The Tempest – William Shakespeare
Characters
Prospero – the rightful Duke of Milan
Miranda – daughter to Prospero
Ariel – a spirit in service to Prospero
Caliban – a servant of Prospero and a savage monster
Alonso – King of Naples
Sebastian – Alonso's brother
Antonio – Prospero's brother, the usurping Duke of Milan
Ferdinand – Alonso's son
Gonzalo – an honest old councillor
Adrian – a lord serving under Alonso
Francisco – a lord serving under Alonso
Trinculo – the King's jester
Stephano – the King's drunken butler
Juno – the Roman goddess of marriage
Ceres – Roman goddess of agriculture
Iris – Greek goddess of the rainbow and is a messenger of the gods
Master – master of the ship
Mariners
Boatswain – servant of the master
Set on a near-deserted island, The Tempest tells the story of the magician
Prospero’s attempts to regain his dukedom from his deceitful brother Antonio,
who banished Prospero and his infant daughter Miranda to an island.
Decades later, when Duke Antonio, King Alonso, Prince Ferdinand, and their
courtiers happen to sail near the island, Prospero conjures a storm and wrecks
their ship. He is sure to separate the sailors into small groups, so each thinks they
are the only survivors. While King Alonso weeps for his son (Ferdinand),
Prospero orders Ariel, his fairy servant, to secretly lure Ferdinand to Miranda,
and the two fall in love.
Meanwhile, two Italian sailors have found the remains of the ship’s rum and
happen upon Caliban, the hated and hateful enslaved person of Prospero. Drunk,
,the three of them plot to overcome Prospero and become kings of the island.
However, Ariel eavesdrops and warns the all-powerful Prospero, who easily
overcomes them. Meanwhile, Prospero has Ariel taunt Alonso and Antonio’s
retinue with elaborate displays of fairy magic, only to remind them of their
betrayal years ago.
Finally, Prospero has Ariel lead the confused sailors to his palace. Alonso
tearfully reunites with his son, and gives his blessing to his marriage with
Miranda. With his brother so firmly under his power and his daughter marrying
into the royal line, Prospero takes back his dukedom. Power restored, Prospero
gives up his magical powers, sets Ariel and Caliban free, and sails back to Italy.
Major Characters
Prospero. Ruler of the island and Miranda’s father. The former Duke of Milan,
Prospero was betrayed by his brother Antonio and banished with his baby
daughter Miranda. Now he rules the island with magical powers.
Ariel. Fairy-servant of Prospero. He was imprisoned by the witch Sycorax when
she ruled the island, but Prospero saved him. Now he obeys his enslaver’s every
command, with the expectation of his eventual freedom.
Caliban. The enslaved person of Prospero and the son of Sycorax, a witch who
once ruled the island. A monster figure but also a rightful native of the island,
Caliban is often treated cruelly and represents a complicated figure.
Miranda. Daughter of Prospero and lover of Ferdinand.
Ferdinand. Son of King Alonso of Naples and lover of Miranda. He is a loyal son
and a faithful lover, working hard for Prospero to win Miranda’s hand in
marriage, and represents traditional patriarchal values.
Gonzalo. The loyal Neapolitan councillor. He is always supportive of his king,
and even saved Prospero's life when he was banished by providing him with
necessary supplies.
Antonio. Prospero’s younger brother. He usurped his brother to become Duke
of Milan himself, sending his brother and his child off to die in a boat. He also
encourages Sebastian to murder his brother Alonso to become King of Naples.
Major Themes
, Authority, legitimacy, and betrayal. With the action of the play being situated around Prospero’s
desire for revenge for his unfair deposition as duke, Shakespeare encourages us to investigate the question
of authority.
Illusion. Prospero’s magical ability to delude the other characters seems to parallel Shakespeare’s own
ability to delude, at least briefly, his audience into believing the scene before their eyes is reality.
Otherness. With his near total control of the other characters in the play, Prospero is a powerful figure.
However, what is the effect of his domination, and how do the characters react from whom he takes
power?
Nature. Although this is one of Shakespeare’s most common themes, The Tempest’s setting on a near-
deserted island forces its characters to interact with the natural world, as well as their own natures, in
ways unusual to the playwright’s work.
A Level Exam Questions
1. “Although the island is apparently far removed from the world of Milan, there is no
escaping the influence of the past.” Discuss this view of The Tempest.
2. How far would you agree that “in The Tempest, magic is presented as a distraction from
the main concerns of the play”?
3. ‘The storm in The Tempest both destroys and renews.’ Using your knowledge of the
play as a whole, show how far you agree with this view of The Tempest.
The storm in Act I, scene I (which candidates have just been invited to write about in the
context part of this question) is the only literal tempest in the play, though creative
shipwreck in elsewhere Shakespeare is not unusual (Twelfth Night, The Winter’s Tale,
Pericles). The fact that the storm has been conjured by a human being (Prospero)
suggests the god-like control this character exerts over the play’s action. Destructive
aspects of the storm tend to be registered in the play’s first half: Alonso and Ferdinand,
father and son, are portrayed (in different scenes) in a kind of desperate mutual lament;
Stephano and Trinculo seem to be set free to indulge baser appetites without
restriction. The shipwreck immediately facilitates two conspiracies: an upper plot aiming
at the crown; a satyr play aiming at murder. As the play winds on, softer products of the
storm appear: Miranda welcoming the world of men and plucking her prince from the
sea, Alonso re-born in repentance. Sebastian, Antonio and the ‘odd lads’ of Caliban’s
conspiracy are less obviously regenerated, however, so some candidates will think that
Prospero’s renewing storm is only partly effective, only working on those susceptible to
it. For his own part Prospero decides at the end of the play never to raise a vindictive
storm again, to be humbly human rather than to bend the elements to his will.
