The Tempest Characters and More by Jacob Philpot

Prospero

ComeONisEVERYusernameTaken — 2024-01-12 19:58:48 UTC

Prospero was once the Duke of Milan, an incredibly powerful man, until his terrible brother Antonio cast him away from his kingdom with his daughter, Miranda. The two sailed far away until they reached an island far away called Caliban, which was inhabited by strange beings like spirits and a Caliban. He took control of the island and everybody inside of it and now rules over it. He meets many strange creatures on the island, and takes ownership over everything, including many creatures like Ariel and Caliban, until everything would change later on in the play.

Miranda

ComeONisEVERYusernameTaken — 2024-01-12 20:03:07 UTC

Miranda is Prospero, the once ruler of Milan's daughter. Without any knowledge of her mother, we do know that she was cast out to sea along with Prospero when she was very young, and knows nothing of the world and people except for how her father described them to her. On the distant island, she meets a man named Ferdinand, who falls in love with her, to her fathers delight. However, he is forced to be a slave. Miranda had to wait until he had proved himself to finally be able to marry him. Once they get his blessing, they become engaged magically. They lived happily ever after, or did they?

Ariel

ComeONisEVERYusernameTaken — 2024-01-12 20:09:52 UTC

Ariel is the servant of Prospero on the island, and does anything that he tells him to do. Ariels is also the chief of all of the spirits on the island, and he commanded them before getting imprisoned into a pine tree by an evil witch. Prospero freed him, and told him that if he did everything that he said, he would eventually be set free from his command. Eventually, Ariel had completed everything that he needed to do from Prospero. He thanked him for everything that he had done and freeing him, then left. Prospero is also the only person in the play who can see Ariel, the spirit.

Caliban

ComeONisEVERYusernameTaken — 2024-01-12 20:13:42 UTC

The Caliban is the son of the evil witch that imprisoned Ariel into the pine tree a long time ago. He inhabited the island like normal until Miranda and Prospero got the he island, where he lived with them for a long time, being treated like family by them. However, all of this ended when Caliban tried to do strange things to Miranda, and he was cast away from the family and treated like a slave. He betrays Prospero and meets the butler, who he thinks can kill Prospero and be a better master than him as well. He is defeated in the end.

Ferdiand

ComeONisEVERYusernameTaken — 2024-01-12 20:15:20 UTC

Ferdiand is the only son of Alonso, who is the king of Naples. He went on a journey long ago with his father, but the ship was destroyed and he had to leave to land, thinking that his father had died. Once on the island, he immediately falls in love with Miranda, who loves him back. However, Prospero does not like how quick this is and decides to use his magical powers to make him a slave, who would do much of what he wanted during the play. Eventually, proving that he was worthy of Prospero's daughter, he is relieved of his duties and then marries Miranda. They live happily ever after, or do they?

Trinculo

ComeONisEVERYusernameTaken — 2024-01-12 20:23:20 UTC

Trinculo is the main jester of Alonso, the King of Naples and the father of Ferdinand. He washed up ashore just like Ferdinand, and looking for shelter, he crawled underneath Caliban's cloak for shelter and warmth. Eventually, his friend Stephano finds them and they meet meet Caliban. They are then persuaded to kill Prospero, and he reluctantly follows along with what they want him to do. However, this bundle of joy made sure to make all of the jokes that he could possibly made, livening up their killing moods.

Alonso

loganmorris4 — 2024-01-12 20:27:47 UTC

Alonso, the King of Naples, helped Antonio take over Milan from Prospero. He has a daughter named Claribel and a son named Ferdinand. Alonso's ships are caught in a big storm on their way back to Naples from Tunis and they end up on an island. Alonso believes Ferdinand is lost in the storm. When Alonso meets Prospero, he says sorry and makes him Duke of Milan again. When he learns that Ferdinand is alive and engaged to Prospero's daughter Miranda, he is happy.

Stephano

ComeONisEVERYusernameTaken — 2024-01-12 20:27:53 UTC

Stephano is the butler of Alonso, who was the King of Naples. He also washed up ashore with Trinculo when the ship had broken, and he walked around drunk for the first little while of his time on the island. He shares his wine with Caliban, and Caliban begins to think that he is a god. Stephano agrees to help them kill Prospero, and they want to eventually rule the island so that he can become the new leader. However, Ariel watches everything that they are doing so that they do not cause too much trouble when they are plotting.

