Student Question
How does Prospero's character in The Tempest differ as a duke, father, and magician?
Quick answer:
Prospero's character in "The Tempest" varies significantly across his roles as duke, father, and magician. As Duke of Milan, he neglects his duties for his studies, leading to his downfall. As a father, he's protective but controlling, reflecting Elizabethan ideals. As a magician, his "white magic" is seen as both virtuous and tyrannical, reflecting his complex nature. His ultimate forgiveness of his enemies and renunciation of magic highlight his character's growth and humanity.
Duke of Milan
Although Prospero was an intelligent, honest and compassionate leader, he had two fatal flaws that caused his downfall: his inability to detect betrayal, and his passion for knowledge. Prospero mentions that he dedicated the bulk of his time to establishing his library and towards study, while leaving Milan's administrative responsibilities to his brother. Like Duncan in Macbeth, Prospero is unaware of the dangers surrounding him and is blinded by his emmersion in his books. Therefore, he has strong leadership abilities and intentions, but weak empthatic qualities.
Prospero as a father:
By today's standards, Prospero was a terrible father. He keeps his daughter ignorant about her past, treats her more as property than a human, and even casts her to sleep in order to keep her in the dark about his plot. However, I believe that for an Elizabethan audience, Prospero would have appeared as an ideal...
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father (or perhaps it was Shakespeare's twisted ideal). He is protective, assertive, controlling, and understands her gender's weaknesses. All of his actions towards her are therefore justified because she is incapable of making her own decisions, and knowing what is best for her. In a sense, Prospero's parenting style only works because Miranda is one of the most plastic, stereotypical female roles ever conceived.
Prospero as a Magician
There is a strange dilemma here. Shakespeare needed Prospero to be a sympathetic protagonist, however, he was one that dabbled in magic which was highly frowned upon by the Elizabethan audience. Therefore all of Prospero's spells were immediately shown to be harmless. The best example of this is the scene immediately after the storm sinking the ship. Ariel makes it painfully clear to Prospero (and the audience) that no one was hurt in any way. This makes Prospero's use magic less 'sinister'. At the end of the play, Prospero relinquishes all of his powers before he journies back to Milan. This restores the natural order and shows that dabbling in magic should only be reserved for 'brave new worlds'.
In The Tempest, how is Prospero portrayed as a magician, ruler, and father?
In William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, the presentation of Prospero in his roles as father, ruler, and magician have been hotly debated by critics. Some analysts have seen Prospero as a worthy role model in practically all of these roles, while others have condemned him harshly or have at least seen him as exhibiting very serious flaws.
- PROSPERO AS FATHER: Some critics have seen Prospero as a kind, affectionate father who loves his daughter, protects her from the lustful Caliban, guides her emergence into maturity, and supervises her developing relationship with a worthy mate. Other critics, however, see Prospero as overbearing, impatient, and manipulative toward his daughter. They argue that many of these unattractive traits are fully on display in first scene in which the father and daught appear together.
- PROSPERO AS RULER: Some critics believe that Prospero is a wise and prudent ruler of his small island domain. They argue that he becomes more humble, more magnanimous, and less vengeful as the play proceeds. They note that he seems to be loved and respected by his virtuous daughter – a fact that suggests his own virtue both as a father and as a ruler. These critics believe that Prospero’s treatment of Caliban is well justified, especially in view of Caliban’s attempted rape of Miranda. They also believe that Prospero’s ultimate treatment of Ariel shows his compassion, generosity, and wisdom. Many other analysts, however, consider Prospero’s treatment of Caliban abusive in the extreme. They see Prospero as a cruel and petty tyrant who blatantly mistreats Caliban and whose treatment of Ariel is also very troubling. For these critics, Prospero is the epitome of the evils of colonialism.
- PROSPERO AS MAGICIAN: Responses to Prospero as magician have also been highly divergent. Some critics believe that his “white magic” link him with virtue and godliness. They associate his magic with reason, logic, and the poetic imagination, which all bring order out of chaos. They see him almost as a self-portrait by Shakespeare; his magic is the equivalent of Shakespeare's art. Conversely, other critics see Prospero’s magic as further evidence of his sinister hunger for power. Some critics think that Prospero’s magic in fact is weak and limited and argue that his dependence on magic robs him of his humanity. Instead of seeing Prospero as Shakespeare’s alter-ego, these interpreters see him as the object of Shakespeare’s biting satire. They sympathize with Caliban’s assessment of Prospero as
“a tyrant, a sorcerer that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island."
In The Tempest, describe Prospero as a father, Duke of Milan, and magician.
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 stage longer than any other character and he controls the fate of all the others on the island. You might want to think about how he uses his powers and what that reveals about his character. His name clearly means "prosperous" and you also might want to think about how prosperous he is in the kindness he received from Gonzalo and his ability to win back his kingdom.
Prospero initially lost his dukedom because he failed to recognise his brother's raging ambition and he neglected his first duty - the governing of Milan. Prospero was too busy studying magic to focus on his proper duties. However, this situation has left him suspicious of human appearances. It may look as if Ferdinand is in love with Miranda, but Prospero is determined to test the strength of this love:
They are both in either's pow'rs: but this swift business
I must uneasy make, lest too light winning
Make the prize light.
It is uncertain about how caring and loving Prospero is in his role of father. For example, he protests his caring role as father to Miranda when he says to her:
I have done nothing but in care of thee,
Of thee, my dear one; thee, my daughter
Although it was his behaviour and ignoring of his duties that caused Miranda's fate in the first place. Likewise ambiguity exists in his relationship with other characters. On the one hand he protests that he loves Ariel "Dearly", yet then he clearly shows himself able to act cruelly towards Ariel, bullying him and being violent towards him.
However, he also shows an ability to forgive, especially in the case of Alonso, Antonio and Sebastian. However, his harshness towards Caliban must rate as his greatest weakness. Although Caliban did try to rape Miranda, it appears his treatment of Caliban is unnecessary severe, and his act of giving Caliban arthritis smacks of the excessive. This relationship between Prospero and Caliban is extremely problematic, as by using non-human metaphors to describe and insult Caliban, Prospero paves the way for treating him as not a human.
Therefore, how you view Prospero depends a lot on how you choose to play him. Is he a powerful and magnanimous man or a cruel sorcerer, rejoicing in his power over others? The choice is yours...
What is a character sketch of Prospero from The Tempest?
Prospero is one of the main characters in The Tempest, a play by William Shakespeare. Formerly the Duke of Milan, he lost his position to his treacherous brother, Antonio. Since then, he has lived on a small island, probably in the Caribbean. He is a widower with a teenage daughter, Miranda, who came to the island with him when she was a toddler. Prospero is a sorcerer who uses his magical powers to control other people and even, with some assistance, the weather. Having these powers tends to make him arrogant, and he declares himself ruler of the island and enslaves one of its inhabitants, Caliban. The sprite Ariel, another indigenous inhabitant, calls him master, although he has his own magical abilities, which he sometimes exercises independently.
Prospero is motivated by two great desires. He wants to have his dukedom restored, and he wants his daughter to have a great future. These two goals go hand in hand: he wishes her to marry the heir to Naples, an Italian kingdom south of Milan, and then the couple to rule both dukedoms together. With these ends in mind, he engages Ariel’s assistance to cause the shipwreck that brings to the island the other characters, including Antonio; the king of Naples, Alonso; and his son, Prince Ferdinand. The audience’s sympathy for the manipulative magician derives largely from his parental concern and the injustice he suffered in losing Milan. Once he achieves his goals, he promises to give up doing “rough magic.”