Characters in The Tempest

Prospero

The play’s protagonist, and father of Miranda. Twelve years before the events of the play, Prospero
was the duke of Milan. His brother, Antonio, in concord with Alonso (king of Naples), usurped him,
forcing him to flee in a boat with his daughter. Gonzalo assisted Prospero in his escape. Prospero has
spent his twelve years on the island refining the magic that gives him the power he needs to punish
his enemies.

Prospero is a sympathetic character in that he was wronged by his usurping brother, but his absolute
power over the other characters and his overwrought speeches make him difficult to like. When we
first see him, he appears to be proud and conceited as he speaks about his life story and his pursuit
of magical knowledge. He explains that in his pursuit, he was neglecting his duties as a Duke and his
brother saw this as an opportunity to rise against him. His possession and use of magical knowledge
makes him extremely powerful and not entirely sympathetic.

How he punishes Caliban is frivolous and vindictive, as he calls upon his spirits to pinch Caliban when
he curses. He is defensively autocratic with Ariel. This can be seen when Ariel reminds his master of
his promise to relieve him of his duties early if he performs them willingly; Prospero in a fury then
threatens to return him to his former imprisonment and torment. Similarly, he is unpleasant in his
treatment of Ferdinand, who imprisons and enslaves him after leading him to his daughter.

Despite his faults, Prospero manages to create a happy ending for the play through his manipulation
of magic. His final speech, in which he likens himself to a playwright by asking the audience for
applause, strengthens this reading of the play by making the play’s final scene function a celebration
of art. Prospero emerges as a more likeable and sympathetic figure in the final two acts of the play.
In these acts, he shows his love for Miranda, forgives his enemies, and relieves some of the
undesired means he had used to achieve his happy ending.

Miranda

The daughter of Prospero, Miranda was brought to the island at an early age and has never seen any
men other than her father and Caliban. Because she has been sealed off from the world for so long,
Miranda’s perceptions of other people tend to be naïve and non-judgmental. She is compassionate,
generous, and loyal to her father and is under fifteen years old. While Miranda is passive in many
ways, she has at least two moments of surprising bluntness and strength that complicate the
reader’s impressions of her as a naïve young girl.

The first such moment is in Act I, scene ii, in which she and Prospero speak with Caliban. Prospero
alludes to the fact that Caliban once tried to rape Miranda. When Caliban agrees that he intended to
defile her, Miranda responds, appalled at his light attitude toward his attempted rape. She goes on
to scold him for being ungrateful for her attempts to educate him. Another moment is In Act III,
scene I comes the second surprising moment—Miranda’s marriage proposal to Ferdinand: “I am
your wife if you will marry me; / If not, I’ll die your maid. As the reader can see in her speech to
Caliban in Act I, scene ii, Miranda is willing to speak up for herself about her sexuality.
Caliban

Prospero’s unwilling slave, Caliban is the only real native of the island to appear in the play. He is an
extremely complex figure as he mirrors several other characters in the play. In his first speech to
Prospero, Caliban insists that Prospero stole the island from him. This is so as he is the son of the
witch Sycorax, who ruled the island before Prospero's arrival, hence Caliban believes that he should
be master of the island. Throughout this speech, Caliban suggests that his situation is much the same
as Prospero’s, whose brother usurped his dukedom. On the other hand, Caliban’s desire for the
sovereignty of the island mirrors the lust for power that led Antonio to overthrow Prospero.
Caliban’s conspiracy with Stephano and Trinculo to murder Prospero mirrors Antonio and
Sebastian’s plot against Alonso, as well as Antonio and Alonso’s original conspiracy against Prospero.

Caliban becomes a parody of himself. In his first speech to Prospero, he regretfully reminds the
magician of how he showed him all the ins and outs of the island when Prospero first arrived. Only a
few scenes later, however, we see Caliban drunk and fawning before a new magical being in his life:
Stephano and his bottle of liquor. Soon, Caliban begs to show Stephano the island and even asks to
lick his shoe. Caliban repeats the mistakes he claims to curse. In his final act of rebellion, he is once
more entirely pettily subdued by Prospero—he is dunked in a stinking bog and ordered to clean up
Prospero’s cell in preparation for dinner.

Despite his savage demeanour and grotesque appearance, however, Caliban has a nobler, more
sensitive side that the audience is only allowed to glimpse briefly, and which Prospero and Miranda
do not acknowledge at all. His beautiful speeches about his island home provide some of the most
affecting imagery in the play, reminding the audience that Caliban did occupy the island before
Prospero came, and that he may be right in thinking his enslavement to be monstrously unjust.
Caliban’s swarthy appearance, his forced servitude, and his native status on the island have led
many readers to interpret him as a symbol of the native cultures occupied and suppressed by
European colonial societies, which are represented by the power of Prospero.

Ariel

Ariel is a spirit who works in Prospero’s service. Prospero first encountered Ariel soon after landing
on the island. He found Ariel trapped in a cloven pine tree and freed the spirit from his prison. In
return, Ariel promised to serve Prospero faithfully for a year, after which time Prospero would give
Ariel back his freedom. Prospero’s unwillingness to set Ariel free stems from the fact that Ariel
possesses immense power. As the spirit explains in his first lines in the play, not only does he have
an impressive range of abilities, but he also commands a host of lesser spirits. Given Ariel’s
extraordinary magical abilities, Prospero leans heavily on him to execute his complex revenge plot.
Ariel has spent a lot of time around humans and he learned a thing or two about them. In Act V, for
example, he appears to take pity on the castaways. He tells Prospero that if he were human his
“affections” would be “tender,” convinces Prospero to stop using magic and reconcile with his
enemies. Ariel effectively manipulates Prospero by appealing to his humanity, and in doing so he
ushers himself closer to freedom.
Ferdinand

Son and heir of Alonso. Ferdinand seems in some ways to be as pure and naïve as Miranda. He falls
in love with her upon first sight and happily submits to servitude to win her father’s approval.

Alonso

King of Naples and father of Ferdinand. Alonso aided Antonio in unseating Prospero as Duke of Milan
twelve years before. As he appears in the play, however, he is acutely aware of the consequences of
all his actions. He blames his decision to marry his daughter to the Prince of Tunis on the apparent
death of his son. Also, after the magical banquet, he regrets his role in the usurping of Prospero.

Antonio
Prospero’s brother. Antonio proves that he is power-hungry and foolish. In Act II, scene i, he
persuades Sebastian to kill the sleeping Alonso. He then goes along with Sebastian’s absurd story
about fending off lions when Gonzalo wakes up and catches Antonio and Sebastian with their swords
drawn.

Sebastian

He is the brother of Alonso and like Antonio, he is both aggressive and cowardly. He is easily
persuaded to kill his brother in Act II, scene I, and he initiates the ridiculous story about lions when
Gonzalo catches him with his sword drawn.

Trinculo & Stephano

Trinculo, a jester, and Stephano, a drunken butler, are two minor members of the shipwrecked
party. They provide a comic foil to the other, more powerful pairs of Prospero and Alonso and
Antonio and Sebastian. Their drunken boasting and greed reflect the quarrels and power struggles of
Prospero and the other noblemen.

Boatswain

Appearing only in the first and last scenes, the Boatswain is good-natured. He seems competent and
almost cheerful in the shipwreck scene, demanding practical help rather than weeping and praying.
And he seems surprised but not stunned when he awakens from a long sleep at the end of the play.