| Rightful duke of milan and the governor of the mysterious island | Prospero |
| Prospero’s daughter | Miranda |
| Miranda has never seen anyone besides | Her father and caliban |
| The duke of milan and Prospero’s brother | Antonio |
| King of Naples | Alonzo |
| Alonzo’s brother | Sebastian |
| son of Alonzo | Ferdinand |
| Stephano | a drunk |
| Trinculo | a jester |
| Prospero’s servant who is technically the rightful king of the island | Caliban |
| Ariel is a good | spirit who wants to help the colonizers |
| Prospero’s goal is to | regain his throne as duke of milan |
| Caliban once tried to | rape miranda |
| Want to kill alonzo | Antonio and Sebastian |
| Miranda and Ferdinand agree to | get married at the end of the scene |
| ariel transforms into | a monster |
| alonzo wishes | he had been drowned instead of his son |
| From which country is Alonso’s ship returning when it is caught in the tempest? | tunis |
| Which character is Prospero’s brother? | antonio |
| Which character is Sebastian’s brother? | alonso |
| What do we see Miranda and Ferdinand doing in the play’s final scene? | playing chess |
| What does Prospero give as his reason for treating Caliban badly? | caliban tried to rape miranda |
| Who helped Prospero and Miranda to flee Italy? | gonzalo |
| Where does Ariel put the mariners and Boatswain after the tempest | asleep in the ship in the harbor |
| Who persuades Sebastian to try to kill Alonso? | antonio |
| Prospero | The rightful Duke of Milan, though his kingdom and title were usurped by his brother Antonio. Prospero was able to survive a plot on his life, and he and his daughter Miranda were set aboard a wrecked craft, but managed to land safely on the island. Prospero is able to gain control of the spirits of the island, and uses his vast knowledge and control over the spirits to direct acts of magic as he pleases. |
| Miranda | Prospero’s only daughter, and so young that she cannot remember anyone she knew before she came to the island. When under Ariel’s enchantment, she follows her father’s plan, and falls in love with Ferdinand willingly. She and Ferdinand end up together. |
| Caliban | A native of the island on which Prospero lands, and the one from whom Prospero steals control of the island. He becomes Prospero’s servant. Caliban tries to rape Miranda. |
| Ariel | A spirit of the island. He is the source of Prospero’s magical powers, causing the tempest. |
| Alonso | King of Naples, Was involved in a plot to overthrow Prospero, and gave Prospero’s dukedom to Antonio. His son is Ferdinand. Alonso may have been corrupt in his dealings with his brothers, but he does not prove to be an evil-natured man; he is a flawed politician, but is a highly regarded king and is not a villain. |
| Antonio | Antonio is the least evil character in the play, and is the one who came up with another plot to take the throne from Alonso |
| Ferdinand | Alonso’s son. Falls in love with Miranda. |
| Sebastian | Brother to Alonso |
| Stephano | Trinculo’s friend drunken butler. Caliban takes him on as a new master, thinking that he has some magical powers. Agrees to Caliban’s plot to make him ruler of the island. |
| Trinculo | Drunken jester, servant of Alonso’s |
| Gonzalo | Councilor to the king, he is the one who helps Prospero and Miranda survive Antonio’s plot to have them murdered. |
| Sycorax | Witch |
| Usurpation | (The overthrow of a rightful ruler) Usurpation is key to Act I of this play, as Prospero explains to his daughter how they ended up on this enchanted island and in addition how Prospero himself seized power. Clearly in Act I scene 2, Prospero is explaining to Miranda something of her history both for her benefit and the audience’s benefit. Prospero begins by telling Miranda how his own brother usurped his role as Duke of Milan and seized power for himself. |
| Nature vs Nurture | … |
| Imprisonment and freedom | Example: Prospero and Miranda are forced to live in exile on a remote island, where Prospero enslaves the island’s only native inhabitant (Caliban) and forces Ariel to do all of his bidding. |
| Forgiveness and reconciliation | Ex: Prospero’s capacity to forgive those who have betrayed him, Miranda’s empathy, Ariel’s mercy, and Gonzalo’s thoughtfulness dramatize the triumph of the human spirit. |
