Shakespeare adds many layers to the character Prospero. He is a loving father who protects his daughter. His enemies find him hardhearted, while his allies see him as manipulative. Directors have spent a lot of time pondering how to portray him. His enslavement both of Ariel the Spirit and Caliban the Monster is cruel. He then uses his power against his enemies, forcing them to live in a desolate island after he lost the dukedom. He not only wants revenge, but also holds his agents against their will. Prospero deserves to be treated as a hero, even though he is cruel and malicious towards both his friends and enemies. The oppression he used to control his agents has more legitimacy than Antonio’s theft, the way he obtained power. The judgment that oppression is more evil than treachery echoes throughout the play. Prospero’s usurper Antonio should also be made a villain.
Prospero may not have a title but his power seems to be limitless. Ariel and his servant Caliban are essentially slaves. He goes to great lengths to maintain their servitude, knowing that they will play a vital role in his plans to defeat his enemies. To keep Caliban quiet about his dissidence, he makes him suffer. Prospero gets a curse from Caliban as he enters. Prospero’s reply reveals his cruelty: “Caliban will be pinch’d/As thin as honeycomb/Each pinch more stinging/than the bees who made ’em.”
Ariel’s relationship with Prospero is perhaps even more remarkable: he repeatedly delays her release date, despite the fact that she has asked for it numerous times throughout the play. Her good attitude and hard work deserve a kind response. She is cheerful and cheerfully performs all of his errands. She sings in joy when she is told to quickly gather up the men of the island, bring them to Prospero and breathe twice. He is unkind to her because she has expressed a love for him. He tells her he’ll put her back into the trunk where Sycorax kept her. Prospero’s lack of pity is evident by his threat to return her there.
Prospero’s power is based on slavery and oppression. This type of rule is not admirable nor just by normal standards. Prospero feels that his power over the debtors is legitimate. He taught Caliban how to speak, and freed Ariel off the tree.
Antonio’s villainy and his alleged unfairness pale in comparison with the islanders. They are a far more evil character. Ariel’s agent, Prospero, has all the nobility on the island falling asleep, except for Antonio, Sebastian and the King. Antonio then urges Sebastian that they should seize this opportunity to murder their brother and become the King of Naples. He says, “Th’occasion speaks to thee and/My strong imagination sees/ A crown/ Falling upon thy Head.” The audience witnesses his opportunism in his grabbing of the dukedom. This is further emphasized by his inability to show remorse. Sebastian asks Antonio how his conscience is. Antonio responds: “Twenty guilt consciences/That stand between me, and Milan, candied/And melted ere they molested!” This means that if there are twenty guilty consciences in the way of me and Milan then they will melt before it bothers me.
Prospero, in Act I Scene II, prepares the audience by telling them the story behind Antonio’s usurpation. The only time the audience will hear this story is in Act I, scene ii. It is therefore crucial that the man who would most likely speak resentfully about Antonio tells it. Prospero depicts Antonio’s “evil” nature as being the reason he is not trustworthy. Prospero accuses Antonio to have cheated on his allies and trusted confidants. Prospero speaks of Antonio’s “confidence without bounds,” and trustworthiness. Prospero claims that Antonio betrayed their trust because he was too busy studying books and arts to improve his mind. Prospero is shown as someone who wants to learn about the world and has faith in his surroundings, but he still assumes his societal position to be safe. This image gives sympathy to Prospero and makes Antonio seem more evil.
Prospero acknowledges in this same scene that Antonio’s “evil spirit” may have been a result of his failure to perform his duties. This understanding complicates how Antonio is portrayed as evil and Prospero is portrayed as the victim. Prospero realizes that he could have avoided his fate if he’d been a consistent ruler. Prospero is not portrayed in the play as being a weak ruler. However, because the audience doesn’t see Prospero acting negligently, his dominant character is one of being strong. Antonio is portrayed as a theft because Prospero was unwilling to relinquish his dukedom.
The manner in which Prospero, Antonio and their allies lose their power at play’s end reflects the way they acquired it. The virtue of how Prospero or Antonio gained their power also shows up in the way that they surrendered it. Antonio doesn’t give up power that he usurped gracefully. He shows no remorse. Alonso’s indifference during Act 5 scene 1 when Prospero asked for his title, reflects both his continued coldness to Prospero and his fear. This does not add sympathy to Prospero. Prospero, on the other hand, eloquently surrenders his power and magic over the island after regaining his dukedom. His speech shows that he has lost interest in magic. He admits he used his power in a “rough” way. To regain his title he plans to “break [his] stick,/ Bury the fadoms deeper than the plummeting sound/ And [he’ll] kill [his] brook.”
Prospero is a cruel and cold-hearted leader. His violent outbursts, threats and physical pain as well as his ability to keep the two men bound to debts suggest that he could be portrayed in a negative light. Antonio’s unremorseful thieving the dukedom is far worse than Prospero. However, his presence softens Prospero’s harsh oppression, and gives sympathy to Prospero as a victim. This sympathy is aided by Prospero’s grace and iron rule of Ariel and Caliban. It also comes from Antonio’s lackluster attitude towards his loss of power. Prospero is a character that has both good qualities and evil ones. However, the evil within Antonio dwarfs that of Prospero. This makes Prospero a victim.
