At the Opening of Act V of `The Tempest` Prospero decides to set aside revenge which he had long been planning and instead show forgiveness to his enemies. Examine the methods Shakespeare uses to help the audience believe in Prospero's sudden change of he

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E. Fletcher                                            The Tempest                                                20/5/07    

At the opening of Act V of `The Tempest` Prospero decides to set aside revenge which he has long been planning and instead show forgiveness to his enemies.

Examine the methods that Shakespeare uses to help the audience believe in Prospero’s sudden change of heart.

Throughout the whole of `The Tempest`, Prospero is obsessed in achieving his long awaited revenge against his enemies. However near the beginning of Act 5, Ariel manages to change Prospero’s mind by relating to Prospero how much his captives are suffering. Upon seeing the spirit Ariel showing compassion and feeling for his incarcerated enemies, Prospero decided to show forgiveness and pardon his enemies rather than to take revenge against them.

Shakespeare as a playwright uses many different techniques to make the audience believe in Prospero’s change of heart. This essay will analyse and explain four different techniques that Shakespeare uses to help us believe in Prospero’s metamorphose.

One of the techniques that Shakespeare uses to help the audience into believing in Prospero’s abrupt change of heart is the costume that Prospero wears.

At the end of Act 4, Prospero says, “Let them be hunted soundly. At this hour / Lie at my mercy all mine enemies”, he is all set on completing his revenge, and he is still thirsty for revenge at the beginning of Act 5, upon entering in his `magic robes` Prospero asks Ariel, “Now does my project gather to a head./ My charms crack not, my spirits obey; …How’s the day? ”. Prospero now has his hands on the levers of power and he is ready to pull them. Throughout `The Tempest` Prospero acts like a ruthless mage in order to complete his long awaited revenge against his enemies, whenever he does so he is dressed in the clothes of a magician.  

However after Prospero decides to forgive his enemies of their wrong doings and give up his magic, Prospero orders Ariel, “Fetch me the hat and rapier in my cell” and he then declares, “ I will discase me, and myself present / As I was sometime in Milan”. Prospero has decided to take off his clothes of a magician and garb himself in clothes of a duke, like he used to dress himself in when he was the duke of Milan.

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The clothes that a person wears represent the type of person they are, for example, a rich businessman would wear an expensive suit, but a poor beggar would wear rags. Prospero’s metamorphose from magical clothes to ducal clothes represents his transformation from a mage to a normal person, from his vengeance into virtue and from his fury into reason.  

Another technique that Shakespeare has uses to convince the audience in `The Tempest` that Prospero has truly changed for the good, is bringing music into the play.  

At the very point when Prospero renounces his magic he ...

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