As they point out later, the English accused the Irish of cannibalism too. The Arden edition discusses possible etymologies for his name, noting that ‘Caliban is an anagram for cannibal’ and that ‘Cannibals were topical in Shakespeare’s day … partly because reports from the New World insisted that some natives consumed human flesh … and simultaneous reports from sub-Saharan Africa, often drawing on ancient myths, made similar claims’(p.31). Ariel may also represent Prospero’s imaginative, quick witted and sensitive spirit.Ĭaliban owes much to the beast-man who would take part in the jigs or burlesque afterpieces which usually concluded Renaissance performances. They are opposites yet complementary, representing different but not incompatible aspects of humanity. Ariel is connected to music and the air he embodies fire and air, Caliban embodies earth and water (the elements out of which Renaissance thinkers argued all things were made).
Prospero sets Ariel free, and finally asks the audience for his own release, through their applause.In early myth harpies were personifications of whirlwinds and hurricanes, thus highly appropriate to a tempest. Caliban regrets his service to Stephano and Trinculo, and promises to behave. Ariel leads in the sailors from their ship, and then Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano. Ferdinand and Miranda are revealed to them. He rouses them, and they beg forgiveness, which Prospero grants, and he is restored to his dukedom.
The tempest characters free#
He then vows to give up his magical powers once he has achieved his ends, and to free Ariel, who has been begging for liberty.Īriel leads the lords to Prospero, and they stand in a trance before him. He has Ariel and other spirits chase Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo away through the marshes, to foil their plot against him. Prospero brings Iris, Juno, and Ceres into a ceremony celebrating Ferdinand and Miranda’s betrothal. As they prepare to eat, Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio are fiercely reprimanded for their past deeds by Ariel. They get drunk, and Prospero sends Ariel to confuse and play tricks on them.Ī magical banquet is placed before the lords. Caliban encounters Alonso’s jester Trinculo and butler Stephano, whom he decides to serve with the aim of persuading them to kill Prospero. Antonio persuades Alonso’s brother Sebastian to kill the king and claim his throne, but Ariel intervenes and stops them. To test his worth, Prospero makes Ferdinand carry out menial tasks.Īlonso and the lords begin their search for Ferdinand, though they fear him drowned. Prospero gets Ariel to lead Ferdinand across the island so that he meets Miranda, and they fall in love. Caliban, a savage inhabitant of the island who is also controlled by Prospero, expresses his hostility to Prospero, but is forced to do his bidding. He explains to her that he is the rightful Duke of Milan, usurped by Antonio, and that they had arrived on their island many years before after being sent out to sea by some of those whom he now has in his power.Īs Miranda sleeps, Ariel reports that the lords are on the island as he had commanded, with Ferdinand separated from the others. Prospero’s daughter Miranda, afraid for the voyagers, is told they are safe. A ship carrying Alonso King of Naples, his son Ferdinand, Antonio, and other nobles, is wrecked in a storm created by the spirit Ariel, under the magic art of Prospero.
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