Hi’ilei Yuen
Period 3
2/23/11
What You Do Reflects You
In his last play, William Shakespeare combines his thoughts on love and
power and squeezes it all into a work that truly reflects his style. “The Tempest” has
a powerful theme on usurping power, and we see right from the beginning how it
has affected all the characters. Prospero, the main character and a powerful
sorcerer, is usurped by his brother Antonio, giving Prospero the reason to stir up
the tempest and create his plan for getting revenge. As Prospero’s plan blossoms, so
does his growth and maturity, making him into a better father and a better person.
This is shown through the process of his plan for revenge, the unveiling of his love
for his daughter, and his forgiveness in the end.
Throughout the story, there were many opportunities for Prospero to kill or
harm any of the people involved in his plan for revenge, but he always let them be,
showing that he is mature enough to not let his feelings of hatred overcome his
humanity. His growth starts right from the beginning of the book when he is talking
to Miranda about the shipwreck. In this scene, Miranda knows that Prospero is the
one who whipped up the storm and she is worried that anyone has been injured.
Prospero replies to her cries saying, “Be collected. No more amazement. Tell your
piteous heart there’s no harm done” (Prospero, Act 1, Scene 2, 13-15). Later on in
the scene, Prospero asks, “But are they, Ariel, safe?” (Prospero, Act 1, Scene 2, 219).
To which Ariel replies: “Not a hair perished” (Ariel, Act 1, Scene 2, 220). Finally in
the next act, Gonzalo says, “So have we all, of joy, for our escape” (Gonzalo, Act 2,
Scene 1, 2). From these lines we can conclude that Prospero’s purpose for the
Hi’ilei Yuen
Period 3
2/23/11
tempest did not include harming any of the people on the boat. From the start of his
plan, he meant for everyone to come to the island safely. He easily could have killed
everyone with the tempest, but he chose not to, magnifying his maturity. There were
also many opportunities Prospero had to kill Caliban, who, after attempting to rape
Miranda, definitely deserved a punishment, but he never got one. When Prospero
and Caliban are arguing about the island, Prospero claims: “I have used thee, filth as
thou art, with human care, and lodged thee in mine own cell till thou didst seek to
violate the honor of my child” (Act 1, Scene 2, 348-350). This shows that Prospero
treated Caliban as a human, but it was Caliban’s own fault that things turned out this
way. It showed a lot of maturity for Prospero not to punish or kill Caliban.
Although the idea we got of Prospero’s perspective of his daughter were that
of a man and an object, we see as the story goes along that he really does love
Miranda and his growth is shown through the words he uses to express this love. In
the beginning, it seems that Prospero is the kind of father who is too shy to tell his
daughter that he loves her, but we see clearly what his true feelings are. In the first
act, he explains to Miranda why he made the tempest, saying, “I have done nothing
but in care of thee, of thee, my dear one—thee my daughter” (Prospero, Act 1, Scene
2, 16-17). This is the first glimpse we catch in the whole story of Prospero’s feelings
for Miranda. To me, the way he repeats “thee” shows that he is emphasizing that he
loves only her; she is the only person he cares about. One of the scenes that really
conveyed Prospero’s love was in act four when he allows Ferdinand to marry
Miranda. As he passes Miranda on to Ferdinand, he says: “[…] For I have given you
here a third of mine own life—or that for which I live” (Act 4, Scene 1, 2-3). Basically
Hi’ilei Yuen
Period 3
2/23/11
what he’s saying is that he is giving Ferdinand a third of his life, the only part that he
lives for. He continues later saying, “Then as my gift and thine own acquisition
worthily purchased, take my daughter” (Act 4, Scene 1, 13-14). This line has raised a
lot of suspicion in others, on the fact that Prospero thinks of his daughter as only an
object. However, these lines were really powerful to me in showing his love for her.
It shows that Prospero cherishes Miranda and he sees her as something so
wonderful that he considers her as a gift for any man to be worthy of her. He is
saying that a man definitely has to be worthy enough for Miranda and the gift that
she will be to him. Prospero’s love for Miranda grew and so did his maturity, which
is shown through his interactions with Ferdinand. When Ferdinand first comes to
the island, he is all a part of Prospero’s plan, another person to toy with. Prospero’s
immaturity is shown through the way he spied on Ferdinand and Miranda. In Act
Four, his growth and maturity is shown when he lets Miranda go to Ferdinand. He is
more serious compared to the beginning and he makes sure that Ferdinand doesn’t
do anything with Miranda before they get married. Prospero’s growth is shown
through the way he is more intent on Miranda being in good hands than he was on
spying and games.
The whole point of Prospero’s plan was to get revenge on the people who
wronged him. However, his forgiveness in the end really showed his maturity as a
person, to not become like the people that did him wrong. In Act Five, Prospero is
deciding on what to do with Alonso and the others, and this is the conclusion he
comes to: “Though with their high wrongs I am struck to th’ quick, yet with my
nobler reason ‘gainst my fury do I take part” (Act 5, Scene 1, 25-27). When I read
Hi’ilei Yuen
Period 3
2/23/11
this, an image of two roads popped into mind; one being the higher road, the other
being the lower. I imagined Prospero taking the higher road, being “the bigger
person” as we might say today. Like he says in this line, he is going with the nobler
choice of letting them go and forgiving them instead of going along with his fury and
taking revenge. Prospero continues talking to Ariel saying, “Go release them, Ariel.
My charms I’ll break, their senses I’ll restore, and they shall be themselves” (Act 5,
Scene 1, 30-32). Prospero makes these orders right after deciding to forgive them,
so what I got out of it was that he had to do it quickly before he changed his mind,
showing that it was hard for him to take the higher road, but he did anyway,
revealing his growth and maturity as a person. Near the end of the story, Prospero
finally has his run-in with his brother Antonio, who deserves out of all of them the
worst punishment. Antonio is the one who usurped Prospero, his own flesh and
blood, so he could have power, and he was trying to make Sebastian do the same to
Alonso. Even if Prospero forgave everyone else, Antonio deserved to be severely
punished for everything that he put Prospero through. However, Prospero shows
his maturity as a person and forgives Antonio saying, “For you, most wicked sir,
whom to call brother would even infect my mouth, I do forgive” (Act 5, Scene 1, 132133). Here we see that it is hard for Prospero to call Antonio his brother, but he still
forgives him after everything that happened (he being usurped and shipped off to
the island with Miranda). This clearly shows that Prospero has grown and matured
throughout the story. When his only goal was to get his revenge, he forgives them all
in the end, which really contributed to his transformation into a better person.
Hi’ilei Yuen
Period 3
2/23/11
All in all, Prospero’s plan blossomed along with his growth and maturity as a
father and as a person, shown through his many experiences throughout the story:
the resistance he showed by not killing them, the love that was revealed for his
daughter, and his forgiveness to those who wronged him. Considering all his trials,
Prospero grew and matured to become a great father and an even greater person.