Question

Please answer only meaningful. 1) Do you think that Prospero was a great king? Give your reasons.

Answer 1

After reading acts I and II of Shakespeare’s the Tempest, it becomes clear that the foundation of this play is built upon the intentions in which the protagonist, Prospero, has set up. With the use of “art”  (which is footnoted that “the term is repeatedly used in the play to mean ‘magic’…) Prospero forms a plan in which he claims is all for his one and only daughter, Miranda. After Miranda throws a fit because of what her father had done, he states “I have done nothing but in care of thee (Of thee, my dear one; thee, my daughter) … (lines 17-16)” he then goes on to explain his reason in doing so (in causing the Tempest). His reason? Well in a nutshell, it’s to get his revenge on those involved in overthrowing him. His brother Antonio, the usurping duke of ‘Millaine’ and the main antagonist of this play is who Prospero seeks out. What’s interesting is how he states it is all for his Daughter, yet he says he’s doing this for revenge. Kind of contradicting if you ask me. His reason for being overthrown was because he was so wrapped up in his books and wanted to learn so much more about his ‘art’ that he completely forgot about what his main priorities were. Because of his “hunger for knowledge” it cost him his Dukedom.

A central theme that can be seen throughout the play is this sense of control. Control between Prospero and his servants, control between Antonio and the King of Naples brother, Sebastian, and even the witch, Sycorax, we see an act of wanting power over someone/thing. Now Prospero is portrayed as a good man (Good father and his Dukedom admired him) yet his act on getting revenge makes us question his true intentions which would be whether he is doing this for his daughter after all. He uses ‘art’ to control his servants, Ariel and Caliban. Both completely different characters in the play, yet Prospero uses their reasons of being, against them. He also attempts to gain control over Ferdinand, the king of Naples son, who swam to shore after the tempest. Prospero makes the claim that he is a traitor, a spy, and is attempting to order him around. He tends to want the upper hand when it comes to disputes.

Prospero has these intentions of getting revenge, which us readers can knowingly tell that the use of his ‘art’ gets him what it is that he wants. It can also be kind of similar to his brother Antonio’s intentions, too. Before Antonio took over what was once Prospero’s Dukedom, He had to have been plotting against Prospero to overthrow him. He arranged to have the man and his daughter killed for crying out loud, just so he can have his way. The man was evil from the start and us readers are aware of this just by the introduction of Antonio, Prospero’s brother, the usurping Duke of Millaine.Usurping, meaning take (a position of power or importance) illegally or by force as stated by the dictionary. Antonio knew what his intentions were and abused his power when Prospero was to wrapped up in something other than ruling Millaine. He also knows of his worse intention when trying to convince Sebastian to overthrow his brother, Alonso, the King of Naples. Antonio is a perfect example of what the central theme of this play consists of. Prospero unknowingly gave over the power to Antonio the moment he decided to bury himself in studying ‘art’ and because of this, Prospero seeks revenge so he was a great king