The Tempest
TEACHIT KS3 INTERACTIVE PACK
Character
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1
Character
LESSON 15:
Prospero
Framework Objectives
Learning Objective
R14: Analyse the language, form and
dramatic impact of scenes and plays by
published dramatists
To explore the character of Prospero
Activity 11 and Activity 12
Copies of Act 1 Scene 2 will be required for this lesson. Knowledge of the whole play will be
needed in this section – the various characters can be revised using ICT Activity 11.
Starter



Write the following anagram of Prospero’s name on the board: ROSE PROP. (Students should solve
it quickly!) Note that rose prop suggests strength – do students see Prospero as a strong character?
Ask students to look up prosper and prosperous in a dictionary (common meanings for prosper are
succeed and thrive; common meanings for prosperous are flourishing, successful, thriving).
Do these meanings suggest that Prospero is a strong and successful character?
Introduction


Recap or re-read Prospero’s history as told to Miranda in Act 1 Scene 2 (lines 66–168).
Next, arrange pupils into groups of 4 to 6 and ask them to dramatise Prospero’s tale in either a series
of mimed actions or a series of frozen pictures/tableaux. Alternatively, the mimed actions can be
accompanied by a student or students reading the speech.
Development

Having heard Prospero’s story, now return to the question posed in the Starter activity: Is Prospero a
strong, successful character? ICT Activity 12, in which students sequence Prospero’s qualities from
most to least attractive, can also be used to stimulate discussion.

Discuss students’ responses as a class. Their ideas may include:
 Prospero as strong and successful: his use of magic; his control of Arial and Caliban; his control
of the island influences Miranda and Ferdinand’s love – and imprisons Ferdinand; he is
autocratic, etc.
 Prospero as not strong or successful: he is usurped by his brother; he has to rely on magic for his
power; he can be cruel; he is unable to control Miranda’s love for Ferdinand or Caliban’s descent
into savagery, etc.

In groups, pairs or individually, ask students to draw an annotated graph to show Prospero’s times of
strength and weakness. You may wish to use Worksheet 26, which provides students with a model
graph, or encourage larger-scale graphs. The completed graphs make excellent wall displays.

Using the graphs as evidence, discuss whether and how Prospero has changed by the end of the
play. Is the audience able to sympathise with him and like him?
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2
Plenary


Return to the original question: Is Prospero the strong, successful character his name suggests?
Take a class vote!
Write Prospero vertically down the board then challenge students to complete the acrostic with words
or phrases that describe him. For example:
 Proud
 Ruler
 Overbearing, etc.
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3
weak
Prospero’s brother, Antonio,
begins to erode his power.
Prospero is the reigning
Duke of Milan.
strong
Prospero
Time
Worksheet 26:
The ups and downs of Prospero’s life
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4
Character
LESSON 16:
Ariel
Framework Objectives
Learning Objective
R10: Comment on interpretations of the same To explore the character and appearance of
text or idea in different media, using terms
Ariel
appropriate for critical analysis
R14: Analyse the language, form and
dramatic impact of scenes and plays by
published dramatists
Activity 13
Copies of Act 2 Scene 1, lines 269–293, will be needed for this lesson.
Starter


Write the following words on the board: malignant thing; chick; brave spirit; my delicate; my dainty.
Ask students who is being described. (They are all names which Prospero calls Ariel.)
With students, discuss whether these names give any indication of Arial’s character or what Ariel
looks like. Interestingly, Ariel is usually referred to as ‘he’ although the character’s gender is not
stated in the play.
Introduction



If necessary, revise Ariel’s role in the play using ICT Activity 13. Ask students how they interpret
Ariel. Discuss what he (it?) can do and what Ariel may look like.
Using a digital projector or interactive whiteboard, show paintings, engravings and images of Ariel, as
well as pictures of Ariel from past theatre productions. Images from the accompanying CD-ROM can
be used, but the following sites also have images worth looking at.
 http://www.english.emory.edu/classes/Shakespeare_Illustrated/TempestPaintings.html
 http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/exhibits/enchant/tempest.html
 http://absoluteshakespeare.com/pictures/tempest.htm
 http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=13439&searchid=14423
 http://www.english.emory.edu/classes/Shakespeare_Illustrated/Fuseli.Ariel.html
Encourage students to discuss and comment on the pictures, preferably with reference to the text.
Have the artists portrayed Ariel as students see him?
Development


Ask students, individually, to write a mini-autobiography of Ariel. Encourage them to include as much
information from the play as possible, including how Ariel feels about particular issues. For example,
is he grateful to Prospero (for freeing him from the tree) or angry at Prospero (for keeping him
subservient so long)?
Encourage students to complete the planning sheet on Worksheet 27 first, to guide their writing.
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5
Plenary


Re-cap on the various views of Ariel that have been explored.
For an optional homework, ask students to depict Ariel as they see him. Encourage them to choose
any media; for example, paint, collage, chalk. The class results will make a stunning wall display.
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6
You are going to write Ariel’s autobiography. To help you, consider the following ideas
and make some notes.
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Worksheet 27: Ariel’s autobiography
Reread Act 1 Scene 2, lines
269–293. This passage
describes how Ariel was
imprisoned in a tree by
Sycorax and freed by
Prospero. How did Ariel
then feel about a) Sycorax
and b) Prospero?
Why was Ariel on the island
in the first place? Was he
born there or did he arrive
later? What did he do before
Sycorax came?
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Does Ariel resent Prospero?
Prospero makes Ariel work
very hard yet constantly
promises to free him.
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8
Character
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What will Ariel do after the
events of the play are over?
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