Tempest
In Act I, scene 2 of Shakespeare's The Tempest, the protagonist Prospero explains his case to both his daughter and his familiar spirit Ariel. Thus, the main themes of the play are elucidated in this one scene more than any other. The concept of power, of power overused and power usurped are evident and constant in Act One, scene 2 of The Tempest. This early in the play, before the audience is privy to the p[ersonalities of Alonso, Ferdinand, Antonia, Sebastian or the other, Prospero establishes the main theme through his characterization, his dialogue, and his stage presence: he embodies the main theme of power tempered with wisdom. Even thought Prospero's very act of bringing on the storm seems morally degenerate at first, the audience seems ironically sympathetic to him. We are led to believe that his birthright as a Duke lends him a sort of ultimate moral authority that….

Tempest
In the epilogue of Midsummer's Night Dream, Puck speaks to the audience directly not as an actor or a character in a play, while in The Tempest, Prospero is still in character but begs the audience to set him free so he can return to Naples. For Puck, King Oberon and all the other actors are mere shadows, exactly as Theseus described the actors in the play-within-a-play, and his statement seems to dissolve the distance between the actors and the audience. Everyone in the play has been dreaming or is part of a dream, and so is the audience in the theater, so no one can even know for certain if there is any distinction between reality and illusion. Prospero has also used magic and illusion to deceive and confuse his enemies, and in fact the entire island is magical. While in control of sprites like riel, he is….

Miranda even says, "My father's of a better nature, sir,/Than he appears by speech" (I.ii.500-501). Shakespeare may have been writing Prospero like this only to juxtapose his warm nature at the end of the play, which gives the play a "and they lived happily ever after" feel.
Prospero uses his magic to control the spirit Ariel, which gives him a lot of power. Prospero knows of Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculos' plot to kill the king and he uses this knowledge to his own advantage. He thinks that when he takes back his throne in Milan, he can use it as blackmail against them. He thinks that they will do whatever he says because of this and because of the fact that Miranda will become queen one day.

Prospero shows his protective side as a father to Miranda. He tries to make sure that Ferdinand really loves Miranda by making her seem….

This is, in fact, the basis of colonization as the natives are subdued and forced to abandon their language and traditions in favor of the colonizers'.
Critics who supported the thesis of "The Tempest" being a description of the Spaniards' experience in the Americas considered Caliban to be a Native American despite the multitude of details that differentiate him from the Indians as they were described in the travelers' reports from the New World. The traits that make Caliban resemble Native Americans are taken into consideration, but the differences are disregarded. The methods of control and torture that Prospero utilizes on Caliban remind of the Spanish; for instance, Prospero and Ariel hunt Caliban with spirit dogs, a method of capturing and torturing Native Americans that the Spaniards used (Skura: 49). However, Prospero also has Caliban pinched by the spirits whenever he curses. This ritual could be symbolical of the Haitian….

The similar treatment of these very different minor characters highlight's Prospero's obsession with control, as well as his own return to the human world. Consider that although Prospero mourns his exile, he even uses captivity as an enticement for Miranda and Ferdinand's courtship, forcing the young man to carry wood like he does Caliban. The young man responds cheerfully, "There be some sports are painful, and their labor/Delight in them sets off: some kinds of baseness/Are nobly undergone and most poor matters/Point to rich ends. (3.1) But the comparison as well as the contrast between the suitor and the rapist in their similar labors and different emotional responses to that labor adds further depth to the pairing of freedom and captivity themes that structure the play.
Thus, all of the minor character in "The Tempest" highlight different forms of freedom and incarceration, and exist in binary oppositions only in their….

While Prospero is truly meant to be the main character in the Tempest, seeing the play performed live reminds us that it is actually Caliban who is most important. Michael Stewart Allen's performance of Caliban brought out the richness and complexity of the character, without reducing him to a crude stereotype - which is a direction that other, less talented actors may have chosen to go in. Rather than overacting, Allen's subtle approach effectively affirms the many ambiguities of Caliban's character that Shakespeare leaves open in his text. Despite the rich poetic lines and monologues that Shakespeare has given Caliban, the fact remains that he does not get to speak very often in the course of the play - especially when compared to Prospero, who seems to be speaking all the time. This ambiguity is exploited in the scene when Caliban affirms that he indeed attempted to rape Miranda, and….

Tempest
After Prospero gives his blessing to the marriage between Ferdinand and Miranda, he summons Ariel and instructs him to call the spirits to perform a masque. The spirits appear in the shapes of Iris, Juno and Ceres. The masque is a performance of allegorical and mythical stories and it serves to emphasize various symbolic aspects that are important to the marriage between Ferdinand and Miranda, as well as to the thematic structure of The Tempest as a whole. "The betrothal masque in Act IV may be considered a play-within- the play, giving a timeless and general representation of the Ferdinand and Miranda narrative and illustrating the elaborate power of Prospero's art." ( rown, J. 1969, 32)

The masque performed in the play has all the elements of growth, prosperity and happiness in society. What the masque achieves is a focus on the regenerative functions of marriage. In essence it is….

Tempest and "On Cannibals" have something to say to the emerging modern world order of the 16th century about non-Western peoples. What is hakespeare trying to say about such peoples through the character of Caliban? What is Montaigne trying to say through the figure of the cannibal?
The Western Empire began to spread more through its use of knowledge than power. Through great explorations and intellectual predictions nations began to spread, conquering lands that lay beyond their borders and taking over people who were natives to these lands. The superiority of the West began to emerge and the concept of 'civilization' took a new form as the Western people invaded foreign lands, subjugating the natives with the notion of 'civilizing the savages'. It was considered a 'higher purpose', for the natives were seen as savages who had to be shown the path to knowledge and thus, salvation. The concept people….

