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Prospero's Use Of Deception In The Tempest

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In The Tempest, written by William Shakespeare, there is a mass amount of struggle, doubt, and the competition to reach the mind of its own to power. With the ideal outline of Prospero’s desire to once again be Duke, he finds a reality to be placed that it is much more uninviting and laborious. He uses his clever mind and immoral method included through deception. Throughout the events, betrayal is presented, land is taken, servants are earned, revenge is sought out, and royalty is climbed. Ultimately, all grapple to perceive the truth behind the treachery. To begin with, Prospero’s initial plan is to befriend Caliban to reach the accomplishment of receiving land in return. He unreservedly took advantage of Caliban whom yet to do wrong in …show more content…

Prospero, continues to represent himself full of betrayal to whom he acts upon. “For I am the subjects that you have, Which first was mine own king, and here you sty me” (524). Therefor, Caliban has allowed a clear view that his hopes were taken away from him to become a slave. Additionally, Prospero makes Ariel into a servant in the sense he will be answering to Prospero’s calls and wishes to reach his power. Ariel states, “Remember, I have done thee worthy service, told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings, served without grudge or grumblings” (522). Hence, Prospero uses Ariel’s magic to get what he desires as long as he continues to increase the spectrum of his …show more content…

Prospero wanted nothing, but to attain his authority title and to retain his dominance. “She is daughter to this famous Duke of Milan, of whom so often I have heard renown, but never saw before; of whom I have received a second life” (592). This represents the relationship Ferdinand is creating with Miranda, but yet to know the reality of Prospero. As Ferdinand is the Prince of Naples, Prospero then reaches his boundaries by using political ideals to have Ferdinand marry Miranda to once again be Duke. Ferdinand states, “Let me live here ever! So rare a wond’red father and a wise makes this place paradise” (577). Ferdinand becomes true to the state of a relationship with Miranda, while Prospero allows himself to become okay with the initial feeling of forgetting the

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Returning to the parallel between Mond and Prospero, the very fact that Prospero returns to Naples implies that he must have undergone some sort of transformation during his stay in the island, that caused him to relinquish his magic, the very reason he was exiled in the first place. This can be confirmed through interpreting The Tempest as an allegory examining the human spirit’s growth through psychoanalysis. Drawing on Barry Beck’s psychoanalytical reading, the magical island is “an enchanted locality where things do not work by the normal rules of time, space, physical action and reaction.” Throughout the play, Prospero battles his unconscious Archetypes, and grows spiritually. He finally reconciles the two halves of his identity, overcomes his anger, learns to forgive his enemies (Antonio and Alonso) and understands how to rule.

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Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ follows Prospero’s relationship with power and control displaying the essential establishment of the Great Chain of Being controlling status within the Jacobean society of ‘The Tempest’. “If thou more murmur’st, I will rend an oak/And peg thee in his knotty entrials till/ Thou hast howled away twelve winters” shows the peak of Prospero’s power and control through Shakesphere’s use of vivid imagery conveying the brutality of the power dynamic between Prospero and Ariel. The use of enjambment further highlights Prospero’s lengthy reign and irrational decision making showing the lengths he will go to to sustain his power and control dynamic. Prospero’s power and control has strongly influenced his art of magic, which he used throughout his reign but only understood its full effects once Ariel manipulates him, appealing to his humanity, and then using his art to gain redemption.

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In contrast, other characters in the play, such as Ariel and Ferdinand, are not subjected to the same level of mistreatment and oppression as Caliban. Ariel is a spirit who is under Prospero's control but is not enslaved or physically harmed. Ferdinand is the son of the King of Naples and is initially shipwrecked on the island. While he is briefly made to do labor for Prospero, he is not enslaved and is eventually allowed to leave the island unharmed. While these characters face their own challenges, they do not experience the same level of systemic oppression and violence as

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Prospero promises Ariel her freedom but does not follow through. Outraged Ariel states; "Remember I have done thee worthy service; told thee no lies, made no mistakes, served without or grudge or grumblings: thou didst promise to bate me a full year." (2.1,

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(607). He loves Miranda but just like a human he fears the rejection he might get from Miranda because of what he had tried to do. 3)Caliban is someone who wants a legacy and seeks to do it in the form of offspring. When he has his first appearance in the play, Prospero claims to Caliban that “In mine own cell till thou didst seek to violate The honor of my child” and Caliban replies by saying “Would’t had been done! Thou didst prevent me!”

