The Tempest: Recapped
1. List character names and use interesting adjectives to describe them in paragraphs:
a) Prospero: His maniacal (affected by mania) pursuit of control and power is what drives the narrative of this play. He is considered the hero, a man who reflects both Shakespeare (for his ability to create magic on the stage) and King James I (for his ability to control and for his knowledge of magic). James was the King the play was written for. A domineering father, he keeps his daughter from the history of their past, until it serves his ends. When he does finally tell her, he is so impassioned that he snaps at her to attend him, (Pray thee, mark me). We learn that Prospero had given Antonio de facto control of his state while he poured over his magical books and his study - and that, with the help of the King of Naples Alonso, Antonio has Prospero and his daughter exhiled. He manipulates both Miranda's contempt for the savage creature Caliban (thou poisonous slave), and for his brother Antonio (good wombs have borne bad sons). He manipulates her idolatry for Ferdinand (then, as my gift... take my daughter). His treatment of his servants is abominable and he rules by fear. Neither Ariel or Caliban are in his service willingly. Yet, as Ariel is a more delicate spirit, he is addressed with some tenderness. Prospero's single-minded pursuit of order on the island leads the viewer to expect the worst at the end, as the play illustrates elements of the tragic genre. However, as the serious scenes are punctuated by the comic sub-plot of Trinculo, Stephano and Caliban, which mimics Prospero's own experience, and as Prospero does forgive all his foes, (For you, ...whom to call brother would even infect my mouth, I do forgive thy foulest rank) the play can be classified as a tragi-comedy.
b) Miranda: Prospero's only child, Miranda is nearly 15 years of age (they have been on the island 12 years). Her name a near anagram of the word 'admired' is exactly that - admired by all men in her life: Her father, (Oh, a cherubin, thou wast that did preserve me), Caliban (...most deeply to consider is the beauty of his daughter), and Ferdinand (Most sure the Goddess on whom these ears attend!) However, while she satisfies a Jacobean expectation of a noble daughter; kind, virtuous, beautiful, and devoted to her parent, she does little to gain the admiration of a modern audience. She allows herself to be manipulated by her father so that he may advance his own cause. She falls quickly in love with Ferdinand and allows him to be enslaved by her father in order to prove himself. She shows a malevolent nature, similar to her fathers, when she speaks to Caliban ('T is a villian, sir, I do not love to look on). She questions nothing of what she has seen or experienced on the island in the last twelve years, and again questions none of her overbearing father's ravings about their past.
c) Antonio: Is Prospero's brother, the usurping Duke of Milan. Antonio is established as the antagonist in the play. We hear of his perfidious act (supported by the King of Naples Alonso) of usurping Prospero's reign of Milan, and exiling both Prospero and Miranda. He casts them to sea on a rotten carcass of a butt, not rigged, nor tackle, nor sail, nor mast; the very rats instinctively have quit it. Antonio boasts of his conquest over his brother, look how well my garments sit upon me - and he encourages Sebastian, Alonso's brother, to do the same as Alonso and his men sleep on the island - Here lies your brother, no better than the earth he lies upon... whom I, with this obedient steel, three inches of it, Can lay to bed for ever. Sebastian is convinced and as the two men draw their swords, Ariel wakes the King up, foiling their plans. In the end, though, Antonio is removed from his title and forgiven. An act which illustrates Prospero's kind and fair nature.
d) Alonso: The King of Naples is instrumental in the usurption of Prospero. However, unlike Antonio, he shows more human qualities of regret and remorse. While his ability as a King goes unexplored, his ability as a father is made unquestionable. Having married his daughter Claribel in Tunis, he, his men and his son Ferdinand are sailing back to Italy. When he fears the worse for his son, whom he does not see after the Tempest, he is thrown into a deep melancholy. I have lost... my dear son Ferdinand. When Prospero empathises with him in the end, stating that he too has lost his daughter, Alonso mourns their equal loss, O heavens, that they were living both in Naples. He is delighted to find them together and well and is overjoyed at the prospect of their marriage.
e) Gonzalo: Gonzalo is the only character that shows true kindness in the play. An honest old councillor, he was the one who furnished Prospero's leaky boat with his magical books and clothes. He is also the only one who attempts to consul the King Alonso who mourns for his son's death. He is quick to see the untouched beauty of the island and reflect upon it's Eden-like qualities. How lush and lusty the grass looks, how green! He notices that their garments, which should be ruined by the sea, are rather new-dyed than stained with salt water.He considers how he would rule an island such as this. He believes he would have no ruler, no name of magistrate, letters should not be known, riches, poverty, and use of service none; He would have no occupation, all men idle, all, and women too, but innocent and pure - no sovereignty. Gonzalo's ideal state is one that is not controlled, but left as it is. Perfect. He seeks a utopia.
f) Stephano: Is the drunken butler. He survived the storm by holding onto a barrel. This is ironic as it's alcohol that keeps him afloat through life. He forms a third of the comic sub-plot. Trinculo, Caliban and Stephano make a plan to over-throw Prospero, take Miranda and rule the island. Stephano is far more astute than Trinculo and he sees the merit in Caliban, whom he thinks is a four-legged creature. If I can recover him, and keep him tame, and get to Naples with him, he's a present for any emperor. When Caliban explains how Prospero governs the island, Stephano takes the bait, Monster, I will kill thisman. His daughter and I will be king and queen... and Trinculo and thyself shall be viceroys.
g) Caliban: An earthly slave born by the witch Sycorax, Caliban is the most complex character of the play. He is treated with contempt by both Prospero and Miranda Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself. We learn that he Caliban treated them kindly upon their arrival, I loved thee, and showed thee all the qualities o'th'isle. But then Prospero began to treat him as a slave, I am all the subjects that you have, which first was mine own King! And here you sty me, in this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me the rest o'th'island. We learn that Caliban attempted to rape Miranda so that he could people the island with Calibans and therefore take his ownership back. He is called an abhorred slave by Prospero and he is threatened with painful torture unless he does Prospero's bidding. To a Jacobean audience, this treatment of Caliban would seem fair. A near anagram for the word Cannibal, he is seen as a savage and foul creature who is in need of a civilised education. However, to a modern audience, that is still reeling from the negative impact of colonialism, pity is felt for this misunderstood creature, who would have clearly been better off had Prospero and Miranda never arrived on the island. Our sympathies are evoked even more when Caliban explains the island to Stephano and Trinculo. In the most poetic verse apparent in the play (language normally reserved for the nobility) he speaks tenderly of the island. Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises, sounds and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not. The richest language is reserved for the most vile of creatures, and thus we realise the enormity of Caliban's loss; all because of Prospero.
h) Ariel: The airy servant of Prospero. Ariel uses his magic to do Prospero's bidding. He causes the Tempest (both the literal and the metaphorical storms) that the characters experience. Ariel had been trapped by a curse of the witch Sycorax and left in a cloven pine. Prospero, having released Ariel, then commands him as his servant. Ariel appears to do Prospero's bidding without question, but he does pine for his freedom. At these points, Prospero's tender language changes from My brave spirit! to Malignant thing!...If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak, and peg thee in his knotty netrails, till thou hast howled away twelve winters. It is sadly ironic that Prospero treats Ariel with such contempt, as without Ariel, he is incapable of completing his task of gaining order from chaos.
2. ZERO OR HERO: WHO IS PROSPERO?
In two groups (hero or zero) list all the reasons why you think Prospero is good or bad. Refer to the book. One group will start with a point and the other is to respond.
3. PLOT OUTLINE: Recapture on the board all the main events.
4. Print Shakespeare's language pages from Intro
5.