The Tempest, Part B- Prospero- revenge and reconciliation in
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The Tempest- Part B essays
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This essay covers the topic as magic as the Tempest's weakness. It was marked 15/15, A*.
It covers all the necessary points for the top band marking scheme and has been edited on various occasions to use the best available information.
This essay covers the character of Prospero and his reven...
‘Rather than revenge, Prospero’s chief aim is
reconciliation.’
‘The Tempest’, written by William Shakespeare in 1611, is characterised by revenge and
reconciliation and the development of the play is based around these two conflicting ideas.
The patriarchal protagonist, Prospero, is driven by these two emotions, showing the duality
of man and the theatricality of the play. He seeks revenge and dominance whilst at the
same time he destines for reconciliation. The conjunction of revenge and dominance is what
leads the protagonist to reconcile. Over time, the interpretation of Prospero regarding
revenge and reconciliation has changed considerably and this is elucidated through different
productions, critical interpretations and ideologies.
As a character and arguably a construct for Shakespeare’s own concerns and state of mind,
Prospero feels the need to dominate and control the other islanders in order to seek out his
revenge for the usurpation of his dukedom. Critical interpretations, changing perspectives
and different interpretations are crucial in the conceptual analysis of his character. The play
‘The Tempest’ is an embodiment of Jacobean androcentric society whereby men are
dominant and controlling. Prospero seeks revenge against the King’s courtiers on the island
in retaliation to the usurpation of his dukedom in Milan. Literary critic Russ McDonald
argues that ‘The Tempest’ is ‘a play about the problem of power’ where the revenge that
Prospero seeks against his previous friends and family plays a crucial role in the
development of the play as he attempts to assert his power and control over the group.
Prospero in ‘The Tempest’ is the ‘controller [and], the manipulator’ (literary critic Robert
Wilson), he uses his status as a man on the island to gain his own agency, manipulating
power through his gender. A Jacobean audience would have not viewed his revenge as
surprising; in Shakespeare’s literary milieu, seeking revenge after doing wrong was not
uncommon. However, over time, a modern audience may have viewed his revenge as
extensive and significantly manipulative, although feeling sympathetic for his character,
having been previously ostracised from society, whilst at the same time he feels he has to
assert this kind of reaction in order to achieve his wishes and desire for power. Prospero
seeks revenge by using the native characters (Caliban and Ariel) as well as his ‘holy magic’
(literary critic Kermode). He uses the characters for his own gain, to manipulate the King’s
courtiers. He uses Ariel’s magic, ‘my [his] fine apparition’ to draw Ferdinand away from the
rest of the group, forcing Alonso to grieve the loss of his son as part of his revenge plan and
‘controller’ status. A modern critic may also argue that his revenge is symbolic of a damaged
mentality, and in order to reach the stage where he is ready to reconcile with the King’s
courtiers and his brother, he must harm them in some way in retaliation to his usurpation.
On evaluation, the revenge within the play, plays a crucial role in the conceptual analysis of
this question and is important in the discovery of Prospero’s ethic forgiveness. Shakespeare
presents the revenge in the play as a stepping stone to reconciliation.
Within ‘The Tempest’, Prospero’s reconciliation acts as a cathartic release; Shakespeare uses
this moment in the play to free himself of the constraints of playwriting. Due to the notion
of forgiveness closing the play, it is very possible to say that the reconciliation at the end of
it was his chief aim. The reconciliation at the end of the play is driven by feminist influence.
His daughter Miranda and her love for Ferdinand is one of the principal drivers for
Prospero’s reconciliation with the other characters. A feminist would argue that, without
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