Antonio

loganmorris4 — 2024-01-12 20:31:31 UTC

Prospero's brother Antonio was supposed to help rule Milan, but he turned against Prospero and threw Prospero and Miranda out of the city. Antonio owes Alonso for this, he wants Sebastian to be the new king of Naples who is Fly himself it is understood. In the final scene, we don’t know how Antonio feels about seeing Prospero again because he doesn’t say much.

Gonzalo

ComeONisEVERYusernameTaken — 2024-01-12 20:52:48 UTC

Gonzalo is the chief advisor to Alonso, who is the King of Naples. He was known by Prospero as a kind man who did many things for he and his daughter, including stocking clothes and books and much more when the father and his kid were cast out to sea. He also tried to keep Alonso positive as they kept on searching through the island for Ferdinand all while knowing that he was constantly being made fun of by some of his other crewmates on board. However, he stayed determined the entire time and tried to do everything that he could.

Sebastian

ComeONisEVERYusernameTaken — 2024-01-12 21:02:32 UTC

Throughout the play, Sebastian's character undergoes a transformation. He is confronted with the consequences of his actions and forced to confront his own flaws and weaknesses. This transformation is most evident in Act 5, when he witnesses the reconciliation between Prospero and Alonso. It is in this moment that Sebastian realizes the futility of his ambitions and the destructive nature of his actions.

Sycorax

loganmorris4 — 2024-01-12 21:12:14 UTC

Banished to a remote island while pregnant, Sycorax is a character whose story parallels that of another islander, Prospero. Abandoned on the island, he taught his son Caliban black magic and the worship of the demon god Setebos. Though absent from current events, Sycorax’s influence on the island’s magic is evident.

Adrian

loganmorris4 — 2024-01-12 21:22:06 UTC

Adrian is one of the smaller characters in The Tempest, who was one of the lords who served Alonso and joined him on the island.

Francisco

loganmorris4 — 2024-01-12 21:25:59 UTC

Francisco is a nobleman who was part of the royal party on the ship that was caught in a storm and foundered on Prospero’s Island He serves as a foil to the other characters, exploring their identities and motivations

Act 2 Theme: Logan

2024-01-19 16:26:57 UTC

With a lowered perspective resulting in knowledge, power is always the "necessity" and priority for everyone. With the royals washing up, Alonso, Adrian, Gonzolo, and others fall asleep on the island. Sebastian and Antonio are the only ones left awake. At this moment, Antonio suggests that they should kill Alonso to gain power. He states to Sebastian "There be that can rule Naples As well as he that sleeps, lords that can prate As amply and unnecessarily As this Gonzalo. I myself could make A chough of as deep chat. O, that you bore The mind that I do, what a sleep were this For your advancement!" (Shakespeare 2.1.300-306). Trinculo and Stephano also wash up on the island and believe that the other royals have died. They meet Caliban who treats them as a god, to which Trinculo and Stephano respond with the idea of killing Prospero so that their power can be on the island and live long. After Caliban tells the two people that they can stay on the island and he will show them every inch, Stephano says "I prithee now, lead the way without any more talking.—Trinculo, the King and all our company else being drowned, we will inherit here" (Shakespeare 2.2.179-181). Power has driven the royals who have washed up on the island mad, but they have little to no knowledge and/or perspective.

Perspective

2024-01-19 16:27:10 UTC

Perspective: Perspective is based on people's knowledge that they hold and their previous experience or it can be based on the knowledge of those who surround you. In Shakespeare's The Tempest, perspective is shown through the character Miranda. When Miranda was 3 years old, her father Prospero was banished from Milan to an island. Because of this, Miranda has had no social understanding of what is happening in the world besides her father. In Act 1, scene 2, Prospero is telling Mirando to listen to him, since he is much wiser and smarter. Prospero states "'Canst thou remember / A time before we came unto this cell? / I do not think thou canst,for then thou wast not / Out three years old" (Shakespeare 1.2.48-51). In this example, Miranda has little to no know factors that go into her meaning of life. Miranda doesn't know how she thinks about the world due to the very limited social interaction she has had.

