Shakespeare: The Tempest

Before reading “The Tempest,” I knew I should be expecting two things: language that would be difficult to understand and a plot that would be original. My past experiences with Shakespeare assured me that after I'm done with the last act in the play I'll feel like I've just returned from an incredible journey. I was right. The play was special in many ways, one of them being the fact that it was one of the last plays Shakespeare wrote, another – the multiple parallels between the master himself and a character in the book – Prospero. Prospero's character early on in the story is pictured as a villan, towards the end the perception changes and Prospero, through his noble remarks, earns the status of a hero. Prospero began as a villan, killing many people by causing the Tempest, on the other hand, at the end of the play by forgiving his brother Antonio he earned a lot of respect in the eyes of the audience.

Prospero is perceived as a villan early on because with the help of his magic he caused the Tempest that sank the ship killing many innocent people and 'enslaving' the royalty on an island. The former Duke of Milan did it for two reasons. First, he wanted revenge on his brother, Antonio. Prospero couldn't accept the fact that he lost his dukedom, he felt betrayed by someone he loved. He expresses his emotions in the following statement:

“Being once perfected how to grant suits, how to deny them, who t' advance, and who to trash for overtopping, new created the creatures that were mine, I say, or changed 'em, Or else new formed 'em, having both the key of officer and office, set all hearts i' th' state to what tune pleased his ear, that now he was the ivy which had hid my princely trunk and sucked my verdure out on 't. Thou attend'st not.”

Prospero clearly hasn't forgiven his brother. He lost everything he had and had to change his life completely. He was forced to move and was denied all that he once had. He was used to high standards and he always had everything given to him. On the island he had to adopt a completely new lifestyle, especially in the beginning where he didn't know where to gather necessities required to make a living. He decided to make use of his magic when he saw an occasion. With the help of Ariel (a spirit he enslaved) he created a Tempest in order to bring his brother on his island.

Towards the end of the play, Prospero came to the realization that revenge is not a way to solve his internal conflict. He decided to forgive his brother for what he had done to him. He decided to put it all behind them and promises to put an end to his magic in the following lines:

“You, brother mine, that entertained ambition, expelled remorse and nature, whom, with Sebastian, whose inward pinches therefore are most strong, would here have killed your king, I do forgive thee, unnatural though thou art. - Their understanding beings to swell, and the approaching tide will shortly fill the reasonable shore that now lies foul and muddy. Not one of them that yet looks on me, or would know me.”

Basically what Prospero announces here is that he knows about every single thing that took place on the island and that he forgives his brother. He doesn't want revenge, he seeks peace. It was a very interesting reaction from Prospero because earlier on in the play there was no forshadowing of the actual ending. Nonetheless, Prospero showed a lot of rationality in his decision to forgive his brother, something he lacked earlier.

Prospero, through his heroic remark towards the end of the play changed his perception, that was very negative in the beginning. The play sends a very clear message to the audience: revenge is an automatic human reaction to unfair treatment and injustice, but by giving in we 'lose' our humanity and we no longer can act rationally. Before taking action in any situation, it is required to consider the potential consequences that we might be faced with.