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Caliban vs. Prospero

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Jacob Friedman Period 3
English 12/8/12

Major Assignment #2: Forgiveness vs. Vengeance Essay

Throughout Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the theme of vengeance and forgiveness make multiple appearances. At first, it seems like the entire plot of the play is a scheme designed by a powerful magician named Prospero to bring his rivals to a state of regret because they had usurped him from his rightful throne in Milan. However, as the story progresses, it seems as if Prospero brought his enemies to his island not for revenge, but so that he can pardon them and restore the rightful order of things to his dukedom of Milan.
The play starts, in Act 1 Scene 1, with a storm threatening to destroy a ship that happens to have Prospero’s enemies on board. We later find out that this storm was, in fact, created by Prospero himself for the purpose of trapping his enemies on his island. At first it may seem that this was an act of vengeance by the part of Prospero and it may be, but he asks Ariel if his enemies are okay (Line 217). By Act 2 Scene 1, we meet Prospero’s enemies. Here it becomes more obvious that Prospero wants vengeance as he is making Alonso suffer by thinking his son, Ferdinand, is dead because of the storm. This scene showcases another plot of Prospero’s, which is to kill off Alonso. Prospero, through Ariel, makes all but Antonio and Sebastian fall asleep. This way, Antonio and Sebastian can speak their minds without worrying of consequence. This leads to Antonio persuading Sebastian to kill his father so Sebastian can take his father’s throne. This plan is nearly seen through except that Prospero, again through Ariel, wakes up Gonzalo and stops the plan. This scene shows that Prospero is conflicted; he isn’t sure if he should take revenge on his enemies by killing them, or just forgive his enemies and heal the social order.

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