“Today, I'm pretty sure I could rule the world.” said Lo Bosworth. That is what almost every character in The Tempest thinks. They think no one could run the island better than they could. Everyone is wanting to kill Prospero so they can be lord of the island. Although it is a small island, everyone would run it differently. Power can be used for good or used for evil. When someone has power many people may become envious of those who have the power. At the beginning of the story, Prospero forcefully got removed from Milan by his own brother. Although he said he was grateful they ended up on this island. Once he got to the island he frees a trapped and tortured spirit named Ariel. He also found a half monster/man named Caliban. Prospero took Caliban under his wing and tried to educate him, such as helping him communicate with humans. In return, Caliban helps Prospero survive on the island since he is not used to having to live on his own. However, Caliban tries to rape Prospero’s daughter, Miranda, so Prospero makes Caliban his slave. Ariel is kind of like Prospero’s eye in the sky and slave all at the same time. He is always doing little things for him. One thing he did which probably saved Prospero’s life is he warned him when men were coming to kill him. Ariel is the opposite of Caliban. He doesn’t want to be a slave but he knows that Prospero will give him his freedom when it comes so he does the work. Caliban doesn’t want to be a slave but he complains about it and hates Prospero all in one. The first one who wants to be lord of the island is Caliban. He believes the island is his in the first place since he was there first. Instead, he killed Caliban’s mother, Sycorax, then made him his slave because ... ... middle of paper ... ...es on her. Prospero puts him through many tough labors to test his love for his daughter. This was Prospero’s way of making them fight for what they want. Ferdinand did not have a problem going through all of the work to marry Miranda. He was more than happy to do it for the woman he loved. In conclusion, power could be a very good thing to have or a very bad thing to have. Although everyone likes when they have it, it could be used wrongly if it is in the wrong hands. It can be used for good or evil. It depends on the person to see if the power will be used for good or evil. Also, many people get karma for abusing their power. Some people don’t understand what it means to have power. Many characters in the book would use their power for good and many would use it for evil. However, we will never know because that is not what Shakespeare intended to do.
Prospero is a very powerful man who is out for revenge. At this point in the play, and in his life, he seems to only care about himself and his daughter. He is bitter at the loss of his Kingdome from his own family and she has been the only one who is there for him which isn’t exactly by choice. It is easy to see how hurt he is from what has been done to both him and his daughter. For the first time he is telling Miranda about the journey that led them to the island, “I pray thee, mark me /I thus neglect worldly ends, all dedicated / To closeness and the bettering of my mind” (1.2.107-110). While he is telling his daughter this story he is making sure he is being seen as innocent, saying he was just trying to better himself when this happened.
There is one common aspect to all of Prospero's relationships in the play: he exploits every character, despite his attempts to hide this fact. For example, Prospero utilizes Caliban as a slave, making him cut wood:
Prospero enslaved the spirit Ariel or other-worldly figure of sorts. And in-turn Ariel causes a violent storm that causes the shipwreck in the opening scene, due to Prospero's request, thus bringing those back that caused Prospero to lose his dukedom. After which Ariel asked for his freedom having done his deed for Prospero, but Prospero denied his request, saying to Ariel time must be served first. Prospero continues with something of a guilt-instilling speech, reminding Ariel that he had freed him and Ariel becomes submissive once again saying, “all hail, great master, grave sir, hail! I come to answer thy best pleasure; beat to fly, to Swim, to dive into the fire, to ride, on the curled of clouds”(1,2,189-190). This shows Ariel’s language is that of someone being oppressed imprisoned or enslaved and such is the relationship that of a slave and a master. Prospero does not only oppress Ariel but also enslaves Caliban the once ruler of the island simply because Prospero believed his new ideas were much better meaning slavery over freedom, which he did impose on Caliban by saying “Dull thing, I say so; he, that Caliban, Whom now I keep in my service.” (Act. I, Sc. II, Ln. 285-286). Furthermore Prospero makes it even clearer what he thinks of Caliban the native that had helped Prospero to survive on the Island has
Though it is not clear, it seems to me as though Prospero has imprisoned Caliban in a cave and is keeping him from the rest of the island. The reason for this treatment is much clearer , as Prospero tells us,
To be able to answer this question we must first understand why Prospero can be seen as good or evil. It is fair to say that Prospero is a main protagonist to the plot of Shakespeare’s Tempest. It is due to Prospero's role as a key figure in the play that has put him under so much scrutiny. Many different Shakespearean critics have their own view of Prospero and those that read or see the play also have their own opinion of the way in which Prospero may be seen.
