PROSPERO

Prospero is the rightful duke of Milan.

Twelve years earlier, he found refuge on
this island after his younger brother,
Antonio, seized Prospero's title and
property. Prospero functions as a god on
the island, manipulating everyone
within his reach. He is helpless against
his enemies until they appear on a ship
nearby; but when they are close
enough, he can use his magic to create a
storm and bring them under his control.
 ALONSO

Alonso is the King of Naples. An enemy of Prospero’s, he accepted

Antonio’s proposition to help the latter usurp Prospero’s throne in return
for Antonio’s swearing Milan’s fealty to Naples.
On his way back from the wedding of his daughter in Tunis, a storm casts
him on a magic island, where he searches for his son Ferdinand, whom he
barely dares hope may have survived the wreck. Ariel’s imprecations and
condemnations at the vanishing feast wake remorse in him, and believing
that Ferdinand has drowned, he runs off to do the same to himself.
Trapped inside his mind, he wakens to find Prospero before him, and
immediately returns the freedom of his Dukedom to him and begs for his
pardon. He is reconciled with him, particularly when he discovers that his
son is in fact alive, and he is more than happy to acquiesce to Ferdinand
marrying Prospero’s daughter.
 ANTONIO
Antonio is Prospero’s brother. He usurped the throne of Milan from
his brother with Alonso’s help, willingly abandoning the sovereignty
of the Dukedom to Naples.
He shows no appreciation for the island, and finds Gonzalo overly
talkative and silly. He has no qualms about loudly mocking him. He
suggests to Alonso’s brother Sebastian that the latter usurp the
throne of Naples, and offers to perform the murder himself. Lacking
chances to do the deed, he follows the King. Ariel’s imprecations
leave him searching for someone to fight. He is arrogant, cynical,
and a through-and-through villain, not willing to pray for salvation
when the ship is sinking and blaming the wreck on the mariners.
Faced by Prospero, who begrudgingly forgives him while taking back
his Dukedom, he says nothing. He is still able to mock Caliban,
however.
 FERDINAND
Ferdinand is Alonso’s son. Cast up on his own on the
island after the wreck, he is convinced that his father
has drowned, not least by Ariel’s songs.
He comes across Miranda and falls head over heels in
love with her at first sight. He accepts his enforced
servitude to Prospero for her sake, and his willingness
gains him her hand. He is a fine specimen of a human
being, plays chess, and assures Prospero that he
doesn’t approve of pre-marital sex.
 SEBASTIAN
Sebastian is the brother of Alonso, the King of Naples.
He helped Antonio usurp Prospero, and is now
convinced by the latter to kill his own brother and thus
become King, the rightful heirs being either drowned
or in Tunis. Prevented by Ariel’s actions from
murdering Alonso, he follows him in his search for the
missing Ferdinand. He is arrogant and insulting to his
lesser. Ariel’s imprecations leave him searching for
someone to fight. He is frightened at the magician’s
knowledge of his plot against his brother, but recovers
enough to mock Stefano’s pretensions.
 GONZALO
Gonzalo is an old man, an honest counselor of
Alonso’s.
Charged with putting Prospero out to sea in a sinking
ship, he took pity on the usurped Duke and gave him
food, drink, books and all the necessities of life to take
with him. A Panglossian optimist, he dreams of utopias
and sees the best in everything, though he has no taste
for the hard-swearing Boatswain. He recognizes that
Alonso is suffering from guilt over Prospero when the
latter becomes desperate after the vanishing feast. He
is given to moralizing.
 MIRANDA
Miranda is Prospero’s daughter. Though she has some vague
memories of her time at court when she was a toddler, in the main
she has no recollection of a life other than being isolated on an
island with no company but her father and Caliban.
She is by nature kind, taking pity on the unknown travelers on the
ship she sees sinking in the storm. She helped to educate Caliban
and took pity on him until he attempted to rape her, since when she
has preferred to have no contact with him. She falls completely in
love with the first young man she sees, and is shocked when her
father is unkind to him. She claims to have never seen him act that
way before, despite having witnessed how Prospero acts to Caliban.
She tries to ease Ferdinand’s burdens as much as she can. Among
her accomplishments is chess playing.
 ARIEL
Ariel is an airy spirit bound in service to Prospero and impatient for his
release.
He was confined to a tree by the witch Sycorax for refusing to serve her,
and only freed when Prospero arrived on the island. The memory of this
imprisonment and the threat of being so confined again is enough to keep
him from complaining overmuch at Prospero’s demands. A shape-shifter,
he is the main source of Prospero’s magic, using his own powers to
accomplish Prospero’s wishes. He stage-manages the opening storm and
by various means leads the various castaways to their respective
punishments and purgations while making sure that they neither die nor
commit any truly serious crimes. He is an accomplished singer, backed by a
chorus of the lesser spirits that he commands, and portrays Ceres in the
masque. He also plays the tabor and pipe. He is mischievous, but not
completely insensible: he recognizes human emotions and what causes
them even though he cannot feel them himself. He is set free once he has
safely sent the ship back to Naples.
 CALIBAN
Caliban is the savage son of the witch Sycorax, and was born on the
island.

When Prospero arrives on the island, he shows him all its secrets that he
knows, and in return is educated by Miranda and her father. He attempts
to rape the girl, however, and is thereafter enslaved. He is not a happy
slave. Prospero keeps him obedient by sending his spirits to torment him
with pinching and bruising, though he cannot lock up Caliban’s tongue. He
is more than willing to worship any person who brings him a hope of
freedom, particularly if they give him alcohol, and so he falls in with
Stefano and Trinculo, not realizing the extent of their foolishness. His
thoughts towards Prospero are brutishly violent, but he is not immune to
aesthetics, and enjoys the musics that can be heard throughout the island.
When sobered up, he becomes aware of the madness of his revolt.
Though distinctly human in form, he is considered deformed by many, and
often called a monster; there is also something fishy about him, possibly
his odor.
 MINOR CHARACTERS
• TRINCOLO
• STEPHANO
• BOATSWAIN
• FRANCISCO
• ADRIAN
 INTODUCTION OF THE DRAMA

• Antonio usurp his brother Prospero

• Prospero with his daughter Miranda was
saved and reached an isolated Island where
only spirits live.
• After 18 years Prospero got a chance to take
the revenge when they were returning back
from Alonso’s daughter’s marriage.
 ACT 1 SCENE 1
ACT I
SCENE I. On a ship at sea: a
tempestuous noise
of thunder and lightning heard.
Enter a Master and a Boatswain

Master Boatswain!
Boatswain Here, master: what
cheer?
Master Good, speak to the
mariners: fall to't, yarely,
or we run ourselves aground:
bestir, bestir.
Exit
Enter Mariners