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Prospero's Monologue Analysis

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Prospero's monologue at the end of Shakespeare's play The Tempest is important in that it helps relay to the audience Prospero's instrumental role in orchestrating many of the events in the play itself, while also explaining the intentions behind his actions. Through the epilogue, it is brought to the audience's attention how Prospero's departure from the island contrasts with the circumstances under which he had initially been exiled there many years ago, paralleling the story he tells Miranda earlier in the play. (1.2.72-171) This is observable as we compare how Prospero was "without a parallel" in his studies of "the liberal arts" (1.2.73-74) before the events of the play, while at the end he gives up his magic, claiming "my charms are all o'erthrown,/ And what strength I have's mine own" (Epilogue.1-2). Similarly, the King of Naples extirpating Prospero out of the dukedom, and conferring fair Milan, with all the honours, on his brother (1.2.125-127) can be contrasted with the end of the play where …show more content…

Within the epilogue, the use of personal pronouns as well as the active and passive voice differs from the rest of the play. While Prospero uses the personal pronoun “I” and the active voice in most of the play, such as when he speaks to Alonso at the end of Act 5, saying “I invite … I’ll waste … I’ll bring”(5.1.301-308), in the epilogue this changes to a greater use of the personal pronoun “you” as well as the passive voice, such as in the lines “I must be here confined by you” (Epilogue.4) and “Let your indulgence set me free”(Epilogue.20). By distancing himself from an active role in his future, the audience is led to believe that Prospero’s power without magic is as he describes, as “most faint” (Epilogue.3). This then raises the question on whether or not Prospero's return to Milan will play out the way he expects it to, and results in the play lacking proper

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In addition to Caliban, Prospero's yearning for vengeance also creates internal issues for himself. After Ferdinand and Miranda announce their marriage, Prospero claims his "rejoicing / At nothing can be more," because he must "perform / Much business appertaining," (Shakespeare, 95-99). Usually, a father focuses more on his daughter getting married, however Prospero can only focus on his plans for vengeance. Some believe that the characters internal struggles were caused by the wrongdoers, and not a lack of forgiveness; however, at the end of the play, after Prospero becomes a more virtuous character, his conflicts with his brother and Caliban are resolved, clearly showing that their focus on vengeance is what caused the internal struggles.

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