Theme Of Betrayal, Revenge, And Forgiveness

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.

A dramatist who explores the theme of revenge throughout his play is Arthur Miller in ‘The Crucible. There are different characters in this play that carry this theme of revenge, Abigail being one in particular, as she seeks revenge against Goody Proctor. This is due to Goody Proctor firing Abigail from her job after she had found out Abigail had had an affair with her husband. This seventeen-year-old girl also has an endless capacity for dissembling. John Proctor, Reverend Parris, and the Putnam’s are also characters in the play that are out to seek revenge for their own reasons. It could through the theme of revenge, be said that Miller tries to enhance your application of the play.

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 is known for his use of recurring themes throughout his work, including love, death and betrayal. These themes are present in his work of Othello. However, the most fundamental issue is jealousy. The lives of the characthers in Othello are ruined by jealousy from the beginning to the end of the play. The telling of the story is carried out by passion, jealousy, and death. Shakespeare’s Othello reveals devastating tragic inevitability, stunning psychological depth, and compelling poetic depth; the fragility and mysterious power of love, as well as demons of doubt, and how suspicion can be triggered by manipulative villain (Barthelemy 12).

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.

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.

   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

The Tempest is involved in a discussion of 'nobility', seen here as a matter of inheritance, but in the opposition of Prospero and his brother Antonio we see that inheritance has two sides. Antonio betrayed Prospero and stole his inheritance (materially; his Dukedom), so virtue, 'nobility', is not entirely a matter of having noble parentage.

William Shakespeare's “The Tempest” examines patriarchy through gender and class. The patriarchal system enables men to have absolute rule over the women within their lives. In the play, Prospero exercises his rights as a father to control Miranda’s love and enact self-righteous deeds. Moreover, Prospero's patriarchal rule does not halt within his family, but rather encompasses the entire kingdom of the island of which he rules. “The Tempest” forces readers to acknowledge paternal patriarchies. Thus making one examine the ways in which the female gender is discredited by the male characters within the text.

Near the end of Act 4 Scene 1, we meet Prospero, Miranda and Ferdinand talking to each other again. In this part Prospero becomes almost like a different character, as we haven’t seen this side to him. He becomes mindful, courteous and wistful towards Miranda and Ferdinand’s relationship. This could be Prospero making a breakthrough with his and Miranda’s relationship, as he seems to have forgotten about his enemies, or he could have thought about the situation into more depth, and could be using Miranda’s naivety and innocents, to his advantage as a way to get back to his dukedom, or a direct placement to the throne.

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.

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

Throughout the years since The Tempest was first published in the 1623 Folio, there has been much debate among Shakespeare’s contemporaries and critics as to the significance of the figure of Prospero and other major characters featured in the work. In this paper, I want to examine the figure of Prospero and his relationship with the character Ariel. In doing this, I want to show how Prospero is a figure for the artist, how Ariel is a figure for the poetic imagination, and how the relationship between Prospero and Ariel explores the relationship between the artist and his or her poetic imagination. By showing this, I wish to argue that Shakespeare’s intention in portraying

It is said that "A power struggle collapses when you withdraw your energy from it. Power struggles become uninteresting to you when you change your intention of winning to learning about yourself" (Gary Zukav). A comedic play written by William Shakespeare demonstrates the theme struggle for power that develops throughout the story of The Tempest. The Tempest is defined as an outrageous storm in which Shakespeare uses to enhance the play. This story is about a person named Prospero and his daughter who are stuck on an island due to Prospero's brother, Antonio. Antonio took over Prospero's dukedom of Milan after "kicking them out" (Act 5) and trying to end their lives. With the help of good, Lord Gonzalo, they survive. Now, marooned on an island with a malevolent servant [Caliban] and a spirit helper [Ariel], Prospero continues the practice of magic which will 12 years later come to haunt his fellow enemies whom receives a gift of Prospero's power in the end. The "outrageous storm" (Act 1) is just the beginning of a struggle for power. In The Tempest, Shakespeare uses conflicts to develop the theme struggle for power.