Power (Jacob)

ComeONisEVERYusernameTaken — 2024-01-23 14:48:49 UTC

Power: Power plays one of the biggest roles in not only the Tempest itself, but many other plays that are like it. We see many people and beings rise to power and gain more overtime, and usually this can decide who they are and what they are going to be doing. For example, a king has the most power over his kingdom, and a peasant has none. Power can be gained in a numerous number of ways, and in The Tempest, we see power being put into effect over the creatures of the island on multiple occasions. One of the most evident examples of power in Shakespeare's The Tempest is when Prospero frees Ariel from his imprisonment in the tree, and Ariel pledges his allegiance to Prospero in return. "All hail, great master! Grave sir, hail! I come To answer thy best pleasure. Be ’t to fly, To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride On the curled clouds, to thy strong bidding task Ariel and all his quality" (Shakespeare 1.2.295-299). It is shown here that Prospero has power over Ariel, and Ariel must do what he says and be at his service at all times. Power is an incredible thing that can be easily lost or gained, and it plays a massive role in The Tempest and how different characters change, good or bad.

Act 3 Theme(s): Logan

2024-02-02 15:23:31 UTC

People's lowered perspective makes them more likely to exceed their expectations for what they know of someone. For example, Miranda doesn't know if Ferdinand is handsome because he is the only boy she has seen besides her father. Miranda tells Ferdinand this by saying "One of my sex, no woman’s face remember, Save, from my glass, mine own. Nor have I seen More that I may call men than you, good friend, And my dear father. How features are abroad I am skilless of, but by my modesty, The jewel in my dower, I would not wish Any companion in the world but you, Nor can imagination form a shape Besides yourself to like of" (Shakespeare 3.1.60-68). Knowledge is power, shown in scene 3 of Act 3 of The Tempest where the royal men who have washed up on the island are brought to knowledge by Ariel who has a better perspective and more knowledge. When Ariel speaks to Alonso, he states about the men: "You are three men of sin, whom Destiny, That hath to instrument this lower world And what is in ’t, the never-surfeited sea Hath caused to belch up you, and on this island, Where man doth not inhabit, you ’mongst men Being most unfit to live" (Shakespeare 3.3.70-75).

Theme Act 2 (Jacob)

ComeONisEVERYusernameTaken — 2024-02-02 15:55:19 UTC

Knowledge is seen as all of the power in this act, meaning little perspective about other things narrows one's views to only wanting knowledge, impacting many of the character's feelings and actions throughout the act. For example, Miranda still knows little of people from around the world, and is very awkward around people still.

Theme Act 3 (Jacob)

ComeONisEVERYusernameTaken — 2024-02-02 15:55:30 UTC

Because the perspective of the people on the island is so low everywhere, this means that when there is no perspective to be had, then the people are going to start wanting knowledge thinking that it holds all of the power on the island. The lack of perspective in the act can be mainly seen in Miranda when she has her "wedding" with Ferdinand and has no idea what to do. Also, Caliban does not know much of anything, and because he is getting taught by 2 people who are either drunk or stupid, his perspective is very limited to what he sees. Miranda's perspective can be noticed as very limited when she says, "One of my sex, no woman’s face remember, Save, from my glass, mine own. Nor have I seen More that I may call men than you, good friend, And my dear father. How features are abroad I am skilless of, but by my modesty, The jewel in my dower, I would not wish Any companion in the world but you, Nor can imagination form a shape Besides yourself to like of" (Shakespeare 3.1.60-68). Because Miranda has never experienced something like love for another guy before, everything is new for her and she must be able to almost reset her brain so that she can understand what is happening around her. Perspective in general is also regarded as power in this story, and we see different people rise to sudden power only based on them seeing more and experiencing more than others. "Perspective is distinct from intelligence but represents a high level of knowledge, the capacity to give advice, and to recognize and weigh multiple sides before making decisions. It allows the individual to address important questions about the conduct and meaning of life" (Character 1). We can also see that many characters make poor choices because, "Psychologists have proven that when an individual makes decisions based on what they most want to avoid happening, they are much more motivated to act in a proper manner than when making decisions based on what they want to have happen. This is using the power of perspective" (Pearson 2). In The Tempest, perspective is power, power is knowledge, and knowledge is everything in the story. Those with more experience will simply be more fortunate than others, and that is how the world is.