Question

Describe the first encounter between Ferdinand and Miranda and what was the effect of this encounter?

Answer 1

Ferdinand first meets Miranda when his ship runs into a fierce storm and runs aground. He thinks his father and friends have perished at sea and is grief-stricken, until he encounters Miranda and her father Prospero. Ferdinand forgets his sadness and is so wonder-struck at Miranda’s beauty, that he wonders if she is even human. He falls in love with her and lusts for her. He tells her that she is the most amazing beauty he has ever seen and will make her the Queen of Naples.

Ferdinand is the Prince of Naples in Shakespeare’s play ‘The Tempest’, while Miranda is the daughter of Prospero, the Duke of Milan who has been banished from his kingdom and cast on board an old, rickety ship.