Prospero Character Analysis Essay

The Tempest depicts a straightforward story that involves unjust acts, usurpation of the throne of Prospero by the brother, and his quest to re-develop justice through reinstating himself to the position of power. On the other hand, the justice idea in which the play trends after appears to be highly subjective as the view is a representation of the character view in controlling the fate of subsequent characters. Even though Prospero appeals himself as the injustice victim working towards making right of all wrongs done to him, Prospero’s perception of justice or injustice is hypocritical. He is rather furious with the brother who takes his power and has no qualms on enslaving Caliban and Ariel towards achieving his ends (Shakespeare 21). Within several occasions across the play, a sense of justice by Prospero appears extremely single-sided and involves all that is ideal for Prospero. In addition, as the play presents no notion for justice or higher order superseding the interpretation of events by Prospero, the play becomes morally ambiguous. The play progresses and becomes more engraved with the creativity and art notion starting Prospero’s role in mirroring explicit roles of authors in creating stories around him.

Both Prospero and Shakespeare depict themselves through special effects, which are advanced across the period. A part from causing a great tempest, Prospero allows Ariel to distract castaways through disguising her appearance as fire and mimicking their voices. Arial also turns into a Harpy who playing music invisibly. All aspects of the masques and play are wonderful as the book even calls them Shakespeare’s Spectacles of Strangeness. The author highlights variously notable masque aspects as incorporated in ‘The Tempest, mostly its artifice. It presents how disguise masques for persons are equal to their identities (Shakespeare 24). Shakespeare is influenced by the masques through sudden dramatization while the fifth-act unmasks the characters as well as their realms movement on dream, illusion, or artifice into “actual” theatrical world societies. It prepares audiences for the return into the world. Disguised noblemen were the stock characters across Elizabethan intermezzo masques and were presented as sorcerers even though they were not exclusively combined. The sorcerers also appeared through public interest of magic. The Tempest not only includes masque characters but also, it has a classic masque plot structure giving it scholarly aspects. It proceeds with prologue, epitasis, protasis, and catastrophe.

The play also determines the social and psychological dynamics of relationships involving power across various contrasting angles as the positive relationship of Prospero and Ariel. The evident negative relationship is seen between Caliban and Prospero as well as between Alonso and his nobles. Probably, the important overall impact of the motif is the heightening the symbolic significance of ‘The Tempest. Almost all scenes within the play portray explicit or implicit relationships between figures possessing power and those subject to such power. This play continues to explore the allusion in master-servant dynamism harshly within the cases where the relationship harmony faces threat or disruption. It also includes the servant rebellion or the master ineptitude. For example, the opening scene shows the Boatswain (the “servant”) angry and dismissive towards the noblemen (“masters”) who ineptitude are a threat that leads to shipwreck in a confusion storm (Shakespeare 34). From this point onwards, the master-servant relationships such as these are dominant in the play. Illustrations include Prospero and Ariel; Prospero and Caliban; the nobles and Gonzalo; and Alonso and his nobles. It is as the storm’s water runs across the action and language in the play while The Tempest crucially and literally affects the actions and lives of each character.

On the contrary, he is autocratic when it comes to Ariel. For instance, as Ariel reminds the master of the promise of relieving him of the stated duties if he willingly performs them, Prospero becomes furious and issues threats of the return him to the former state of torment and imprisonment. In his final speech, Prospero likens his imagery to playwrights through asking audiences to applaud and strengthens the play’s reading. He also makes the final scene of the play function as a celebration of art, humanity, and creativity. Prospero is part of the enigmatic protagonists in Shakespeare’s text. He remains to be one sympathetic character as after being wronged by the usurping brother, he has absolute power above fellow other characters through his overwrought speeches making him unlikable. He is presented as self-important and puffed up while he repeats his insistence that Miranda pays attention in the audience’s first glimpse of his character. It suggests that the story is rather boring to her. Immediately Prospero crosses over to the subject as compared to his absorption across the knowledge pursuit, there is a gravitation of Miranda’s attention. The information pursuit puts Prospero in trouble at first. Through the negligence of the daily matters as he was duke, he presented the brother an opportunity of rising up against him. The aspects of possession and magical knowledge use rendered him powerful and unsympathetic. The punishments awarded to Caliban were vindictive and petty while calling upon spirits to keep pinching Caliban as he curses (Shakespeare 78).

Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. New York: Plain Label Books, 1994. Print