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Forgiveness The Tempest

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William Shakespeare 's The Tempest is a five act play about forgiveness and reconciliation. It is a play about revenge and the use of various means in order to attain it. The Tempest 's action goes on over the course of around 2 days. Geographically, the action occurs on a lonely island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The themes discussed in this essay are forgiveness and reconciliation from William Shakespeare 's play The Tempest. discussed first through a summary, then a discussion of the theme of forgiveness, then a discussion of the theme of forgiveness. TS The start of the play deals with mariners trying to save their ship from being destroyed by a large storm, an effort which fails. Prospero, meanwhile, tells of how he …show more content…

Prospero ultimately forgives his brother for usurping his throne, after Fernando marries Miranda, with both of them saying "We wish your peace" (4.1. 164). This is a highlight of the theme of forgiveness in The Tempest. Prospero forgives Alonso for supporting his brother Antonio in order to gain the upper hand against him. Prospero is not a very forgiving individual. He hopes to gain his position back by wrecking a perfectly functional ship, therefore making the king give his dukedom back. He doesn 't repent for destroying the ship, but expects that his position be returned to him without question. He is not repentant for his deeds that caused his exile on his island, but he expects people to be repentant of their deeds …show more content…

Reconciliation is an important theme as well. As noted above, Prospero does not care for others a whole lot as long as he gets his way, so he is not forgiving in that regard. Reconciliation is achieved for most of the characters by the end of the play. Prospero gets his dukedom back, and everything ends up fine for the most part. Ariel gets his freedom from Prospero, in return for his services over the past few days tricking Prospero 's enemies and friends, to some extent, when Prospero says "Then to the elements / Be free, and fare thou well!" (5.1.314-315). Prospero marries off Miranda and uses this political advantage he 's gained on order to get his property back. In conclusion, The Tempest 's themes of forgiveness and reconciliation are major parts of the play. Prospero 's way of getting revenge on people is very reminiscent of the way politically-savvy rulers would get their property back. The theme of forgiveness is shown in how Prospero refuses to forgive people until he has enacted his revenge

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