Power And Relationships In Shakespeare's The Tempest

Introduction: How far would you go to get power? Power,and how the love of power affects relationships,are continual themes in The Tempest. How signficant power is to the characters in the play is evident by looking at the relationships in the tale,and more specifically,looking at how the want of power causes relationships to detoriate;especially the relationships between masters and servants. A perfect example of this is the relationship between master Prospero,and his servant Caliban. Even though their relationship could have detoriated due to a number of other factors, Caliban and Prospero only become enemies because they each have an incredibly strong hunger for power and are willing to go to great lengths to get,and keep,power,which leads

The attack,in Caliban's mind,is nothing more than a way of attainng powr from Prospero,who holds all the power to himself. In Caliban's mind,he didn't do anything more than try and tae bac hat was rightfully his,the control of the island,and so he is entirly unapologtic about his actions,whenever Prospero brings them up,"O ho, O ho! would't had been done!/Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled else/This isle with Calibans.."(Shakespeare 1.2.349-51) Prospero on the other thand,is furious about caliban's actions,and his anger stems not only from the fact Caliban attaced his daughter,but also,mainly,from the fact that this marks the first time he really sees Caliban;s want for hunger,and begins to fathom just how far Caliban will go to get power. For the first time,he sees caliban as a legitimt threat to his power,and this causes him to take drastic actios to ensure Calian stays powerless. His past aids him in this pursuit(Gifford,Lauren);his brother plotted against him once,and suceeded,so he knows what it's like to have his subjects plot against him,and more importantly,he's able to work out how to stop any plots Caliban plans proactively,and effectively. Caliban on the other hand,uses his past to try and aid him in his attempts to steal power from Prosperos;

While Prosperos can be an overbearing character,and he's not always the nicest,Caliban respected him and would have embraced his entrance to the island,if it weren't for the lengths he goes to to take,and maintain control of the island. Towards the end of the play,the first signs of a reconciliation between the pair happens as a direct result of Prosperos deciding to leave behind his power hungry ways on the island,and return to the kingdom he was wrongfully exiled from. The fact their relationship immediately shows hints of mending,because of Prosperos' decision to end his power hunger,just goes to show the love of power is exactly what causes their conflict in the first