How Does Prospero Change In The Tempest

Through The Tempest, the author tells the story of Prospero’s revenge on the men who took his dukedom away and left him and his daughter to die. Throughout the book Prospero tortures and manipulates them until he has complete control over them. In Act 5, Prospero’s chooses to forgive them and in the meantime abandons his art which can be a sign of change in character. However, through triumph, not change, the author uses Prospero’s choices to reveal that his desires are for power and superiority. When Ariel questions Prospero’s humanity, due to his ego, Prospero only pretends to change his views because he wants to feel superior. By this point in the play, Prospero has every character in his hand. He can exploit them anyway that he wants, but once Ariel tells he would feel bad for them, Prospero becomes a whole different person: “Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling/Of their afflictions, and shall not myself,/One of their kind, that relish all as

Prospero’s ideals and views destroyed right when a spirit questions his ethics. Ariel, a non human spirit, even admits he feels bad for the men that Prospero tortured. This causes Prospero to forgive the men, not because he truly wants to, but because of his ego. He doesn’t want to be lower than one of his servants so he pretends to be more compassionate and accepting. Prospero then tells Ariel;“The rarer action is/In virtue than in vengeance.”(V.i.35-36). Prospero does not truly believe that. His entire life he has been living the exact opposite way, only focused on getting his revenge. But he can’t have some lesser being think more highly and more moral than him so he pretends to have higher standards than he actually does. Power play is a big theme in the Tempest. This example shows that Prospero wants to be the master, and Ariel the servant. Overall, Prospero just wants power over people. However it can be argued that Prospero changes when he says: