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The Distribution Of Power In The Tempest

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It was once said by Condoleezza Rice, “Power is nothing unless you can turn it into influence.” In “The Tempest” three powers that can be seen throughout the play are supernatural power, political power and parental power. Out of the many characters that are seen in the play only three characters wield at least two of these three powers. Those three characters are Prospero, Alonso and Sycorax. While the distribution of power varies with these three characters, there is a noticeable difference in each of these character’s children and how the power affects them. In Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest” the differences between Prospero, Alonso, Sycorax and their children Miranda, Ferdinand and Caliban show readers there is a distinct difference in power and how it affects not only the ones who wield power, but their children as well. …show more content…

As Prospero tells Miranda of how they came to the island, readers learn that Prospero once had political and parental power simultaneously. “Twelve year since, Miranda, twelve year since/ Thy father was the Duke of Milan and/ a prince of power” (1.2: 54-56). Once Prospero and Miranda reach the island, with the help of his books and a special cloak, Prospero achieves supernatural power that many could only dream about. Miranda grew up knowing of Prospero’s supernatural power (asking if he caused the storm) as well as his parental power over her. It isn’t until Prospero tells her of how they came to the island that she officially learns of his political power, yet through it all she remains innocent and sweet. She doesn’t use the power she knows her father has to her

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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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One example in the book is when Prospero leads Miranda to believe that her uncle, Antonio is a traitor and that he overthrew him out of pure greed. This example condemns Prospero because he uses his power to control people around him in a bad way. He uses his magic powers for selfish reasons to manipulate people in the

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they now are in my power”. Unlike Shakespeare, Atwood adapts Caliban from The Tempest and represents his character through the collective of the prisoners. Opposed to ‘monstrous’ Caliban, she depicts the prisoners as marginalised, “He refused to call them inmates”. As a human rights activist, Atwood alters the portrayal of Caliban-empowering minority groups. Prospero and Caliban’s relationship critically influences Atwood as she re-imagines the play within a prison, “Felix heads off to Fletcher Correctional”.

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Prospero is a power hungry- tyrant. Through out The Tempest Prospero is constantly using his power for his own well being. Prospero takes the island away from Caliban and imprisons him, then he holds Ariel captive, using her power for himself. and lastly Prospero uses his daughters lack of knowledge of men and the to side world. Prospero only has his mind set on revenge, no matter the cost and who will get hurt along the way.

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Sarah Denman write that Prospero is like the Church in that he is a messenger of God and has limited “life power.” This interpretation of Prospero is reminiscent of the Divine Right of Kings, which was first mention in England under the reign of James I (1603-1625). It is certainly possible that Shakespeare’s had the concept of the Divine Right of Kings in mind when he wrote The Tempest. H.K Jones and Mrs. Sarah Denman also write that “when the government of this planet is taken from the powers above and put into the hands of man, then comes destruction.”

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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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When we first meet Prospero we are also introduced to his 15 year old daughter Miranda. In Act 1 Scene II we are presented with aspects of violence as Prospero retells his past to Miranda and in doing so he explains how they got to this current situation and how “that situation involves treason and murder” (Nostbakken, 3) In doing so he retells Miranda how “his Brother Antonio persuaded Alonso the king of Naples, to assist him in overthrowing Prospero and taking his dukedom of Milan” (3). It is clear that Prospero, although throughout the play is the one causing the psychological violence, in this case he is the victim. In this scene it is evident that Prospero suffered from both psychological and physical violence bestowed upon him by his brother Antonio.

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He’s but a sot as I am, nor hath / One spirit to command…”(3.2.85-88). All of these occurrences are empowered by Prospero’s collection of books, which enable him to speak the language of sorcery unlike any of the other character and endow him with otherworldly abilities. He uses these powers solely to carry out his plan of escape from the island by bringing Ferdinand and Miranda together. After his plans are successful, he renounces magic and becomes the same as any of the other members of the nobility, showing that magic was the defining characteristic of his might.

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The Tempest is a play where a man named, Prospero, was a former duke of a land. He was exiled to an island because his brother, Antonio, usurped his dukedom. Prospero lives on the island with his daughter, Miranda attempting to reattain his title of duke. There are many causes of social issues, and it is important to view these issues on how they affect others.

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The various ways Shakespeare dramatizes and explores power, allows us to obtain a richer impression of the theme of power in The Tempest. Government and authority both carry out important functions in the play. It is the subject of government that initiates the events in the play and it is also the foundation of the progression throughout the play. Prospero is the fundamental piece in the play concerning governance because he used to be the Duke of Milan, but loses his title to his brother Antonio when he devotes too much of his time learning magic rather than ruling his people and seeing his obligations through: “The government I cast upon my brother, [a]nd to my state grew stranger, being transported [a]nd rapt in secret studies,” (p.10). This is also the cause of Prospero and his infant

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