The Tempest

In The Tempest, Prospero is served by both Ariel and Caliban. But whereas the former serves willingly, Caliban despises—and ultimately betrays—his master. Both seek their freedom, but they do so...

In William Shakespeare's The Tempest, Prospero orders his servant-spirit, Ariel, to create the tempest at sea that causes the shipwreck which opens the play. On the ship are the men who usurped...

It's hard to imagine Shakespeare is not having some fun with the way Miranda and Ferdinand not only fall in love at first sight, but see each other as a god and a goddess. Miranda is directed by...

I think the significance of the masque that Prospero summons up with his magical powers lies in the way that he sends through it a very clear message to his future son-in-law about the kind of...

As happens to young couples in most of Shakespeare's comedies, and in one notable tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, Ferdinand and Miranda fall deeply in love at first sight in The Tempest. Miranda sees...

As Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano walk through the island drinking, Caliban proposes to Stephano that he can become king of the island if he kills Prospero. In that case, Caliban says, Trinculo...

Some Shakespearean scholars and critics, including Hallett Smith and Frank Kermode, suggest that the title of Shakespeare's last fully Shakespeare-written play should be The Island, or Prospero's...

In act 1, scene 2 of Shakespeare's The Tempest, Prospero assures his daughter, Miranda, that "I have done nothing but in care of thee" (1.2.19). On one hand, this is true. On the other hand,...

Caliban believes that Prospero treats him badly and stole his island from him. When Prospero came to the island, Caliban was already there. Prospero made him into his servant, or slave, and took...

The nature of Caliban and Prospero's relationship looks very different according to whose perspective one adopts. From Prospero's point of view, he came to a wild island, which was until recently...

Prospero's master-servant relationship with the spirit Ariel begins when Prospero releases Ariel from inside a pine tree where Ariel has been imprisoned by "This damned witch Sycorax" (1.2.314) for...

According to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, a play was a tragedy if everyone suffered in the end, even the innocent. A play was a comedy if the innocent triumphed and only the wicked came to a...

Prospero tells Miranda about his past because Miranda witnesses the shipwreck, from act 1, scene 1, in the storm and realizes it was Prospero's magic that caused it. She begs him to stop. If by...

In this scene, Gonzalo notes the loveliness of the island they are shipwrecked on and states that it provides everything they need to live. He says that if he were in charge of it, he would do...

Although Prospero has picked Ferdinand out as a husband for Miranda, he still wants to test whether the young man is worthy of her love. As Ferdinand carries logs—normally Caliban's work—Prospero...

The ending of the play is unclear in terms of what happens to Caliban. The last we see of him is in Act V scene 1, when he is ushered on stage along with Stefano and Trinculo dressed in the clothes...

Miranda is heartbroken when she sees the wrecked ship. She begs her father to put an end to the terrible storm, rightly deducing that her father had been responsible for it. In her interaction with...

For an airy spirit, Ariel is a complex character. He is a loyal servant to Prospero and yet he wants wants his freedom. He loves nature. He misleads and plays jokes on characters in the play, but...

In broadest terms, literature falls into two categories: comedy or tragedy. Comedy has a happy ending, whereas tragedy has a sad ending, usually through the deaths of one or more main characters....

Prospero listens to Miranda and Ferdinand so he can tell if they are falling in love. Prospero was betrayed by his brother, Antonio, and Ferdinand’s father, Alonso. They took his kingdom from him...

The themes of freedom and forgiveness are linked in The Tempest primarily by Prospero. It is his brother's treachery, which he has not forgiven, that leads Prospero to colonize the island and...

In Act 1, Scene 2, Caliban claims to Prospero and Miranda that when they first came to the island, "I loved thee and showed thee all the qualities o' th' isle." But Prospero quickly sets the record...

Your question correctly identifies the somewhat ambiguous position that Prospero fulfils in this excellent play. It is Prospero of course who plays the most significant role in the play - he is on...

Prospero appears to experience quite a transformation throughout the play. Initially, he's bent on revenge against those responsible for his enforced exile. The arrival of his foes on the island...

In the play's opening scene a small ship is being tossed about at sea by a violent storm, the tempest of the title. But this is no ordinary storm; it's been whipped up by the magician Prospero to...

