The Tempest

3 Pages 841 Words

Conspiracies and Treason is The Tempest

Prospero’s power and magic are dominant throughout the play yet he really has no power. The Tempest consists of a series of rebellion, treacheries, mutinies and conspiracies against Prospero but the overall view of the dramatic action is much more complex. Many other aspects and themes such as illusion and magic also play a very important role in shaping the plot against Prospero. Power struggles are evident from the beginning, when Prospero’s brother, Antonio, seized his status as Duke of Milan and banished him to a bleak place and left him for dead. Sebastian remarks, “I remember/You did supplant your brother Prospero.” And Antonio replies, “True;/ And look how well my garment sit upon me,” (2.1.257-59). Antonio betrayed Prospero, and yet he feels no remorse for his treacherous act. His conscience is not bothered by what he did to Prospero.
Another sibling conspiracy that would ultimately cause a down fall of Prospero came in Act II, in this scene Sebastian is encouraged by Antonio to kill his brother, Alonso, which would put him next in line for the throne. They first attempted to kill Gonzalo, Alonso’s faithful advisor. “Draw together,/and when I rear my hand do you the like/TO fall it on Gonzalo” (2.1.281-83). Their evil plot is interrupted and plans ruined as Ariel wakes the sleeping party (Alonso and Gonzalo). Perhaps the most famous resistance against authority comes from Caliban, the slave of Prospero, who feels that the island is rightfully his, “The Island’s mine by Sycorax my mother,”. He goes on to state that Prospero “tak’st from me” (3.2.46-49). In order to gain or regain his rulership, Caliban plots with Trinculo and Stephano to kill Prospero and take over the island. “Why, as I told thee, ‘tis a custom with him I’ th’ afternoon to sleep. There thou mayst brain him having first seized his books; or with a log Batter his skull, or paunch ...