The Tempest
William Shakespeare (1611)
“Shakespeare's final solo play: a magician who controls everything finally chooses to give it all up — and asks the audience to set him free.”
Character Analysis
The play's most morally complex figure. He is simultaneously the wronged innocent (deposed by his brother) and the oppressor (enslaver of Caliban, controller of Ariel). His magic is a form of total surveillance and control — nothing happens on the island without his knowledge and direction. The play asks whether his eventual choice of forgiveness redeems his years of coercive power. The answer the text gives is deliberately incomplete: Antonio never apologizes, Caliban is not freed, and Prospero's last words are a request for mercy from an audience he cannot control. He ends the play more vulnerable than anyone.
Elaborate, controlling verse — long sentences with subordinate clauses, frequent imperatives. He lectures, commands, and explains. Rarely asks.