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Emily Randall
Stott
IB LA 11
15 December 2010
Power in Shakespeare’s The Tempest
One of the oft-repeated truisms in the English language is that power brings
responsibility. One may have great power, but if it is not used wisely, it will disappear. In The
Tempest, Shakespeare uses the character of Prospero to illustrate both the temptations and
downfalls of power, and its relationship to responsibility. Throughout the play, Prospero gains
and loses power, both politically and magically. In the end, he has relinquished his magic, but
regained his throne and married his daughter to the prince of Naples. Prospero’s journey through
the different forms of power highlights the importance of using power wisely.
Prospero’s power is revealed in part through his relationships with other characters,
especially Ariel and Caliban. Ariel is an air-spirit, an elemental freed by Prospero from the
witch Sycorax. Ariel now acts as Prospero’s familiar. Although she asks for her freedom, when
Prospero reminds her that he rescued her from Sycorax, she pledges again to serve. Prospero:
“It was mine art,/ When I arrived and heard thee, that made gape/ The pine, and let thee out.”
Ariel: “I will be correspondent to command/ And do my spiriting gently” (1.2.291-297). Her
servitude is not entirely voluntary, but there is a modicum of respect between her and the
magician. If she truly tried, she could harm Prospero, for she is given a loose leash by him.
English myths abound about magicians’ spirits rebelling and destroying their erstwhile masters.
But she uses her free will to help him, as when she repaired the king’s ship.
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Caliban, on the other hand, is entirely enslaved, and treated with derision. When he sees
a chance to be free of Prospero’s rule, he takes it, promising to serve Stephano and betray
Prospero. “I’ll show thee the best springs; I’ll pluck thee berries;/ I’ll fish for thee, and get thee
wood enough./ A plague upon the tyrant that I serve!/ I’ll bear him no more sticks, but follow
thee,/ Thou wondrous man” (2.2.137-141). In doing so, Caliban voluntarily exchanges one
master for another. He does not attempt to take control, but pledges the same service to
Stephano he had given Prospero. Thus Shakespeare demonstrates how Caliban’s own nature
prevents him from ever attaining even the limited power that comes with freedom, justifying
Prospero’s control. Caliban eventually loses any gains he had won when he, Stephano, and
Trinculo plot to kill Prospero and take over the island, an attempt which ultimately fails.
Ironically, Prospero is only able to foil Caliban’s plot with the help of Ariel, who tells her master
of the conspiracy. The differences between these two relationships highlight how Prospero’s
power is heightened when he does not let it corrupt him. Had he bound Ariel as strongly as he
could have, he would not have known of Caliban’s plot. By treating Ariel kindly, and not using
his power against her, he gains her power to bolster his own.
The power Prospero wields in both those relationships is magical. But he is also familiar
with political power. In the beginning, he tells Miranda the tale of how he was once Duke of
Milan, but lost the throne to his conniving brother Antonio and King Alonso of Naples, who
kidnapped him and infant Miranda in the dead of night. “…one midnight/ Fated to th’purpose
did Antonio open/ The gates of Milan, and i’th’dead of darkness/ The ministers for th’purpose
hurried thence/ Me, and thy crying self” (1.2.128-132). His brother should not have usurped the
throne, as illustrated by the reference to midnight, the hour of wicked deeds. But he was not
entirely at fault: Prospero had already relinquished much of his power in favor of spending more
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time with his books. Antonio had already shouldered many of the burdens of kingship because
Prospero did not want to take them on. Because Prospero did not care enough about his throne
to rule wisely, he lost his power altogether. In the end, he does regain his dukedom, but only
after he decides to act more responsibly and relinquish magic. “…I’ll break my staff,/ Bury it
certain fathoms in the earth,/ And deeper than did ever plummet sound/ I’ll drown my book”
(5.1.54-57). By giving up sorcery, and freeing Ariel, he displays his desire to focus solely on the
responsibilities of leadership. His use of hyperbole demonstrates the magnitude of the sacrifice
he is making, and the elements earth and water show that he returns his knowledge to its source.
Metaphysically, Earth is associated with the root of magic, which he directs through his wooden
staff, and Water is connected to knowledge, which he gains from his book.
In the end, Prospero makes the responsible choice, giving up the magic that has corrupted
him and taking on the burdens of leadership once more. Without his magic, he can no longer
play with destiny, as he did when orchestrating Ferdinand and Miranda’s relationship. He
arranged for them to fall in love just as he sent the tempest that shipwrecked his enemies on his
island. By giving up his magic, he forces himself to take the difficult way of dealing with
problems. He even forgives all the courtiers, and accepts responsibility for Caliban: “…this
thing of darkness,/ I acknowledge mine” (5.1.274-275). Although he never makes amends with
Caliban, and persists in dehumanizing him, such as when he calls him a thing of darkness, this
displays more about predominant cultural prejudices of the time than about power. The vast
majority of Shakespeare’s audience would have seen nothing wrong with Prospero’s treatment of
Caliban, for to them he was clearly an inferior barbarian. Despite this, Prospero demonstrates
responsibility in his use of power by the end of the play. Because he atones for his abuses of
power, and uses his remaining power to create joy for all, he is rewarded with his dukedom, a
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new son-in-law, and his daughter’s happiness. In plays such as Macbeth and Julius Caesar,
Shakespeare depicts the punishment due those who steal power not deservedly theirs. In The
Tempest, he shows the reverse: the harms caused when a person abuses their rightful power. As
seen through Prospero’s journey, such harms can only be healed if one accepts responsibility for
one’s own actions and actively tries to be worthy of power, even if the attempt does not fully
succeed.