The imagery of conflict between good and evil is carried further in the speech. For instance, in line 43 we have reference to the image of "mutinous winds" and to the image of " dread rattling thunder." All of these images contribute to the vision of a larger battle that rages between good and evil in the visible world and invisible world of magic and which influences and affects humanity. In this sense Shakespeare refers as well to the central Roman god Jove, who is the god of storms. (Act 5.Sc.1. 42-43)

In other words, these references are intended to imply that there is an underlying and larger battle that Prospero has been involved in worth the aid of his supernatural helpers that goes beyond purely personal elements. The power of Prospero's magic are is also suggested by the words "potent art." (Act 5.Sc.1. 50) This is amplified by the reference….

Tempest -- Act 2, Scene
Act 2, Scene 2. This scene is a short scene, with only the characters of Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano present. It opens with Caliban carrying wood to Prospero, his master, and being tormented by spirits only he can see. Caliban hides under his cloak because of a storm. Trinculo enters, and sees Caliban, and thinks he is a monster. He hides under the cloak too, because of the storm. Stephano enters singing and drinking from a bottle. He discovers Trinculo, and they both are happy they have survived the shipwreck. They think Caliban is a monster, and if they capture him he can be sold for good money. Caliban convinces them he will honor them if they will let him serve them. They agree, and they leave, drinking and singing.

This scene is humorous, but it also packs a lot of information into relatively few lines.….

He would need to do that here, for sure.
Caliban is a slave, which might be a problem for the actor. He is also a drunkard in some scenes, calling for understanding and a physical presence, too. Foxx has the physique necessary for this assignment, too. He could certainly carry off wearing a loin-cloth and cloak, as the wood-carrying scene seems to require. He is a master of both physical and mental acting, and that would be important with this character, who can be both brutal and endearing. There could be a problem with Foxx. Caliban requires an actor who can be both commanding and very subservient. He is fearful of "spirits." "Here comes a spirit of his, and to torment me" (Shakespeare 77, 15), and he offers to lick Trinculo's foot simply for a drink. "I will kiss thy foot" (Shakespeare 85, 155). Whoever plays Caliban has to represent….

The different understandings of the world are indicative of differences in class just as they are a cause for racism, and again the characters of Solibo Magnificent have found a way to work in this system rather than resisting it.
In addition to systems of class distinction and outright racism, other instances of general discrimination can be found throughout these texts. The Tempest has only one character that is necessarily female (Ariel is somewhat ambiguous), and the way she is treated along with her degree of disenfranchisement seems to suggest a definite gender discrimination at work. Miranda seems to sense this to some degree, and ultimately takes some agency in her romance with Ferdinand, whereas the musician described early in Solibo Magnificent is seen in a discriminatory light that shows no promise of changing: he is treated a certain way and even called a certain name because of "his notorious….

Caliban
One of the most striking characters in The Tempest is that of Caliban, the other mythical being in the play who plays a dominant role in its narrative. Unlike Prospero's servant Ariel, Caliban is portrayed as a savage and adversarial figure. On the other hand, he is capable of speaking some of the most beautiful and stirring poetry of the entire play. Caliban thus illustrates many of the ambiguities of colonization. On one hand, the island is more rightfully his than Prospero's, yet the play conspires to suggest that because of Prospero's more civilized, European behavior, Prospero somehow has a greater right to govern the island.
The paradox of Caliban is illustrated early on in the play when Prospero summons him. Caliban admits that he attempted to rape Miranda, to people the island with monstrous beings like himself. Thus, he is depicted as embodying many of the stereotypes commonly held about….

Non-Western Societies
Tempest and of Cannibals

The idea that Europeans brought enlightenment to the savage colonies has always fascinated modern writers so much so that many of them employed their imagination to create pictures of 'barbaric' individuals who inhabited these colonies. Shakespeare and Montaigne in their attempts to recreate those savage communities gave us the powerful characters of Caliban and Cannibal. Focusing on this obsession of writers with the image of a savage non-western man, Bartra (1994) writes: "The identity of the "civilized" has always been flanked by the image of the Other, yet the common image of the Other as a wild and barbaric figure, as opposed to Western man, has been considered a reflection - albeit distorted - of non-Western peoples, a eurocentric expression of colonial expansion from which evolved an exotic and racist version of those whom the conquistadors and colonizers had discovered and subdued." [p. 3]

While Shakespeare borrowed….

Is Justice Served? Yes, in The TempestIn The Tempest, Shakespeare presents a complex but clear picture of justice being served. For instance, Prospero is rightfully reinstated as Duke of Milan, while those who conspired against him are punished (but also forgivenshowing Prosperos magnanimity). Additionally, Ariel is released from slavery for having faithfully served Prospero. And Ferdinand is rewarded with marriage to Miranda for his good behavior. This paper will show how all three are justly rewarded according to Shakespeares understanding of the natural order and why it should just as well work for us today.First, there is the main character of Prospero. Shakespeare presents Prospero as a good man who has been wronged. He is a skilled magician and has the ability to control the elements. However, he chooses not to use his powers for evil. He is also a loving father and husband. He shows his love for his….