Through The Tempest play, William Shakespeare weaves together a tale that is characterized by anti-colonialist sentiments. Prospero - the deposed Milan Duke - adopts a colonialist mentality by treating his colleagues as slaves who have no rights. Characters who suffer mistreatment under Prospero include: Ariel - the spirit creature; Ferdinand - the Naples Prince; and Caliban - Sycorax’s son. Prospero possesses much magical power which he uses to oppress his compatriots. Consequently, Prospero is portrayed as a colonial tyrant who abuses his immense power. Anti-colonialism feelings are especially evident through the actions, utterances and disposition and of Caliban, Miranda, Ferdinand and Ariel. To illustrate, Caliban berates Prospero for the former’s forced labor. Likewise, Ariel protests Prospero’s reluctance to release the former as earlier agreed. Miranda also expresses her dissatisfaction with Prospero’s unfair imprisonment of Ferdinand. Similarly, Ferdinand appears to challenge Prospero’s authority by briefly stopping dragging timber so as to flirt and chat with Miranda. The foregoing four characters exhibit conduct that highlights their displeasure with Prospero’s colonial-style authority over them. From the preceding expose, it can thus be concluded that Shakespeare’s The Tempest play is about anti-colonialism based on its depiction of Caliban, Miranda, Ferdinand and Ariel’s opposition to Prospero’s oppressive authority.
Prospero’s Abuse of Power in The Tempest. 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.
Until Prospero arrived on the island, Caliban was his own king. The island was left to him by his mother, Sycorax. Nevertheless, Prospero took charge of the isle and eventually enslaved Caliban. "…Thou strok’st me…I loved thee…" is part of a quote that illustrates Caliban’s relationship with Prospero before he was his slave. Prospero comforted Caliban and gave him water and berries; he taught him how to speak, as well.
It can be obtained through many means. Some interpret power as having control over others, by the amount of possessions they can obtain, or by how manipulative they can be. The Tempest portrays power by combining these concepts in the sense of one person manipulating others to gain control over them. Prospero uses his magic and manipulative nature to enslave the natives on the island he is shipped to, and construes their ideas of the past. These methods allow him to alter the mindset of those around him and thus, gain power over
In The Tempest, power is an aspect of Prospero’s character that stems from his ability to use magic to strengthen and reinforce his superiority among all occupants of the island. However, prior to his inhabitance of the island, Prospero lost the authoritative power that correlated with his title as Duke of Milan when he was “[extirpated] / Out of the dukedom, and fair Milan [was conferred], / with all the honours, on [his] brother” (1.2.125-126). The tempest at the beginning of the play is a symbol of Prospero’s magic. His magic is used as an abusive form of power, utilized for the purpose of self indulgence and personal profit.
William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest tells a story involving unjust acts, and Caliban trying to take over Prospero’s power of authority, Prospero’s mission to was to build righteousness and honesty by returning himself to rule. The idea of justice and injustice that the play works toward seems extremely independent meanwhile the impression of the play shows the view of one character who controls the purpose and fate of others.
The play, The Tempest, by William Shakespeare is a very cleverly thought out piece of work. Shakespeare very deliberately inter-relates several different forms of power during the course of the play. There is political power, shown through the plethora of political characters and their schemes, while at the same time parodied by the comic characters. The power of magic and love, and its ability to reunite and absolve also plays a major role in the play. Throughout the play, Prospero, the main character, takes great advantage of his power and authority, both properly and improperly. The epiphany of this however, is realized at the end of the play.
The Tempest was written in 1611 as Shakespeare’s last romantic comedy. This play is focused mainly on the theme of power. Shakespeare portrays an aging magician who has been living in exile with his young daughter on a remote island for the past 12 years. Shakespeare presents forms of power in different ways, but mainly through the characters of Prospero. In The Tempest Shakespeare shows 3 different types of power, which are through love, power over his slave Caliban, and power of magic.
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 actions towards her. Prospero saved Ariel from the confinement of Sycorax who held her prisoner.
Caliban whom we are told is “not honour’d with a human shape,” (1.2.419) is the son of Sycorax who inhabited the island Prospero was banished to. After the death of his mother, Sycorax, Caliban falls under the rule of Prospero and becomes one his servants. Caliban is very different from Ariel in the fact that while Ariel is pleased to serve under Prospero’s rule, Caliban is not. In fact, we find out that Caliban is far from happy to be Prospero’s servant and even plots with two other men to end Prospero’s life. As we discussed in class Caliban is also more of an angry individual than what Ariel seems to be and this comes from the fact that Caliban believes he is the rightful king of the island and that Prospero had robbed him of what was his, which we find out when he says that he is “subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island” (3.2.40-41). Ariel, who we are told in act one, scene two was the old servant of Caliban’s mother Syco...