How Does Prospero Have Power In The Tempest

In William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Caliban a native to the island is one of the main characters who best illustrates a struggle to gain power. For example, Caliban states, “This Island’s mine Sycorax my mother Which thou tak’st from me” (524, line 332). This shows that Caliban did have power once before, but has lost it when Prospero invaded his island. He has had to do hard labor for Prospero’s survival. Notably, Prospero says “Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself Upon thy wicked damn come forth” (524, Line 319). Prospero labeled Caliban as a slave meaning he has no freedom. He continues to rant to Caliban harassing him about the scars that Prospero gave to him. This is important because Caliban was powerless to defend against Prospero. Power can relate to the theme of forgiveness and repentance. Because when Prospero revealed his identity and forgave everyone he became duke again.

For instance, Stephano states, [A] “Drink, Servant-monster” (559 Line 7). Caliban truly believes this is the right step to freedom, but he’s digging himself even deeper down the social caste system. Trinculo calls him a liar, ignorant monster and a fish. This shows that they are being nice to Caliban is just an act and deep down they don’t care about him, they want to use him for survival on the island. In fact, Caliban says “I prithee let me bring thee where crabs grow and I with my long nail will dig thee pignuts” (549 Line 154) [C] They Trick him to the point where he thinks they are gods and will all the work of finding food for them. Stephano and Trinculo wanted to the be king of an island so they filled their desire by Caliban do their work. This not only shows Caliban’s desire for power, but also