain even more political power in the real world. Eventually after all the words of encouragement from Antonio, Sebastian finally says, “Thy case, dear friend, shall be my precedent. As thou got’st Milan, I’ll come by Naples. Draw thy sword,” (2.1.270-272). The desire for political power and authority becomes the core from which other minor themes develop in this play. This improper use of power eventually only harms everyone, not benefit.

   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

William Shakespeare's, "The Tempest," provides insight into the hierarchy of command and servitude by order of nature. This play uses the relationship between its characters to display the control of the conqueror over the conquered. It also shows how society usually places the undesirable members at the bottom of the chain of command, even though they may be entitled to a higher social status. For example, the beginning of the play opens with a scene on a boat in the midst of a terrible storm. The boatswain, who is under the command of the royal party, attempts to keep the boat from sinking.

Additionally, the island is the perfect setting for Shakespeare to present man as a zealous political animal, free of the façade and superficiality of ordinary society. Antonio and Sebastian plot almost immediately to murder Antonio, considering political gain despite the predicament in which they find themselves. Additionally, Stephano, Trincullo and even Caliban have their own political plot – to murder Prospero. Stephano remarks “this will prove a brave kingdom to me”, and Caliban tells of his dreams of heavenly riches:

Due to these debates, it’s possible that Shakespeare has contemplated on the different views on colonization and decided not only to create the setting of the play on an island, but uses the storm in the first act as way to create excitement and danger and also to reference to the perils of the struggle of exploration. Also the title of the play is The Tempest which also hints how powerful the storms of the ocean are, that it can determine the fate of many people as seen in the play; and is relatable to real life events such as the one described earlier. The Tempest also reflect the concerns of the times such as the exploration of foreign lands and struggles for power and the colonization of lands as seen in the role of the characters in the play.

Prospero runs everything that happens so he can be considered the 'king ' of the island. He is in complete control of what occurs on the island because of his supernatural powers. He has the "airy spirit" of Ariel to work for him and carry out his orders, who shows no animosity towards Prospero 's ruling. However, Ariel’s obedience doesn’t come without a price. Despite the strict social hierarchy, the nobles who dislike the king can still rebel with the lower class and topple the king. The reason for Ariel’s unwavering loyalty is that Prospero has control over him both physically and mentally. Ariel once askes Prospero to set him free: “I prithee, Remember I have done thee worthy service, Told thee no lies, made no mistakings, served Without or grudge or grumbling. Thou did promise To bate me a full year (Act 1 Sc. 2, 294-298).” Prospero responds harshly: “Dost thou forge From what torment I did free thee?,” reminding Ariel who was extricated from the witch Sycorax to be grateful. He further pressures Ariel with a series of questionings, shaming Ariel’s the lack of gratitude and threatening to tie him back to the tree (Act 1 Sc.2, 315-320). Horrified by the thought of experiencing the same torture, Ariel feels obliged to pay back Prospero’s graciousness, forgetting the fact that he has already served faithfully for one year and now

William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” speaks about multiple authoritative relationships throughout the play and the abuse of power and authority. The main character Prospero lives on a deserted island with his daughter Miranda. Prospero used to be the Duke of Milan until he has been usurped by his brother Antonio with the help Alonso the King of Naples and his brother Sebastian. Prospero and Miranda were banished to sea in a rotten boat and eventually lands in a deserted island who was once ruled by a witch named Sycorax but is now only inhabited by her son Caliban and a spirit named Ariel. Since arriving at the island, Prospero has been ruling the island and enslaved Caliban and Ariel by the use of magic. He acts as if he is God by creating a storm in order to shipwreck the King of Naples and Antonio. Prospero uses his powers to get revenge on his brother for having been exiled to the island. Prospero is a controlling character who seems to be obsessed with getting revenge in order to regain his status. He abuses his authority and takes advantage of his slaves and his daughter Miranda to fulfil his evil plan.

The similarities and differences between Aime' Cesaire's ATempest and William Shakespeare's The Tempest gives the reader an idea that it is a political response. From the way that both of the titles of these works of literature differ, an idea of concept is offered. They share a similar story line yet, after some one has read A Tempest : a different perspective is gained. A Tempest is actually considered a post colonial period piece of writing and one can acquire and prove this by the forms in which Aime' Cesaire portrays the characters and switches around their personalities and their traits,the time periods and the acquisition of language, and the ways power is used reveals that it is indeed a political response from a post

In The Tempest, Shakespeare allows the audience to appreciate the possibilities of utopian society, the good, and bad, so that they can understand the problems that the pursuit of a utopian environment may cause. The Tempest is a window into the dimensions of utopian societies. Shakespeare's play portrays the good and the evil sides of the perfect life. While his characters take on the role of the leaders of the utopian societies, Shakespeare portrays the social questions and beliefs of society of how a utopian environment should be.

Experts have acclaimed that The Tempest did not receive a big amount of public attention and applause before the ban on the performance of plays in 1642 and retained its popularity after the Restoration. During 19th and 20th century, theater productions took great interest with the play and undertook a re-appraisal now saying that The Tempest is one of Shakespeare's greatest works. The Tempest is the inspiration of 46 operas, plays, poems, and films. The story focuses with the exiled duke of Milan, Prospero, which was brought to an island on the Mediterranean border which he claimed to be the master. There he raised his daughter from childhood, Mirana, and encountered the fascinating creature Caliban and the spirit Ariel. Prospero made Ariel his right hand while Caliban became a slave who is the previous master of the island. Prospero made a Tempest which he said to come from the use of witchcraft or magic to manipulate certain things just like the storm that hit the ship of the King of Naples. We might have seen The Tempest as a supernatural literary piece but almost all of the characters on the play are just part of Prospero's political experiment. Prospero was once a philosopher in Milan but after he was overthrown, he started to realize the meaning of Machiavellian politics. Prospero is shown to act according to his own philosophy but is shown that it is not his main motivation for his actions. Prospero main motivation must be creating the best regime. It is in the story that parallels the Old Testament and the creation of Israel. As we can see, the royal group in the ship and the drunkards represents the flaws of human nature. Prospero noticed this flaws and corrects them through establishing some sort of modern Israel. Prospero's leadership is planned to be a nation where justice will be seen and