| Illusion and magic | The Tempest is full of Prospero’s magic and illusions. The play begins with Prospero’s magic (the tempest), and ends with Prospero’s magic (his command that Ariel send the ship safely back to Italy). In between, the audience watches as Prospero uses visual and aural illusions to manipulate his enemies and expose their true selves. At nearly every point in the play, Prospero’s magic gives him total control—he always seems to know what will happen next, or even to control what will happen next. At one point, Prospero even goes so far as to suggest that all of life is actually an illusion that vanishes with death: “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep” (4.1.156-158). |
| Colonialism | During the time when The Tempest was written and first performed, both Shakespeare and his audiences would have been very interested in the efforts of English and other European settlers to colonize distant lands around the globe. |
| Sleep and dreams | Prospero’s island represents the pastoral, where dreams and reality mix. The quote tells us that we ultimately derive meaning in our lives from our dreams and imaginations. As in his other Play “A Midsummer Nights Dream” or even “As you Like it”, dreams and reality become one re-defining the lives of the characters. The true meaning of life isn’t found in one’s waking hours but rather in sleep. |
| Change and transformation | … |
| iambic pentameter | a line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable, for example Two households, both alike in dignity. |
| rhyme scheme | There are three quatrains, which have four lines each, followed by a couplet, which is two lines. The rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g. |
| volta | the turn of thought or argument: in Petrarchan or Italian sonnets it occurs between the octave and the sestet, and in Shakespearean or English before the final couplet. |
| Be able to identify and explain background information about Shakespeare, his life, and culture. | … |
| Where were they coming from when they shipwrecked? Why? | Were coming from Italy to Africa. They were going to a wedding. |
| What does Alonso think he has lost? How does he recover it? | his son Ferdinand, |
| What does Ferdinand believe he has lost? | his father |
| How does Ferdinand show his character? What do his actions reveal about him?H | He shows his character through Miranda |
| Who is the villain of the play? Why? | Caliban, because he tried to rape Miranda |
| How is the Great Chain of Being portrayed in the play? Consider how the play upholds or attempts to subvert it. | Everything has a place of existence on a hierarchy |
| What crimes does Prospero’s brother, Antonio, commit? | usurp, took away his brother’s throne |
| Prospero gives up his magic. What does his choice show about what he thinks happened in the past? How does he plan to live in the future? | He wanted to just be a father. He plans to not be influenced by magic. |
| What does Caliban hope to accomplish by his plot against Prospero? Why does Shakespeare include this subplot mirroring the conspiracy of the nobles? | Caliban hopes to have no one tell him what to do. |
| What connection does Shakespeare establish between outward appearance and inner spirit? | Caliban is monstrous on the outside while Ariel is monstrous on the inside. |
| Given their situation, why is the attempted murder of Alonso and Gonzalo not only evil but pointless? | It’s pointless because they are stuck on an island and may not return home. |
| Why are the only people who speak in prose Trinculo and Stephano? What does this say about them? | Trinculo and Stephano are the only ones who speak in prose because it shows that they are drunks. |
| Me, poor man, my library was dukedom large enough. | This is said y Prospero. Here he is showing that he is giving up his magic to focus on Miranda. This leads to him becoming a better duke. |
| You taught me language, and my profit on’t is, I know how to curse.. | This is said by Caliban. By this he is saying that Prospero taught him to talk and will use what he has learned to kill Prospero. |
| But this swift business I must uneasy make, lest too light winning make the prize light. | This is said by Ferdinand. By this he is saying that he has won but later backfires because Prospero does not want them to be together. |
| Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows. | This is said by Trinculo. This is said whenever he goes under the cloak. |
| Do not give dalliance too much the rein; the strongest oaths are straw to th’ fire i’ th’ blood. | … |
| We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep. | … |
| I’ll break my staff, bury it certain fathoms in the earth, and deeper than did ever plummet sound I’ll drown my book | … |
The Tempest Review
July 14, 2019