Both Ferdinand and Caliban are enslaved by Prospero. Ferdinand, however, performs his tasks cheerfully for the sake of Miranda, who begs him not to work so hard: This,...

The title of The Tempest encapsulates the themes and action of the play in many dimensions. In fact, it is hard to think of a single character who is in a calm state. The action on the island in...

Prospero uses Caliban as a slave, substituting him for the dukedom he lost. Prospero has no respect for Caliban. He treats him as something otherworldly and less than human, using magic and the...

In William Shakespeare's The Tempest, Gonzalo is one of the few passengers on the tempest-tossed ship that hasn't in some way offended Prospero. As the play opens, Gonzalo is an advisor to King...

Note the exchange between Prospero and Miranda Act I scene ii l 473f: 'Thou thinkst there is no more such shapes as he [Ferdinand],/Having seen but him and Caliban...'. Earlier in the scene (l...

Prospero's supernatural powers allow him to carve out his own little kingdom on a remote desert island. Undoubtedly traumatized by the experience of being usurped as the rightful Duke of Milan by...

As The Tempest opens, the ship is in the middle of a fierce storm as the Boatswain and the Mariners seek to keep it from wrecking. Some of the high-born passengers come topsides to see what is...

What a specific question! Gonzalo first of all is seen arguing with the Boatswain who is definitely trying to cope with the storm. GONZ: Nay, good, be patient. BOATS: When the sea is. Hence!...

Gonzalo shows he is a shrewd judge of character, as he more than once expresses confidence the boatswain won't let them all drown during the violent storm that opens The Tempest. He perceives that...

Ariel is an airy sprite or spirit that Prospero finds on the deserted island. Ariel was too good-hearted to cooperate with the "blue-eyed hag," the sorceress Sycorax. In revenge, she trapped him...

Because Miranda has been on the island for as long as she can remember, Prospero is her only knowledge of humans. Caliban and Ariel reflect perhaps the dual nature of humanity: spiritual and...

Gonzalo is an older counselor who is faithful to Antonio. He is a person of good character. When Antonio ousted Prospero as Duke of Milan and decreed he and Miranda be set out to sea in a boat,...

The Tempest opens with a storm at sea and a shipwreck, a dramatic and ambitious beginning for a seventeenth-century play. While the scene is light on stage directions, Shakespeare does call for "a...

The majority of conflicts in Shakespeare's The Tempest swirl around Prospero, former Duke of Milan, whose brother, Antonio, usurped his dukedom and set Prospero and his daughter, Miranda, adrift on...

Sycorax is dead when The Tempest begins, and we hear about her from two characters—her son, Caliban, and her successor as ruler of the island, Prospero—both of whom are severely biased. Prospero...

Miranda suffers because she empathizes with the suffering of those on board the ship caught in the wild tempest. She thinks they have all drowned and feels deeply for them. She says to Prospero:...

In this scene, King Alonso and other courtiers have just been shipwrecked. They wander alone on an unknown island, separated from others, including Alonso’s son Ferdinand. Several members of the...

Prospero has deliberately kept Miranda in a state of ignorance throughout her whole life. He thinks that by doing this he is somehow protecting her. As Miranda has spent her whole life on a remote...

One theme of the play is that illusion--which appears in the play as magic--can shape reality. Prospero, on one level, is the great director, staging a carefully choreographed show, with certain...

Within the context of the plot, the masque in act 4 of The Tempest occurs because Prospero has Ariel summon spirits to put on a small play to celebrate Miranda and Ferdinand’s engagement. He tells...

Betrayal, loyalty, revenge, and reconciliation are the principal, interconnected themes of The Tempest. Prospero longs for the restoration of his dukedom; because his brother betrayed him, he is...

The Tempest is a tragic comedy because there are elements of both tragedy and comedy in the story. Tragedy in literature comes from unfortunate events befalling the characters, either through no...

Tension is caused in the scene in two ways. First, the setting is a source of tension. The scene opens aboard a ship in the midst of a violent storm. It is clear that the ship is in danger of...

Ariel's gender has been the subject of much debate; it is now generally assumed that the spirit's gender is so unimportant to his role in the play that Ariel can be played by either a man or a...

The masque highlights one of the themes of the play, that it is important to keep oaths. The Tempest is a play about honor and loyalty. Prospero tries to lead Ferdinand to fall in love with his...