Tempest By Shakespeare Essay Example For Students

Tempest By Shakespeare Essay The Tempest is an interesting play written by the famous, William Shakespeare. It is his official and last accomplishment. This play is thought of as one ofShakespeares romance plays. Shakespeare started to write toward theend of his career about magic and fantasy set in far-off lands. These realmsthat he created are written about in his plays. This particular play is famousfor his usage of magic, which is carried through by the Duke of Milan (a statein Italy), who is also known as Prospero the magician. Prospero rulesShakespeares creation of an island set far away from all realities and createsruckus for all that land on the island. Prospero who is on an island with hisdaughter Miranda and some servants to assist with magic is stranded but he useshis magical powers to his advantage. Prospero is on this remote island becausehis brother Antonio usurped his position of Dukedom. His evil brother sentProspero and his baby daughter sailing into sea with a boat full of wholes. Antonio sent Prospero away in such an abused boat that he assumes that Prosperohad to died at sea, but this is not so. A kind-hearted man named Gonzalo changesProspero and his daughters fate and Prospero in return uses his magic on theisland to make it some what livable for them. The play starts out so happily butthen Prospero is offered a chance to use his magic and take revenge upon hisevil, brother Antonio who took his place in Milan, Italy as the duke to rule. Antonio happens to set sail in waters that are close to Prosperos island. Hisservant, Ariel who is an airy spirit, which Prospero rescued from imprisonmentand now controls can fly, play magical music, misdirect people, turn invisible,and create storms and fire, among other abilities. Also Ariels gender isuncertain and probably indeterminate; it is referred to sometimes ashe, but also takes on female forms (for instance, the nymph ofI.ii.301 and the harpy of III.iii.53ff) and spends much time invisible. It isprobably simplest to think of Ariel as androgynous-that is, neither male norfemale) So Prospero and Ariel conjure up a huge storm (the tempest), and try andsteer the ship towards the island so that his daughter and himself can returnback to civilization. The ship wrecks near the island and Prospero uses hismagic to make sure that all the passengers manage to make it safely ashore. Manyinteresting figures wash upon shore. These figures include, Antonio, Alonso, theKing of Naples, w ho conspired long ago to help Antonio get rid of Prospero; thegood old counselor, Gonzalo; Sebastian, Alonsos own power-hungry youngerbrother; and Ferdinand, Alonsos son, the Prince of Naples. The charactersbasically divide up into two groups, the protagonists and the antagonists. Antonio is an antagonist. He is the evil brother of Prospero, from whom heusurped the position of Duke of Milan twelve years ago. He also plots withSebastian to kill Alonso and Gonazalo. Alsonso, the King of Naples is one of thefigures belonging to the protagonist group. He was long ago involved inAntonios plot to get rid of Prospero. He has a corruptible, power-hungryyounger brother named Sebastian. He is the father of Ferdinand and the heir tothe throne and he has a daughter named Claribel, who has just been married to aking fare across the sea. Gonzalo also belongs to the protagonists. He is awell-meaning, good-hearted elderly counselor of Alonso, who helped save Prosperoand Mirandas life long ago, when Antonio and Alonso betrayed them. The nextcharacter is Sebastian who is an antagonist and he is also the wicked brother ofAlonso, King of Naples. He is corrupt and power-hungry, and he plots withAntonio to murder Alonso and Gonzalo. Ferdinand is part of the protagonist groupand is the Prince of Naples, and the son of Alonso. He falls in love withMiranda the first time he sees her. When Ferdinand is washed onto the islandalone, Ferdinand and Miranda (the young, na?ve daughter of Prospero who hasgrown up on the island and has seen no other human being than her father for aslong as she can remember.) meet and fall in love at first sight. This wasProsperos secret goal all along, although he pretends to dislike Ferdinand atfirst. Meanwhile, Prospero lets the other noblemen-Alonso and Antonio,accompanied by Sebastian, Gonzalo and others wander around the island for awhile, by the way of punishment. Alonso believes that his son Ferdinand hasdrowned, and he is suffering greatly over this. Antonio and Sebastian, Prosperand Alonsos wicked brothers, plot together to murder Alonso in his sleep inorder to seize the crown of Naples, but Prospero sends his servant Ariel toprevent this. Meanwhile, another of Prosperos servants-Caliban, a creaturenative to the island whom Pro spero has made his slave-meets up with a couple ofdrunken servants from the ship, a jester named Trinculo. He is also part of theantagonists and is a clownish figure. He is Alonsos jester, who washes upalone. Also a good friend of Stephano and very fond of wine, he gets involved inan incompetent conspiracy with Stephano and Caliban to kill Prosperoand take over the island. But of course because he drinks his plans are not asefficient. Prospero at work with his magic again, casts an enchantment on Alonso,Antonio, and Sebastian to make them immobile with madness, guilt and fear. .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55 , .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55 .postImageUrl , .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55 , .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55:hover , .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55:visited , .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55:active { border:0!important; } .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55:active , .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55 .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u11e93c1ef177ba03c0397c09da035d55:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Transplants and Diabetes EssayMeanwhile, Ferdinand and Miranda become engaged, and Prospero uses his magic togive them a beautiful wedding pageant, with spirits taking the form of classicaldeities. Finally, in the climatic concluding scene, all the characters arebrought together once more. Prospero forgives the villains, but reclaims hisdukedom from Antonio. Ferdinand and his father Alonso are reunited. Prospero andMiranda plan to set sail back to Naples with the rest, where Miranda will marryFerdinand and become the future Queen of Naples. And Prosper, finally keepingthe promise, which he has been making for ages, sets Ariel free from itsservitude to him. Prospero is the main character of The Tempest, he is the mostpowerful and he manipulates everything. From the start of the play he engineersthe tempest that brings the other characters to his island, and after that heuses his magic to control where they go. He can send Ariel to make them fallasleep, freeze them in place, or lead them to wherever he wants them to be. Healso seems to have guessed correctly what the psychological reaction of Alonsoand the rest would be to Ariels terrifying accusation while in harpy form, andhe seems to have known that Miranda and Ferdinand would fall in love. Calibansrebellion took him by surprise, though. I also think that Prospero is like astand-in for Shakespeare, saying goodbye to his career in thetheater using Prosperos magic as a way to refer to the magic of the stage. There are passages in the play, which seem to make connections betweenProsperos magic and the magic on the stage. Prosperos power of illusion asbeing a metaphor for the illusion of theater, and his magic and power over otherpeople may be linked to the power, which the playwright himself-Shakespeare-hasin creating worlds and characters. Prosperos final scene in which he standsalone and is powerless on the stage, is a moving farewell to a great playwrightwho is about to lay aside his magic by writing into his play now my charmsare all oerthrown, and what strengths I haves mine own. Prospero admits,now I want, spirits to enforce, art to enchant (1-2, 13-14). Even asProspero pleads for the audiences forgiveness and release and pleas, which iseasy to interpret, as the usual formal pleas made in an epilogue that isactually Shakespeares final words, but coming through Prospero. Shakespeare isstopping his writing and saying goodbye through Prospero, when he lays hismagical arts forever down and says a final farewell to an audience whom lovedhim. It is as if these final lines are the final ones that Shakespeare everwrote for the stage. Then Prosperos renunciation of his magic, and his beggingthe audience to, at long last, set him free, are very moving and complex. Thesefinal words are a fitting end to a magical play and to an end of a great careerin the theater.