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In the story The Tempest Prospero is tempted to show the bad sides of him, but compared to everyone else in the story, Prospero is a good man. When it was time to get revenge on his enemies, he chose to forgive them and let them go. Prospero also raised Miranda after being banished from the island, Prospero shows his loyalty to Gonzalo, and Prospero allows Caliban to stay on the island. One example is that when Prospero and Miranda were banished from the kingdom, Prospero decided to raise Miranda all by himself on the island.

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Unfortunately, Prospero, Caliban, and Antonio become revenge seekers, yet also fall victim to the violent desire of revenge. The basis of the play is built upon Prospero pursuing a long anticipated vengeance on his brother, and any other person who deceived him. Prospero is certainly a more complex character than the typical revenge motivated protagonist. Prior to being banished to the island, Prospero was exiled from his dukedom by his spiteful brother, Antonio. While Antonio and some other royal subjects are on a voyage, Prospero creates the tempest, which is a

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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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Each of them wandering along the island, where Stephano declares himself as the lord of the island and tells Trinculo that if he disobeys Caliban, he will hang him. Stephano still drinking and ordering Caliban to drink the wine, to which Caliban is happy to obey. Each of them start to quarrel in drunkenness and Caliban starts telling Stephano and Trinculo about his wretched master and that they should kill him. Afterwards, Ariel enters and says, “Thou leist” (3.2.48) and then Caliban mocks Trinculo for saying that. Stephano warns him, but Trinculo claims that he said nothing.

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From the play’s inception, it is clear to the audience that Prospero rules the island and its subjects. Despite being a foreigner to the land, Prospero claims the island as his own and enslaves the lone inhabitant, Caliban, while also asserting his rule over the spirit, Ariel. Furthermore, Prospero’s daughter, Miranda, remains subservient to her father. Despite his seemingly malicious intentions, Shakespeare hesitates from going as far as making Prospero a tyrannical dictator. Instead, Shakespeare portrays Prospero as a benevolent, but cold, ruler who is not willing to kill anyone to accomplish his desires, and justifies his harsh treatment of Caliban by disclosing the details of the fallout between Prospero and Caliban.

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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

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He was the Duke, and he could take over anyone he wanted. Although they were friendly at first, Prospero eventually took full control of the people on the island as well. This included Ariel and Caliban. Just like when the Europeans discovered new land, took it over, and ruled over anyone that was there. Prospero used his power and magic to completely manipulate people only to further himself.

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In the quote, Prospero is knowing the reality of himself as his own opponent. Since he’s the only one playing his game, he’s questioning himself if what’s he’s doing is going to get him the throne instead of playing savior. He’s seeing that his actions are actually bettering the situation with the people in the island. Even though he has held them captive and under spells, the people in the island and Miranda are still not fully aware of what Prospero’s true intentions are. When we’re playing an intricate game of chess with ourselves, it's easy to see outcome.

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Unlike Shakespeare’s other main characters, he is much more enigmatic. In they play Prospero is portrayed as the rogue who seeks revenge on his brother Antonio for his treachery. In this Shakespearean comedy it becomes clear that Prospero is the heart of power on the island. Evidently Prospero has been wronged by his brother’s usurping which he could not control and now uses his magic as a tool for controlling the events that occur on island throughout the play. The theme of power in this play is hugely significant as it clear that the violence interrogated in this play is in relation to power and the abuse of that power by the protagonist.

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As the play begins, it seems as if the massive tempest is simply a random occurrence, catching the mariners and nobility by chance. However, as the act continues, Shakespeare reveals that the tempest was actually the work of Prospero and his ghostly servant Ariel, who stirred up the seas and set fire to the masts (1.2, 193-194). This establishes Prospero as the executor of a mess of ‘coincidences’ ranging from Ferdinand stumbling upon his daughter Miranda to King Alonso and his party walking directly into the former duke’s cell. Though Prospero may have the same control over the English language as the other characters, Caliban points to his specific source of power. He says, “… for without [his books] /

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