The Tempest
William Shakespeare
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Character Analysis: Prospero
So, Prospero is our main dude on the island, and a lot of the themes of the play stem from his journey and emotional life. In fact, he’s so important to the play that many people wonder why Shakespeare didn’t just call The Tempest ‘Prospero’ instead (as so many of Shakespeare’s other plays are named after their protagonists – Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, etc.).
I think the most important thing that we need to consider about Prospero is the tension that arises between perceptions of him as morally good and morally bereft. He is indeed set up as an intrinsically ‘good’ character through his status as the protagonist of the play and his history, but his actions throughout the play suggest otherwise.
Firstly, we’re told (by Prospero) that he had been dethroned by his evil and scheming brother. This inherently positions the audience to feel empathy for the poor man. Plus, we’re told that when we first moved to the island, he was able to triumph over the island’s predecessor, Sycorax, and her dark magic. Traditionally, in texts which involve a struggle between two magical forces, when one side triumphs over the other, their magic is confirmed as morally superior. So, within the first few scenes of the play, the audience is forced to empathise with and align themselves alongside Prospero.
But as the play continues, the water becomes a little murkier. It becomes clear that Prospero has used language to present history, and therefore himself, in a way that legitimises his control. On top of this, he uses and abuses of magic not just towards his enemies, but also his loved ones, which make his morality a little more ambiguous than the audience may initially believe. In this way, Prospero drives a lot of the tension in the play, with his actions evoking a range of reactions from sympathy to disgust.
Beyond this moral ambiguity, another thing we should consider is the way that Prospero slips into the role of director/playwright through his use of magic. From the very opening scene, Prospero is the one calling the shots – he is literally the driver of the action, using his magic and power to sap away at the free agency of the other characters, turning them into his puppets.
This dynamic leads us to a potential reading of Prospero as a representation of Shakespeare himself. Prospero uses the ‘art’ of magic to control and manipulate the emotions of others, just as Shakespeare uses the art of writing to control and manipulate the emotions of his audience. Just substitute Prospero’s staff for a pen, and the parallels are pretty clear!
This interpretation is made all the clearer when we look at how the play ends – with Prospero renouncing his magic to return to a ‘normal’ life and let go of his obsessive passion, which has had detrimental impacts on his life. He begs the audience to release him from his role by applauding for him, a poignant request given it was Shakespeare’s final play. Is this Shakespeare asking to be released from his duties through recognition and applause so that he can remove himself from art’s grip?
And finally, let’s look at Prospero’s internal struggle between revenge and forgiveness. It is perhaps Prospero’s most interesting quality that he consistently struggles between being a vengeful bastard and a fair, sappy, old man. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why he changes his mind about revenge... perhaps he was never going to actually hurt them and he only wanted to confuse and taunt them. Perhaps Prospero changed his mind upon hearing that his good friend Gonzalo had been hurt by Prospero’s actions. Perhaps it was his realisation of mortality and loss now that Miranda’s been married off. Perhaps it was Ariel suggesting that he’d have more emotion for Prospero’s prisoners than Prospero if he were human...
I’ll leave it up to you to decide!
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The Tempest
Sample Essay
The Tempest begins, conveniently enough, with a tempest. The courtiers – the main ones being Alonso (the King of Naples), Ferdinand (Alonso’s son), Antonio (the Duke of Milan), Gonzalo (adviser to the King), and Sebastian (the brother of the King) – are on board a ship with the Mariners and Boatswain. The storm worsens and chaos ensues.
The conductor of the storm is then revealed – the wronged Duke of Milan, Prospero, who after being usurped by his brother Antonio, King Alonso, and Sebastian, fled to the island which he and his daughter, Miranda, now live on. After years of keeping her in the dark, Prospero decides now is the time to tell Miranda of their past seeing as the storm “hath mine enemies / Brought to this shore.” He then calls his spirit/servant Ariel to the stage and bids him to report on the shipwreck they have just caused together. Ariel recounts the tale of the shipwreck with sheer delight, and reports that all of the royal party are in fact safe upon the shore with “not a hair perished.” After Ariel gets a little bit volatile, Prospero awakens Miranda and off they go to visit Caliban – the ‘monster’ which Prospero has imprisoned within the rocks. It’s revealed that Caliban is furious with Prospero and resents his capture, which will eventually lead to his usurping desires later in the play.
Next, Ariel brings Ferdinand to Prospero and Miranda, and since Ferdinand is the first man that Miranda has ever seen except her father and Caliban, she instantly falls in love. He promises that he’ll make her Queen of Naples and off the happy couple go.
The other courtiers (who Ferdinand believes are drowned!) enter and become absolutely enthralled by the island, confused by its music, wonders, and mystique. Their scenes mostly consist of good-natured Gonzalo trying to cheer up poor Alonso who believes that his son is drowned, as they wander confused around the island. But while Alonso mopes (and naps), Antonio and Sebastian rile each other up to kill Alonso and thereby transfer the throne to Sebastian, seeing as Alonso’s heirs are gone (with Ferdinand believed to be drowned, and Claribel married to the King of Tunis).
We are then introduced to the final set of characters, Trinculo and Stephano, two lower class members of the courtier party. After getting mixed up with Caliban, who proclaims them his new masters, they decide to murder Prospero and take the isle for themselves.
Meanwhile, as Ferdinand and Miranda fall deeper in love (and eventually get married!), Prospero and Ariel haunt and taunt the courtiers drawing them not only closer to Prospero, but closer to the brink of insanity. Eventually, just before meeting with his enemies (both the usurpers of his past and of his present), Prospero decides to part with his magic and rather than pursue revenge, decides upon forgiveness.
Upon Prospero revealing himself to them, the courtiers are dumbstruck. Alonso in particular is so affected by both seeing Prospero and the horrors he has experienced on the island that he immediately revokes the Dukedom from Antonio and restores it to Prospero. Prospero indicts Antonio and Sebastian for their immoral actions before revealing to Alonso that not only is his son Ferdinand alive, he is healthy and in love with Prospero’s daughter Miranda.
After the happy reunion between father and son, Ariel brings the new usurpers (Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano) to Prospero and they apologise for their actions. For Ariel’s obedience, Prospero decides to set him free, but Caliban’s future is unclear. While Prospero and Miranda will be travelling back to Italy with the courtiers, Shakespeare leaves us in the dark regarding Caliban’s fate, ending with a grand epilogue delivered by Prospero, begging the audience to release not just Prospero from his role, but the actor too.
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