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The tempest capsizes the boat and the survivors find themselves in various places on a strange islands The next seem has a very more calm tone to it, we meet the main and most relevant character in the story Prospers, and his daughter Miranda Prospers and his daughter Miranda were banished to this island venue his brother Antonio overthrew him for the power of the dukedom of Milan. Prospers now a native Of this island for twelve years has the upper hand now that all of the royalty are on his turf.
He also has the help of Ariel a water nymph that he rescued and is now enslaved to Prospers. There is also the creature named Clinical that is under the slavery of Prospers. Prospers is the most vital character in this play because he has the most power and influence over everyone. Prospers who has found the secrets of the island with his magical staff and gaga books can ultimately do whatever he wants to the survivors. His first motive is vengeance as he sends Ariel on various tasks to make the survivors suffer just a little more than necessary.
But he also shows great strides in the fact that in the end he is willing to give up all his magic and show mercy to his brother, “But this rough magic here abjure; and when I have required Some heavenly music (which even now I do) To work mine end upon their senses that This airy charm is for, I’ll break my staff, Bury it certain Fathoms in the earth, And deeper than did ever plummet sound I’ll drown my book”. (Shakespeare 67) I feel eke this shows great strides in Prospers as a character in this play.
He went from being vengeful and bitter towards his enemies to showing forgiveness and giving up all the power that he possessed over them. This shows that Prospers is a well- rounded character in Shakespearean play and that he is very capable of change. Prospers is very interested in finding Miranda a husband which thought to be very interesting. He has raised Miranda on this island alone for 15 years now which has made Miranda dependent on Prospers and he has control over Miranda at will it seems. As shown in Act 1 Prospers commands Miranda to sleep ND she does as Obeyed then awakes When he says she shall.
But when Prospers finds that Ferdinand is alone on the island he makes it a point to introduce him to Miranda and that they shall fall in love and later be married. This shows a different side of Prospers. A more fatherly side where he wants the best for Miranda and feels that Ferdinand can offer that for her. This is form sympathy, sympathy that his daughter has known nothing but her father and the island, He wants the best for his daughter and for her to experience life for herself and not under his influence.
Prospers shows great compassion not only for his daughter UT for the people that have wronged him in his life as well. “For you most wicked sir, Whom to call brother would even infect my mouth, do forgive thy rankest fault- all of them; and require my dukedom of thee, which perforce I know thou must restore”. (70) He also shows compassion for his brother Antonio Who stole his dukedom and banished to the island. His brother is the whole reason he is in this predicament in the first place.
If it wasn’t for Prosperous Will to survive he and his daughter would have perished on the island which I’m sure is the main reason why Antonio banished his brother in the first place. Prospers seems like resourceful man and powerful at that, he could have left all the survivors out there in torment or worse to die. But he shows great compassion by setting them free, Prospers is a true protagonist in the play, he not only is a hero but he can also be the villain. He is the villain in the sense of his slavery over Clinical and Ariel.
His relationship with the two is completely different and they each serve different purposes for Prospers, Clinical is a misshapen human who is weak and vulnerable, and Prospers takes advantage of that to the fullest. He uses Clinical only to do what he doesn’t want to do and treats him very poorly. This shows the more evil side to Prospers, he is so bad to Clinical in fact that Clinical tries to plot to kill Prospers when he meets the drunken buddies Trujillo and Stephan_ But Prospers finds out about his evil plot and stops them before Clinical is able to succeed.
Prospers shows great compassion towards Clinical even though he tried to plot an assassination on him. Prosperous relationship with Ariel is more complex than any Other character relationship in the play. Ariel is under Prosperous control but he views him as not only a slave but a friend as well. In the beginning Of the play Ariel is seen more as slave towards Prospers. When we first meet Ariel he is summoned by Prospers to do whatever is asked Of him. Ariel then confronts Prospers about his promise to set him free after he has done all that was asked of him to the fullest. Remember have done thee worthy service, told thee no lies, made no mistaking, served without or grudge or grumblings. Thou did promise to bate me a full year”. (Shakespeare 16) And Prospers responds by saying “Dost thou forget from what a torment did free there Prospers then goes on to remind Ariel of the torment that he has freed him from and intimidates him by saying he ill send him back to the evil witch that banished him in the tree in the first place.
So this gives you the impression that Prospers is merely using Ariel to do all of his evil bidding and the he thinks nothing more than a slave of Ariel, gut as the relationship builds and the story untold there is a very more intimate telling that Prospers shows towards Ariel, After he has Ariel enchant all the survivors and everything seems in place, he then asks Ariel to do one last favor for him which is to free all the survivors of his charm and let him confront them on his own. After saying this Ariel replies with asking his Prospers loves him, and
Prospers replies faith saying he adores him so, and has come to see Ariel as not merely a slave but a dear friend. Then he lets Ariel know that he will set him free after he does this last task for him. “In virtue than vengeance. They being penitent, the sole drift of my purpose doth extend not frown further. Go, release them, Ariel. My charms I’ll break, their senses I’ll restore, and they shall be themselves”. (Shakespeare 66) Ariel and Prosperous relationship is the most vital in the play and they are mirror images of each other.
Each has a magical power about them and has ultimate control on every situation that unfolds on the island. Without Ariel Prospers could not have had the chance to confront his brother and regain his Dukedom, and Without Prospers Ariel would still be banished in the tree where the wicked witch had left him. Each has everything to lose but everything to gain at the same time. There could have well been a great power struggle between the two but they both realize that they need each other to accomplish what they want.
Ariel ultimately wants his freedom and Prospers wants to gain his Dukedom back and they both need each other to gain this. In conclusion, I feel that Prospers is the true protagonist in The Tempest; he is he character that shows the most gains and the hardest struggles, He has absolute power and has the motive divergence to take down his brother and regain his dukedom and show all the royalty the pain he and his daughter experienced the last 15 years on the island.