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The Tempest Research Paper

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A Victorious Vengeance Revenge is a detrimental impulse, an imprudent attempt to convert shame into pride. Many people have been a victim or even a seeker of revenge at some point. The strong passion for revenge is made apparent in The Tempest, by William Shakespeare. Multiple characters in the play are drastically affected by the corruption provoked by vengeance. The work revolves around the life of the antagonist, Prospero, who resides on a remote island with his teenage daughter. 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 …show more content…

Although, the tempest causes a significant amount of damage, Prospero does not intend to obliterate any of his enemies. In another instance, he creates a feast before Antonio, Sebastian, and Alonso, then causes it to suddenly vanish before their eyes. The purpose of his actions was to show them the agony he encountered when they devised a plan to steal his power. Surprisingly, Alonso is the only one that felt remorse for his conduct. Lastly, Prospero allows Alonso to believe that his son is dead due to the tempest. Prospero's intentions for this was to cause him to feel the loneliness he has experienced while living in exile. Although Prospero underwent a great deal of trouble to obtain his vengeance, he ultimately forgave his betrayers. The revenge that Antonio, Sebastian, and Alonso endure is significantly different than the revenge that Caliban

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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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Prospero constantly claims that Caliban is incapable of doing anything right and is only capable of committing malicious acts. In the text, Shakespeare states, “Which any print of goodness wilt not take, being capable of all ill.” This statement further emphasizes Prospero’s revulsion towards Caliban. They have both endured neglection and verbal abuse throughout their lifetimes, which has led them to commit wrongful acts of violence upon

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The film is about an old man, Prospero stranded on an island and trying to protect his daughter. Prospero’s brother exiled him and set him adrift with his baby daughter Miranda. In this adaptation, Breznican says “The Tempest” is more than ready for Prospero to become Prospera. Prospera is overtly wronged by being accused of using witchcraft. Hobson, Woodward.

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Prospero was betrayed by Antonio who had an "evil nature" and with the help of the king from Naples banished her (Shakespeare Act 1 93). A betrayal like this would be devastating for anyone but the fact it's her brother makes it hurt so much more. Later in the play when Prospero meets King Alonso, her brother Antonio, Sebastian, and Gonzalo she chooses to forgive them for banishing her and she even "brings them to their ship" so they can return to Naples (Shakespeare Act 5 306). Had Prospero chosen revenge she most likely would have left them on the island and they would have died which would have taken Ferdinand's father from him and their deaths would be on her conscience. When a person chooses to take revenge instead of forgiving someone they kill or hurt people to make themselves feel

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431 Words | 2 Pages

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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987 Words | 4 Pages

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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The dastardly conspiracy for revenge undertaken by Caliban is focused upon the physical ruination of Prospero; Caliban wants him dead. Through Caliban’s vivid language , of the tortures Prospero has inflicted on him, the motivation for Caliban’s murder plot was formed. The overall plot of The Tempest, is paralleled by Caliban’s murder plan in his comedic subplot. Without it, Prospero would never have to deal with the effects of vengeance upon him and Shakespeare 's exploration of revenge would lose thematic significance.

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“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” – William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare’s The Tempest begins with a terrible storm that Prospero, the story’s main character, summons using magic to get revenge on his younger brother Antonio for betraying him. Prospero later shows a change of heart when Ariel convinces him that peace is better than revenge, and he devises a plan to make peace while retrieving his rightful title of Duke of Milan at the same time.

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As previously stated the island that Prospero and Miranda ended up on after the storm belonged to Caliban and Prospero knew it. This fact further goes to support the statement that Prospero was the unruly colonizer. After the death of his mother Caliban was left alone on his island. He wasn’t granted the liberal renaissance education that Prospero was and he used that to his advantage against him. It’s in the first moments of their arrival time that Prospero mentions Caliban as his slave “Dull thing, I say so; he, that Caliban, whom now I keep in service.”

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Through The Tempest, the author tells the story of Prospero’s revenge on the men who took his dukedom away and left him and his daughter to die. Throughout the book Prospero tortures and manipulates them until he has complete control over them. In Act 5, Prospero’s chooses to forgive them and in the meantime abandons his art which can be a sign of change in character. However, through triumph, not change, the author uses Prospero’s choices to reveal that his desires are for power and superiority.

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249 Words | 1 Pages

In the question of foolishness in a midsummer’s night’s dream titania and oberon Are ironically the cause of a large portion of the chaos. They both had had foolish affairs with people who now they are going to see get married. Not to mention, both of them were fighting over a little changeling boy to be theirs, and when oberon didn’t get his way he put the pansy juice on titania’s eyes to make her fall in love with a donkey man. While he did that he sent puck out to put the pansy juice in another person’s eyes that puck had gotten wrong. These 2 acts let alone cased most of the havoc within the story.

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881 Words | 4 Pages

The Tempest can be seen as a play about reconciliation, forgiveness, and mercy. However, while it is clear that the theme of forgiveness is at the heart of the drama, it is unclear to what extent mercy is given. An examination of Caliban and Ariel and their representations of Prospero’s struggle illustrates that there is little, if any, true forgiveness and reconciliation in The Tempest. Prospero’s actions from the beginning of the play seem to contradict his ultimate aim to forgive those of have wronged him. Prospero seizes the opportunity for revenge with the help of his magic and good fortune.

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2448 Words | 10 Pages

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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1470 Words | 6 Pages

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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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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