Prospero is a character who reads a lot and uses magic. Prospero wants revenge against Antonio since Prospero was cast out 12 years before.

Miranda falls in love with Ferdinand. She is about 15 years old and has lived on the island almost her entire life.

Ariel is the leading spirit of the island. Ariel lives to serve Prospero (yet also wants liberty). Ariel was imprisoned by Sycorax and was saved by Prospero. Ariel is invisible to everyone but Prospero.

Caliban originally helps Prospero and Miranda survive on the island but is caught attempting to do a naughty deed. He is then forced to be a slave but wants liberty. This leads to Caliban hating Prospero. Eventually, he meets Stephano and believes that he is a god.

Ferdinand is one of the survivors of the shipwreck. He swims to shore alone and falls in love with Miranda. He is forced to serve Prospero but is eventually granted the freedom to marry Miranda.

Trinculo washed ashore alone after the shipwreck. He originally becomes friends with Caliban but feels left out when Caliban becomes better friends with Stephano. He reluctantly agrees to plot to kill Prospero.

He washes ashore alone and walks around drunk until finding Trinculo. Stephano agrees to plot to kill Prospero. He is a drunkard and is friends with Trinculo.

Alonso is the king of Naples. He helped to get rid of Prospero. He arrives ashore alone after the shipwreck and is heartbroken by the supposed loss of his son.

Is in the shipwrecked group that includes Francisco, Sebastian, Adrian, Alonso, and Gonzalo. Little is known about how he feels about his brother. He did become duke though and overthrew his brother Prospero.

Gonzalo assisted in Prospero's escape from Naples by providing supplies to Prospero. He washed ashore with Alonso and helped in the search for Ferdinand.

Sebastian is the brother to Alonso and is not a liked character. He is unempathetic about the shipwreck and is no help in finding Ferdinand. Antonio believes that Sebastian should be king of Naples instead of Alonso.

Sycorax is Caliban's mother. Sycorax eventually dies which leaves Ariel trapped and Caliban without a mother. This is when Prospero finds the island and takes over.

One of Alonso's lords who helps to comfort the king when he believes his son is dead. A very minor character in the story overall.

Another minor character but still helps in the search for Ferdinand and the rest of the island.

Miranda and Prospero's perspective of Caliban when they first meet him is that he is gentle, sweet, and helpful. Eventually, he shows his true colors when he "seek[s] to violate

The honor of [Prospero's] child" (Shakespeare 1.2.417-418). This forces Prospero and Miranda to view Caliban differently for their own safety.

Lines:

[Gonzalo] My lord Sebastian,

The truth you speak doth lack some gentleness

And time to speak it in. You rub the sore

When you should bring the plaster.

(Shakespeare 2.1.147-150)

Here Gonzalo expresses his understanding of his situation by attempting to silence the man who is destroying the king's spirits. By using the metaphor "you rub the sore when you should bring the plaster" is a good way of stating that rather than hurting someone who is already hurt; instead, you must attempt to heal them.

Lines:

[Gonzalo] All three of them are desperate. Their great guilt,

Like poison given to work a great time after,

Now ’gins to bite the spirits. I do beseech you

That are of suppler joints, follow them swiftly

And hinder them from what this ecstasy

May now provoke them to.

(Shakespeare 3.3.127-133)

This line shows us Gonzalo analyzing the guilt that the three royals are feeling, using words like "poison" to show how strong this guilt feels. Because Gonzalo uses his outside perspective of the situation he can see that he is following three men who have their own missions in mind.