William Shakespeare 's The Tempest

Prospero continuously harasses Ariel by giving her hope that she will be released shortly while he constantly gives Caliban no hope in freedom, and is overall extremely harsh and cruel to him which gives him no motivation to obey Prospero’s orders of any kind. Lastly, Prospero treats his two servants in different ways and views them completely different (appearance) “and this demi-devil-for he’s the bastard one” (5.1-86-87) Prospero gives Ariel a lot more respect than he does to Caliban as he feels that Caliban doesn’t deserve any respect, as he thinks that Caliban is a “demi-devil” due to his appearance. Prospero is overall bias against Caliban with Ariel, he sees Caliban as a beast and not worth his

In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, in Act 5 Scene 1, lines 33-57, Prospero’s speech shows his redemption by giving up his book, the oak tree, and his power over water. At this point in the play, Prospero is about to get his revenge on the people who have caused him pain. However, as he is giving the soliloquy, he seeks redemption and attempts to reject his powers and revenge. Though he has been living for the past twelve years with wrath and a desire for revenge, he turns away from that path and seeks to become a better person. Shakespeare shows the complete reversal of Prospero’s character through the breaking or giving up of things that are symbolic of his power.

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

The concept "knowledge is power" is reaffirmed through Prospero’s character. As long as he has his books he has knowledge and thus power. Prospero uses his knowledge to attain reason and consequently power. The play begins with his creation of a storm, giving him the ability to initiate and control problems. Using his knowledge as a catalyst for power David L. Hirst argues, “From the extension of reason, Prospero derives a power which he uses in an attempt to influence everyone on the island” (9). To Miranda, he is the strong protective father, who educates; to Caliban he represents the colonizer. Prospero describes Caliban as “a poisonous slave got by the devil himself” (1.2 323-324) who serves as his oppressed slave. To Ariel he represents the rescuer and constantly reminds her that it was he who freed him, yet he fails to grant the very liberty from which he saved. To the shipwrecked “he is a surrogate providence who corrects errant aristocrats and punishes plebeian revolt” (Brown 59). Recognizing themselves as subjects to Prospero validates Prospero’s position as governor.

In Césaire’s A Tempest one of the main characters, Prospero, decides to remain on the island with Caliban and live out the rest of his life there. He remains there because he thinks the island needs him to be its ruler. As time continues, we see the deterioration of his mind and body. He becomes feeble and weak. He appears to see opossums overrunning the island and he attacks them to "protect civilization". Prospero seems to be hallucinating, and because of this can be seen as a crazy old man who has reached the end of his life. However, in this paper, I will argue that the opossums and other things he experiences aren’t just hallucinations he creates from being in a weakened state, but actually the realization of what he 's done in the

   Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest is set on a mysterious island surrounded by the ocean. Here the magician Prospero is ruler of the isle with his two servants Caliban and Ariel.  Caliban is the abrasive, foul-mouthed son of the evil witch Sycorax. When Prospero was shipwrecked on the island Prospero treated him kindly but their relationship changed when Caliban tried to rape Prospero's daughter, Miranda. Caliban then became Prospero's unwilling servant. Caliban serves his master out of fear Prospero's wrath. Prospero's other servant Ariel is a graceful spirit who has courtesy and charm. Ariel has put her services at Prospero's disposal out of gratitude for his kind

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.

Shakespeare uses Caliban's relationship between Prospero to show confinement and freedom using juxtaposition. Caliban is a native of the island; but, when Prospero arrives at the island with his daughter Miranda everything changes. At first, he takes Caliban in as a part of the family, but then enslaves him:

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

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.

In addition, Cesaire uses the character of Caliban to highlight Prospero’s drive to be a dominant figure. In The Tempest, Caliban is portrayed as a powerless savage that fears Prospero “I must obey; his art is of such power” (1.2.373). In A Tempest, the character of Caliban seems to have a greater voice and is sterner in his resistance towards Prospero.

Ariel is adopted by Prospero as his personal servant and is valued by him as a “brave spirit” even though his freedom is not granted until the very end. He is repaying a debt to Prospero and is faithful to him, yet displays subtle resentment that he is not free. Ariel is a typical personal servant in his attributes. Caliban symbolises a native that the colonists viewed as savage and enslaved. Prospero’s harsh and intolerant behaviour towards him mimics what would have actually happened in reality during colonising times. When Prospero fails as an educator in imposing his values of civilisation on Caliban he regards him as a savage. He decides the only way to keep Caliban in order is to give him “stripes”, treating him worse then an animal. He is restricted to hard manual labour and threatened and bullied by Prospero, suffering in a similar way that many New World Natives did.

The colonizers have the different attitudes on themselves and aboriginals, which shows in The Tempest. For example, Prospero divides people on the island into two categories, human and aboriginals. For human like him, he can forgive them no matter what they did, include Antonio who take his title of duke, but for aboriginals like Caliban, he never treats them as human beings. Prospero always calls Caliban in a rude manner, such as “poisonous slave” “hag-seed” “lying slave” “savage”. Although Caliban is the origin owner of the island, Prospero treats him as his servant. As well as Trinculo and Stephano who see Caliban in the first sight, Trinculo compares Caliban to a strange beast: “What have we here? A man or a fish? Dead or alive? A fish;

In Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest, power is manifested in several forms: the investigation of the power of love, the power of magic and illusion, or the power of nature. However, in The Tempest, power is most clearly defined as dominance. Throughout the play, there is a universal pursuit of dominance over other people, dominance over property, or dominance over cultural ideals. These pursuits of dominance are used in an attempt to further ones authority, and, ultimately, one’s life. In The Tempest, a motif of control is used to argue that the pursuit of dominance and the rise in class divisions ultimately leads to unhappiness.

Within The Tempest, characters such as Prospero and Caliban share an intimate connection. Without some kind of malevolent force motivating the action of the play, none of the major characters would come into contact with each other. A violent storm, formed by Prospero's magic, subjects the foreign characters to the might of his mysterious power. Issues of control become a central part of The Tempest. One way in which this is highlighted is through the relationship between Prospero and Caliban, his bestial servant. Their relationship does not utilize the conventional imagery of those who hold power versus those who do not. Rather, Caliban comes to symbolize a physical