Exiled by brother Antonio -
found refuge on island
controls magic
Father of Miranda
Can be seen as evil
Never intends
to hurt anyone
Humanity
obvious in his
treatment of
Antonio
Also
obvious
with him,
telling
Alonso not
to
apologise
to Miranda
"no need for amends"
Doesn't free Caliban or Ariel
autocratic in his treatment of Ferdinand
Ultimately
realises
that won't
help the
courtship
enigmatic
protagonist
emerges as more
likable in final
scenes
love for
Miranda
forgiveness
of his
enemies
happy
ending of
his
schemes
even if he originally
seem autocratic he
ultimately manages
to persuade the
audience to share
his understanding of
the world - an
achievement that is
the final goal of
every author and
every play
Surrogate of
Shakespeare
Prospero
single-handedly
moulds the whole
plot
enables audiance to explore
first hand the ambiguties and
ultimate wonder of the creative
endeavor
Final speech likens
himself to the
playwright
asks the
audience for
applause
makes the play's final
scene function as a moving
celebration of creativity,
humanity and art
symbolic of western world
WARTON-
personification of
consistency,
dignity and
decorum
Miranda
In love with Ferdinand at first sight
"I might call him, a thing divine"
Does not choose own husband
and gets no input in father's
decision makings
Stands by while Prospero tells Ferdinand
not to
"break her virgin-knot" before the wedding
But it is her decision to chase
after Ferdinand to offer assitance
Been on Island since age 3
Remembers little of before
"rather like a dream than assurance"
naive?
meek/emotional
O, I have suffered/with those I saw suffer
About the Shipwreck
Powerful
Challenges Prospero
questions treatment of sailors
defies commandment to have
nothing to do with Ferdinand
Goes against Elizabethan modesty
"I am your wife, you
will mary me;/ If not,
I'll die your maid"
Presented as prop in
final scene
Unimportant
character/low in
hierarchy
Because she's a woman?
Feminism
She internalises the
male hierachy
accepting her
father sibordination
as she doesn't know
any better
LEININGER -Mirandas
treatment by Prospero is
the same as Calibans
the sexist
attitudes are
the same as
the racist
attitudes
ALSO "external
beauty mirrors
her inner virtue
Is important
but it's subtle?
sheer presence
Foils
Prospero's
more
violent
insincts
serves as a
sounding board
to move the
plot forward
central to
fathers
revenge
marriage is needed for
political gain
Michael
Neill
Miranda's
function is
to be a
Christ figure
she is the indicator of a
characters moral status
within the hierarchy of
the island
Embraces Ferdinand
who is saved by her
presence
Rejects Caliban who is
shown to be
monstrous
has few lines of
importance or
soliliquoys
Most of her
interaction on stage is
dominated by males
dictated by Prospero
marriage to
Ferdinand
interactions
with Caliban
"perfect and
peerless,
created of
every
creatures best
Only female character
Can show 2 things
She can't be
compared to other
women because she
isn't valued and
that's unimportant
Can't be compared because she's
so virtuous
personification of chastity
allegory for missionary
side of colonialism
attempts to
educate Caliban
more sympathy
for Ferdinand
sharply contrasts
her father
Antonio
Prospero's younger brother
Evil/Antagonist
plots for Sebestian to kill his
brother -the king of Napels
Caliban
Native of the
island - supposedly
savage
Speaks in Iambic pentameter
suggests
he's smarter
than he's
given credit
for
not distracted
by material
possessions
shows that
he knows
knowledge
is power
subservient to Stephano
and Trinculo
possibly using
them for his
own advantage
Ferdinand
Miranda's
love interest
Prospero making him
think his father's dead
makes him cling to
Miranda more
King of Naples
Represents the audience
Ariel
Second orient in the play
represents supernatural side to
Prospero's power
On their heads no hair
perished, on their
garments, not a blemish
The rhyme here emphasises
Ariel's taunt at the sailors who
thought they were condemned
to death,
could also be a jibe at
Prospero's lack of
power- it is his magic
that enacted the
tempest, not
Prospero's?
It also serves to convey the non malignant aspect of his
magic- he wants revenge, not to kill, but also highlights their
abuse of godly power and Prospero's choice over who lives
and dies.
"Do you love me master? No?"
Portrays Ariel's sycophancy towards
Prospero, and seems almost forced
in order to get across his gratitude
(faked?) for being treated well and
more humanely than Caliban.
He represents an aspect of how
colonisers turned natives against
one another- complicit versus
rebellious, using eachother to tear
up the society and establish the
white European as ruler. This is
seen in the novel "When Things
Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe.
Ariel and Caliban
can be regarded as
representations of
Prospero himself, to
render visible to
struggle within the
mind and soul of the
hero"- LINDLEY
Sebastian
shows audience
how easy it is for
Antonio to
maipulate characters
Alonso
King of Milan
victim of one of the paralled plots
Gonzalo
Kings advisor
Only nice
person in
the play
The first time we
meet Gonzalo, he's
trying to break up a
nasty argument
between the royals
and the mariners on
deck during the
tempest
Gonzalo also makes a big utopian speech that
literary critics like to compare to a passage from
Montaigne's "Of Cannibals,"