The Tempest by William Shakespeare

     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.

    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.

Prospero's intent throughout the course of The Tempest is neither to revenge himself upon his enemies, nor to reconcile himself with his estranged brother. It is, rather, to orchestrate the reclamation of his lost duchy, Milan, through both his magic and a shrewd manipulation of both the shipwrecked party and the islanders (Caliban and Miranda).

Shakespeare 's complex play Othello holds numerous pressing issues within its intricate layers that seem to leap out to modern society. One such issue seen by many is the representation of women. Women within the play can be characterized as submissive possessions and temptresses. This ideology, though commonplace in this time period, appears controversial to the modern eye as we deconstruct the characters of this play. This dominate patriarchal society present within the setting merely conditions this belief further as it is prevalent within the characters dialogue.

Shakespeare's "The Tempest" forms a world within itself. Within this world, many topics regarding government, power and colonization are addressed. Shakespeare tackles the discovery of new places and races, the relationship between the colonized and the colonist, old world ideologies on new soil, as well as theories on civilization and government. These aspects at the core reveal a very clear struggle for political power. Prospero's first major monologue creates the foundation of such a theme. In 1.2 lines 30-175 Prospero tell his story recounting the usurpation of the power he had as Duke of Milan, then quickly

After his banishment, some men came to get revenge on him because he tortured their ship by using his magic to put it through a storm. Prospero said “The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance”. They are sorry for what they have done so Prospero has forgiven them. The Next quote, is from the Korean folktale What We Plant We Will Eat.

He decides to merry her off to Ferdinand and by doing this he “Have given you here a third of mine own life.”(4.1.4-5) He is surrendering his daughter to another man and is losing the girl he loved to adulthood. Prospero decides to give up his magic and says, “have waked their sleepers, oped and let em forth by my so potent art”(5.1.59) His art will be put to rest and once he exacts his revenge he can go back to being the duke of Milan. When Prospero releases Ariel he tells her “Be free and fare thou well- Please you draw near.”(5.1.378) The significance of giving up all of these things he once controlled is that he is now become older and is passing the torch of to his daughter. He has achieved everything that he had wanted and has been made duke once again and he must leave his foolish ways in the past. By giving all of these things up Prospero may feel alone, but the time has come to move on from his daughter, Ariel, Caliban and the Island. The must be left in peace to live their own lives and he should cease being the director of their lives and focus on his now in his old age. Prospero though old his life is coming closer to an end and so his magic and family that were once part of him are now in the past and “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with sleep. Sir I am vexed. Bear with my weakness. My old brain is troubled.”(4.1.173-176) At his age he has accepted his fate and it is now time for all the things he has done in the past for Ariel, Miranda and Caliban though not all great to take root and live their own free lifes that he had lacked for many

Magical powers play a tremendous role in supporting Prospero’s ambitions. Once again, Prospero abuses his magical powers and imbalances the natural elements. The opening scene of Act I begins with a tempest. In this scene, Shakespeare demonstrates that abusing elements, such as water, only creates trouble. When Miranda first speaks to Prospero about the ship wreck, she says “If by your art…you have/Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them/The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch,” (1.2.1-3). This creates

After breaking his staff and throwing his books into the sea, Prospero is left with little to no power of his own. It is in his last speech in the play, in the epilogue, that he realizes that his magic is nothing without outside help. He no longer has the outside power of his books and staffs to make his magic work so he is weak and vulnerable. Prospero realizes he will never get off

Prospero’s intentions throughout the play was to seek out vengeance towards his brother and all those who helped him in his betrayal. Through the work of Ariel, Prospero was able to capture those he shipwrecked but decides to forgive them. He also forgives Caliban after plotting to kill him while serving another master, these acts of change are key to the improvement and empowerment Prospero learns after being on the island. The is a growth and arch shown about the character as he states, “ The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance.” Prospero also shows enrichment of character when he sets Ariel free after commanding him to make smooth sailing upon the return to Naples and Milan, contrasting to the beginning of the play when Prospero seems ungrateful about the service of Ariel. The problem Prospero had that paved the way to him being exiled, was his obsession with studying his art/magic. It is through his experience on the island where he finally comes to realize that the source and self-improvement that he needed to make was giving up his magic. This is symbolized by the throwing away of his books and his plea to the audience to “release him from his bands”. By giving up his magic,the reason he couldn’t be an affective Duke, shows how his alienation on the island benefited him by allowing him to focus on his role and duty as

   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

Shakespeare's Use of Language, Imagery and Setting to Illuminate Prospero's Journey from Revenge to Reconciliation

Making use of character Prospero, the author shows how the ideologies of an individual assume a different direction after suffering some of the transformation in the society. As the play kicks off, Prospero’s conduct displays a contradiction from the basic tenets of Christian forgiveness. Depending on his good fortune, the character seizes the opportunity to take vengeance of his enemy. The passage that presents the central focus of the book is one that "Prospero hopes that his plan to

Prospero is a character that seems to stand at the very centre of The Tempest. Throughout the play, he prompts most of the action, and he has the last word.

In Shakespeare’s Tempest, Prospero is in complete control of his life and the lives of those around him. With the help of his spirit Ariel, he bends the weather and the minds of others in order to produce the exact chain of events that will bring his family back into power after his brother usurped his dukedom. From the beginning of the play, he has a fairly accurate idea of what will happen and informs the reader of his plans as the play progresses. However, one detail that Prospero fails to mention is what the last third of his life consists of. Prospero reveals that one third of his life is his daughter Miranda while another third is thoughts of his death. The last third is not mentioned which leaves the reader guessing as to what Prospero deems to be as significant in his life as his daughter and his death. With his dukedom restored, his enemies at his mercy, and possession of his magic books, the last third of his life is anything but predictable. Despite his large reliance on magic, it seems that the rest of Prospero’s life is concerned with his ultimate goal of pleasing others.