The Tempest Research Paper

Before Shakespeare became the famous playwright he is known as, he first got his start from humble beginnings. Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon where his parents had six children, and Shakespeare was the third. He was the first boy in his family, followed by three more. During his early life, he attended King’s New School where he learned literature, and this is most likely where he found his love for it. Later on, he married Anne Hathaway and had three daughters. Then there are the 7 years after his twins were born that are known as the lost years where not much is known about Shakespeare’s life (William Shakespeare Biography). After the lost years, Shakespeare finally begins to get into theater. One of his first encounters

Ironically, it is Ariel, one of Prospero’s servants, who convinces him of this, and still, Prospero pursues the title of Duke of Milan by having his daughter Miranda, and Ferdinand, the son of Alonso, marry, uniting the two families peacefully (The Tempest William Shakespeare). Prospero’s new peaceful plan works perfectly, and he becomes the rightful Duke of Milan as he had planned. He then ends the cycle of power once and for all by forgiving all of his enemies and not punishing them, giving them no reason to want revenge (The Tempest by William Shakespeare). He then releases his slaves, giving them their freedom, which is all that they really wanted anyway, and vows to give up magic to return to the mainland, “But this rough magic I here abjure… I’ll break my staff, bury it certain fathoms in the earth, and deeper than ever did plummet sound I’ll drown my book” (Shakespeare, 5.1.3). Sometimes an author places some of their own beliefs into a story by creating a character to represent themselves, and it is believed that Prospero is supposed to represent Shakespeare after he escapes this illusion of justice. In this way, Shakespeare makes this theme more of a moral lesson to the audience than something that furthers the storyline because he believed that many explorers in this time period believed that power was justice, and that most of them had fallen under the illusion themselves. Shakespeare’s idea of justice creates a happy ending for the play, making the audience think that if they adapt Shakespeare’s idea of justice, then happy endings can happen in real life as well ( The Tempest William