The Tempest: Characters (OCR A Level English Literature)

Characters

It is useful to consider each character as representing a function in the play. Understanding Shakespeare’s purpose for each character will help produce sophisticated analysis. Interpreting the play’s ideas by considering how each character may represent an idea or a sub-group in society, and how characters oppose each other or react to each other, is crucial.

Below you will find character profiles of:

• Prospero

• Miranda

• Ariel

• Caliban

Other characters:

• Antonio

• Ferdinand 

• Stephano

• Boatswain

Prospero

• Prospero is the former and rightful Duke of Milan, betrayed and exiled to the island by his brother Antonio, with the help of Alonso, the King of Naples

• Prospero and his daughter, Miranda, were set adrift and swept ashore on the island:

  • Gonzalo helped Prospero take his books from Milan

  • With the help of these books, Prospero becomes a powerful sorcerer and takes control of the inhabitants of the island

• Prospero is introduced as a bitter character, seeking vengeance

• His strong sense of betrayal leads him to control other characters as he chooses:

  • He locks Caliban in a cave after his attack on Miranda 

  • Prospero puts his daughter to sleep when he wishes to hide something from her

  • He releases Ariel from a curse and uses this to enslave them

  • He and Caliban were once close but are now bitter enemies:

• Prospero's character can be described as omnipotent:

  • He is able to listen in on other characters and create visions and illusions

  • He has a magic garment and staff

• Critics argue Prospero represents Shakespeare as a playwright:

  • In the final speech, Prospero asks the audience to release him from the illusions he creates through the drama

  • He throws his books in the sea and asks for applause to set him free

• Prospero’s development in the play conveys themes of justice and power, particularly in the context of Prospero as a settler and a betrayed duke

• Prospero is presented as knowledgeable, yet misguided by a desire for revenge and control

• His manipulation of the more vulnerable characters in the play (Miranda, Ferdinand, Ariel and Caliban) make him a flawed protagonist

• Nevertheless, in the resolution, Prospero redeems himself, relinquishing control and his magic “art” and reconciling with his enemies:

  • In this way, Prospero represents mercy and accountability

  • He admits that it is more difficult but is virtuous to forgive rather than seek vengeance

Miranda

• Miranda is Prospero's daughter

• As she has been on the island since she was three years old, she knows little of the outside world:

  • Shakespeare characterises Miranda this way to present her as isolated

  • Her knowledge is limited, and she is sheltered and controlled by her father

• In the exposition audiences see Prospero manipulate his daughter by forcing sleep upon her in order to hide information:

  • His dialogue to Miranda suggests he is a protective father, yet this is manifested in manipulative control

• Through the character of Miranda, The Tempest can be viewed as a conventional comedy:

  • Caliban’s wish to couple with her so as to “people” the island with their offspring highlights the theme of colonisation

  • Nevertheless, it is dictated by her father

  • She and Ferdinand are left on the island with Caliban, suggesting an ambiguous future 

  • Her sexuality creates conflict in the play:

  • Her father controls and tricks her love interest, Ferdinand, thwarting their relationship

  • Her marriage in the resolution ends the play positively:

Ariel

• Ariel is a nymph or spirit who represents the theme of magic and illusion

• In the exposition, audiences are told that Ariel was cursed by the witch, Sycorax (a former settler on the island), and trapped inside a tree

• Ariel is indebted to Prospero after he released the spirit from the curse:

  • Ariel serves Prospero

  • The first task audiences see Ariel complete for Prospero is the creation of the storm

• No other character in the play can see Ariel apart from Prospero

• The spirit is not assigned a gender in the play, although productions over time vary their presentation of Ariel as male or female

• Ariel is presented as a vulnerable and loyal spirit, a victim of Prospero’s manipulative power:

  • Prospero promises Ariel that he will release the spirit from servitude once his plans come to fruition

• In the resolution, Ariel’s release provides a sense of cathartic restoration of order

Caliban

• Caliban, the orphaned son of Sycorax, is left alone on the island with the invisible spirits until Prospero and Miranda arrive

• Caliban symbolises a native, an inhabitant of a strange land:

  • Through his character, Shakespeare explores the idea of knowledge and culture

• Caliban, as the exposition explains, was taken in by Prospero and they shared knowledge:

  • Caliban teaches Prospero about the land and how to survive

  • Prospero teaches Caliban sophisticated language 

• Caliban is enslaved and trapped in a cave after he tries to sexually assault Miranda:

  • Audiences are told he wishes to make Miranda his wife so they can rule the island together

• The vicious conflict between Caliban and Prospero forms much of the conflict in the plot:

  • Prospero and Caliban are presented as worthy adversaries

  • Their derogatory insults convey their strong hatred of each other 

• Through the characterisation of Caliban, Shakespeare highlights issues regarding colonisation:

  • Caliban expresses his sense of oppression and betrayal

  • He is afraid of Prospero’s power

  • He plots with Stephano to overthrow Prospero and brutally murder him

• Caliban, who is described as a monster and a savage, is presented sympathetically:

  • The scene is comedic, yet full of pathos, as Caliban becomes drunk and is humiliated 

  • When he immediately swears allegiance to Stephano because of his new experience with alcohol, audiences witness cultural differences at play:

Other characters

Antonio  

• Antonio is Prospero's younger brother who secretly plotted to overthrow Prospero and take his place as Duke of Milan

• Antonio owes a debt to Alonso, King of Naples, for his help in the plot and hopes to be free of this if Sebastian becomes King of Naples in his place

• His character represents the theme of betrayal and power:

  • He is scheming and deceitful

  • He attempts to kill Alonso while he sleeps

Ferdinand

• Ferdinand, son of Alonso, King of Naples, is separated from the others when the ship is wrecked:

  • This leaves him vulnerable to Prospero and Ariel’s magic

• His role in the play is Miranda’s thwarted love interest:

  • He is led to Miranda and falls in love with her

• Prospero decides to test him and sets him to work, denying him access to Miranda other than for brief moments:

  • His love for her is presented as strong and pure

• In the resolution, Ferdinand and Miranda are married:

  • He represents the man Prospero accepts as his daughter’s husband instead of Caliban 

Stephano

• Stephano, Alonso’s butler, washes up on the island already in a drunken state

• He and his friend, Trinculo, befriend Caliban who makes them feel safer on the strange island:

  • When Stephano shares his alcohol, Caliban believes he is a god 

  • He enjoys Caliban’s admiration but is aware this is unjust and diminishes Caliban’s dignity

• He and Caliban conspire to overthrow Prospero

Boatswain

• The boatswain, in charge of the ship, appears in Act I Scene I and in Act V Scene I

• He is described as frustrated with the noblemen for ignoring their instructions during the storm

• In the resolution, he awakes from a long sleep, unaware of events which have transpired on the island