The Tempest Group at eNotes

It is interesting how Shakespeare's characters all serve a unique...

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:24:32 PST

It is interesting how Shakespeare's characters all serve a unique purpose in this play. Delving in to each character will take time. Just for starters, the play surrounds Prospero--without his magic, Alonso's ship never would have wrecked--leaving no plot whatsoever. Miranda, Prospero's daughter, gives the only female perspective in the play. Albeit, her perspective is naive, it is raw and somewhat unpredictable for women of that era. Antonio...

Prospero's servant is Ariel, a sprite who has endured a twelve-year...

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:49:15 PST

Prospero's servant is Ariel, a sprite who has endured a twelve-year sentence of punishment for refusing to obey the commands of the evil witch Sycorax. Although Prospero technically releases Ariel when his time is served, he essentially keeps the sprite in servitude until he has accomplished his objectives in exacting revenge against his enemy Alonso. It is Ariel who causes the tempest, and performs other acts of magic throughout the...

Who is Prospero's servant in "The Tempest"?

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:14:03 PST

Who is Prospero's servant in "The Tempest"?

Shakespeare has an interesting way of incorporating magic into this...

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:03:21 PST

Shakespeare has an interesting way of incorporating magic into this play. In both scenes you inquired about, the characters associate the fantastic things that were happening with dreams. In Act 3, scene 2, remember that the characters are drunk, and at first they are confused by the strange happenings. Ariel instigates and anger erupts among the men--they are angry that Prospero has trapped them on the island. The men plan to murder Prospero....

How tempest relates to allusion,quest and symbolism with examples and...

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 22:19:16 PST

i actually need three different paragraphs explaining my question with exmaples and if possible please tell me the page no. from the text...thank you!!

The substance of your question has been addressed in the first link...

Sun, 25 May 2008 15:27:00 PST

The substance of your question has been addressed in the first link below, "Did Shakespeare intend The Tempest to be his last play?"There are, however, a few more hints of what might be called a sense of finality in The Tempest than the above posting references. Prospero's final speech seems to be a farewell to more than the play -- it is dramatically unnecessary for him to beg the audience for mercy, and say that his mission was...

What is special about "The Tempest" being the last of...

Sun, 25 May 2008 14:33:32 PST

What is special about "The Tempest" being the last of Shakespeare's plays?

alonso is the king of naples . antonio is prosperos brother and gonzalo...

Thu, 8 May 2008 07:15:03 PST

alonso is the king of naples . antonio is prosperos brother and gonzalo is prosperos right hand-man

Alonso, the King of Naples and father of Ferdinand, is the enemy of...

Wed, 7 May 2008 13:46:26 PST

Alonso, the King of Naples and father of Ferdinand, is the enemy of Prospero because because he helped Antonio overthrow Prospero as Duke of Milan. Alonso is returning from the wedding of his daughter when his ship is caught in a tempest and he is stranded upon an island. The tempest was engineered by Prospero so that he could extract his revenge upon Alonso.Gonzalo, who among the characters stuck on the island after the storm, is a...

Alonso is the King of Naples at the time of the play and the father of...

Wed, 7 May 2008 13:41:50 PST

Alonso is the King of Naples at the time of the play and the father of Ferdinand, who will become Miranda's husband. He has been involved in the overthrow and banishment of Prospero and Miranda, but after being shipwrecked on the island due to Prospero's magic, he is worn down by grief at the supposed drowning of his son and becomes repentant. Prospero forgives him, and looks forward to their final reconciliation in the union of their...

Who are Alonso, Gonzalo, and Antonio in Shakespeare's play The Tempest?

Wed, 7 May 2008 10:59:29 PST

I get confused in the play.

Trinculo is a cowardly, selfish fool, and his words and actions all show...

Mon, 5 May 2008 10:49:32 PST

Trinculo is a cowardly, selfish fool, and his words and actions all show this. When he finds Caliban, he thinks of taking him to England to be displayed for money. Then they get drunk together—not a good action when you're stranded on an unknown island. As they do, they start to make plans to overthrow Prospero. As a rule, it's not a good plan to make political plots with someone you consider a sideshow attraction (Caliban).

In "The Tempest, what does Trinculo Say and Do?

Mon, 5 May 2008 07:54:50 PST

in this extract how does shakespeare present the conflit between stephano,trinculo and caliban

Prospero benefits from magic because it allows him to enter an alien...

Sun, 4 May 2008 17:13:28 PST

Prospero benefits from magic because it allows him to enter an alien realm, conquer it, and subdue its native inhabitants (Caliban and Ariel, whom Prospero liberates), making them his servants. Prospero has no compunction about ordering Caliban and Ariel to do whatever he wishes, or threatening them with magical punishments. Ariel, purchased by his own partial freedom and a promise of full freedom in the future, is a willing collaborator;...

Who benefits from magic? What examples show these characters benefiting...

Sun, 4 May 2008 14:08:40 PST

At the same time of answering the question, how would it apply to colonialism?

This is absolutely the case—so much so that I'd actually delete the...

Fri, 2 May 2008 18:01:45 PST

This is absolutely the case—so much so that I'd actually delete the first part of the sentence. This play isn't mainly about a father and daughter relationship, but rather, about the proper order of things, which includes the desire of some people and creatures to be more human. This can be seen in Ariel's desire for freedom. Ariel is passive and pleasant much of the time, but assertive, even pushy when reminding Prospero of his promises....

I'm afraid my version of the script doesn't have a third scene for Act...

Fri, 2 May 2008 17:53:18 PST

I'm afraid my version of the script doesn't have a third scene for Act 2. For Act 4, scene 1, at first Stephano and Trinculo don't really realize magic has been done on them. They blame Caliban. Then, they are awestruck by Prospero's wealth, still without realizing any of it is magical. They are taken in by the magic, in part precisely because they don’t realize it is happening. Caliban in this scene is wiser than they are; he's...

How do Stephano, Trinculo and Caliban respond to the magic of the island...

Fri, 2 May 2008 10:13:44 PST

How do Stephano, Trinculo and Caliban respond to the magic of the island in Act II, scene 3 and Act IV, scene 1?

As Allen Carey-Webb points out in his essay referenced below, Prospero...

Thu, 1 May 2008 22:46:37 PST

As Allen Carey-Webb points out in his essay referenced below, Prospero can be seen as a colonial educator who has taken upon himself the mission of using indoctrination to "civilize" the original inhabitants of the territory he controls -- in Prospero's case, Caliban: Prospero's and Miranda's intentions in educating Caliban prefigure Macaulay's 1835 Minute on Indian Education where non-European learning is derided and...

Does the use of magic by Prospero relate to colonialism in The tempest?

Thu, 1 May 2008 19:23:46 PST

Does the use of magic by Prospero relate to colonialism in The tempest?