Virtually every character in the play expresses some desire to be lord of the island. Discuss one or two of these characters. How does each envision his own rule?
ENGL 201 | British Literature to 1800
Myra Seaman | Fall 2012
Virtually every character in the play expresses some desire to be lord of the island. Discuss one or two of these characters. How does each envision his own rule?
One of the characters who is power-hungry is Prospero. He was once the ruler of Milan, and due to his lack of ruling, his brother eventually took over. Now that he is on an island, he has continuously been working on and perfecting his magic. He seems to use his magic and his temper to intimidate others and make them feel as if they are not as powerful or as magical as he is. He speaks very harshly to Caliban in particular, in one line referring to him as a “dam” which is explained as a term for animal and threatens him with pain if he doesn’t do what is asked of him. I feel as if the way that Prospero treats others displays his want for power and the want for others to “bow down” to him, in a sense.
For one, Caliban expresses a lot of desire to be lord of the island. He is a native and knows the island in its entirety. He desires to be lord of the island so much so that he went as far as trying to rape Miranda in order to populate the island with little Caliban babies. At least then he would have some semblance of a family since everything else is taken away from him which would be better than living the rest of his life as Prospero’s slave. If Prospero was not sent away to the island in the first place, Caliban would have definitely been the lord of the island.
If we take Caliban to be smarter than his appearance may imply, then he actually does even more than the example ksladson gave in order to gain power. As the number of people on the island increases, Caliban may realize that he will not likely rule them so he goes for a position of second highest power. He wins the favor of Stephano and Trinculo. Seeing that they are gullible and power hungry, Caliban attempts to use them to get rid of his master, Prospero. After the group of people all come together in the last act, Caliban blames his following of Stephano and Trinculo as ignorance to their stupidity (beginning on lin 351). His change of loyalty is an attempt to win favor with whomever my take the power next so that he may gain some semblance of power from them.
Stephano is a very power-hungry character in this play. He desires power so greatly probably because he is used to being a servant and wants to achieve some level of control so that he may not be pushed around like he is used to. Stephano is often drunk and gullible which does not bode well for his attempt at usurping power from Prospero. He teams up with Caliban and Trinculo to steal Prospero’s magic books and, eventually, murder him. Their plan, after the murder, is for Stephano to be the king of the island and marry Miranda with Trinculo and Caliban becoming his viceroys. Meanwhile, Caliban and Trinculo have their own motives and also plan to achieve levels of power beyond that of serving Stephano. Almost every character in this story has some sort of motive to gain a powerful position and have everyone else owe him in some way.
Each character has a vision of their future rule, many of which are elaborate. Stephano’s is the most elaborate of all, and also the most impractical. Firstly, his plan requires many detailed actions like murder and theft that leaves a great deal of risk if any bumps come along. Secondly, his main plan is exerting power but he shows no ability in doing so, as pointed out by Kaya above. His plan is very ambitious but his actions aren’t.
To add after reading Kadie’s response below, Prospero has an elaborate plan as well but it’s more practical because he shows a great deal of ambition in his actions.
At another point early in the play (Act 2 Scene 1), we see Sebastian and Antonio attempt to kill Alonso, before Ariel intervenes. Sebastian is the instigator and shows this with “Draw thy sword. One stroke shall free thee from the tribute which thou payest.” He wants to kill Alonso to become king of the island which they are stranded on and thus, King of Naples.
Prospero is very power hungry, especially because he is still bitter about being sent to the island by his own brother and his power over his city being stripped away. Because of his obsession with practicing magic, he becomes very focused on becoming the leader of the island and uses his magic to intimidate or hold over the heads of the other island people. Caliban especially is seen as somewhat of a victim when it comes to Prospero. Prospero is very mean to Caliban and makes him his slave/servant, even though Caliban himself is trying to also gain power.
I agree with these posts that both Prospero and Caliban desire power. Prospero was once in power and overthrown by his brother, so he is motivated to take power on the island. He is very self absorbed and believes himself to be the best ruler. He is constantly in pursuit of knowledge and wants to strengthen his magic, all in the quest for power. Caliban is Prospero’s slave. He is a native of the island, and considered a monster. Before Prospero arrived, Caliban believed he ruled over the island, and his new master took it from him. Caliban wants to take back what he thought was his, while at the same time use Stephano and Traniculo’s gullible to get revenge on him. I do believe Caliban was unjustly enslaved by Prospero, and that is why he lashed out and became hungry for power.
As said above, both Prospero and Caliban are quite power-hungry. After Prospero’s brother overtook his rule, his desire to become ruler of the island once again reached new heights. His own pride and confidence in his ability to lead border on arrogance. Caliban, on the other hand, is Prospero’s servant. He was under the impression that he was ruler of the island, because Prospero wasn’t around. Both have an unwarranted, self-inflated belief in their own entitlement to ruler of the island.
One character that desires power in this play is Ariel. Though he does not seek to rule over others like Prospero or Sebastion, he continually seeks power his own fate and choices. Even though his loyalty to Prospero is limited to the promise of his freedom he still executes all of his tasks faithfully and without guile.