Once everyone had been landed on shore in different groups Shakespeare continuously chopped and changed between scenes to show what was happening in different parts of the island as time went by.
In act 1 scene 2 Prospero keeps the theme of usurpation going when he tells Miranda for the first time that he is the Duke of Milan. The fact that Miranda did not know this after twelve years of living with her father emphasises the distance between them both.
During the scene Prospero also explain how his brother came to power and states on pages 18 and 19 that his brother did not kill him because his people loved him, but by stating this he contradicts himself because in the same scene he also says that he was a stranger to the state.
The second usurpation in this scene is when Prospero tells Miranda that The King of Naples also helped to over throw him and now Milan bows to Naples and pays them taxes. This quote also shows that the person in charge has been ordained by God and that if a bad king is usurped by someone who would make a better king there would be bad consequences because however good he is at being the King he should not be there. The Victorians believe that the king is the king is the king, no matter how bad he is, he was Gods choice; the usurpers were committing heresy. In this case the consequences were that Milan became ruled by Naples.
Nearer the end of Act 1 Scene 2 another usurpation comes into play when Ferdinand meets Miranda for the first time and falls in love. Ferdinand presumes that his father the King of Naples has perished in the storm and tells the Miranda “I am the best of them that speak this speech…”. In saying this he states that he is the King and therefore higher up the chain of being and better than anyone else. Because of this Prospero got angry for he knows that in fact the king was still alive.
Another aspect of usurpation that occurs during the play occurs in the group, which consisted of Alonzo (King of Naples), Sebastian, Gonzarlo, Adrian, Francisco and others. Sebastian is greedy for power and wants to be in charge of Naples and devises a plan to usurp the King. Because he believes that Ferdinand has drowned he thinks that Sebastian is now the heir to the thrown and will be the one to take over if Alonzo dies. Sebastian realises that if Antonio becomes the king of Naples then he could dominate Antonio and take charge himself. Sebastian was quite happy to let Sebastian become King.
Sebastian tries to persuade Antonio by telling him “Here lies your brother, No better than the earth he lies upon, If he were that which now he’s like, that’s dead”. By saying this he is trying to imply that he may as well be dead because he is like the earth and almost at the bottom of the chain of being. Sebastian even goes as far as saying if you don’t want to kill him yourself; I’ll do it for you.
The next piece of usurpation that was incorporated into the play occurred is driven by Caliban’s desire for revenge and the greed of Trinculo and Stephano.
During Act 3 Scene2 pages 80 onwards Caliban explains to Stethano and Trinculo how Prospero took the island from him, and tells them that had now became his slave. Caliban persuades to Stephano and Trinculo to usurp Prospero by killing him.
There is evidence that Caliban dose in fact only want revenge on pages 80 and 81 when he describes very graphic ways to kill Prospero. These quotes tell us that he has been dreaming and waiting for this moment a long, long time. At this point in the play most if not all the audience would have now lost any sympathy for Caliban.
Caliban may want to usurp Prospero because Caliban resents Prospero because he believes that the island really belongs to him and not Prospero. When Caliban first came across Prospero and his daughter he showed them where to find all the things they would need to survive. Caliban showed Prospero “the fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and fertile”. Once Caliban had saved their lives by showing the all of this Prospero betrayed Caliban and took the island from Caliban.
Prospero’s excuse for making Caliban his slave was he let him roam free “till thou didst seek to violate. The honour of my child”
Prospero made it look as if he was protecting Miranda by making Caliban into his slave.
Caliban does not respect Prospero’s authority over him because he believes that he should be king, and in charge of the island and not Prospero. Caliban consistently fights back with remarks such as “As wicked dew e’er my mother brush’d. With raven’s feather from unwholesome fen. Drop on you both? A south-west blow on ye. And blister you all o’er” For these remarks Caliban is serverly punished.
Like Sebastian he does not mind someone else taking the power, because his goal is freedom from Prospero and vengeance.
There is evidence that Trinculo and Stephano reason for wishing to usurp Prospero are driven by greed and not for helping Caliban when they discover the garments left for them by Aerial and become distracted for there greed wishes to own garments just as fine.
As the last scene of the play brings Shakespeare’s story of The Tempest to a close, everything is returned to as it should be; but in some ways better than it was before. Everybody is happy again, all apart form Sebastian, Antonio, Stephano and Trinculo.
When Alonzo sees Prospero for the first time in the play he says, “Thy dukedom I resign, and do entreat. Thou pardon me my wrongs”. Alonzo has realised that he done wrong by helping Antonio take his place as the Duke of Milan and asks for forgiveness, he also gives Prospero back the control of Milan to Prospero so that Milan would no longer have to bow down to Naples.
Sebastian or Antonio does not threaten Prospero for he knows of their plot to usurp the King and he tells Sebastian and Antonio this as a form of blackmail. If Alonzo every found out their plan he would have them put to death for treason.
Prospero also turns to Sebastian and states like a true Christian “For you, whom to call brother. Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive…”
Later on in the scene Alonzo reveals that his punishment was the loss of his son, he felt so bad about what he had done he wanted to commit suicide and join his son. There is evidence of this in lines 150-152.
Although what he does not know is that Sebastian and Antonio would be grateful if he did just that.
This was when Prospero decided to take his to see Ferdinand and Miranda. It is then revealed to Alonzo that the two are to be wed.
The wedding of Ferdinand and Miranda means that everything will be better than normal because Milan and Naples would unite and Miranda and Ferdinand will one day rule both Milan and Naples together.
At the end of the scene Caliban returns accompanied by Trinculo and Stephano, and Caliban turns to Prospero and says he’s sorry which really makes him a better person that Antonio for Antonio was forgiven but never once did he say that he was sorry.
Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo’s plot to kill Prospero mirrors Antonio and Sebastian’s plot to kill Alonzo in many ways. For example in both plots the person who would gain from the plot the most did not want be the person who would be in charge and seen as the usurper.
Caliban would gain the most from his plot for he would gain the vengeance he had been longing for but he was quite happy to let the others take Prospero’s place; while in the plot to kill Alonzo, Antonio was quite happy to let Sebastian to be king for he would be able to dominate Sebastian and be in control himself although he would not be king.
In both groups there is one person who is intelligent while the others are more gormless. Through the way Caliban’s speech I believe that Caliban must be quite knowledgeable while Trinculo and Stephano are more half-witted. This also occurs with Antonio and Sebastian. Antonio has more intelligence out of the two; I can tell this for he has already usurped Prospero and he also realises that if he kills Alonzo, Sebastian will then become king and then he can take over.
The consequences of usurpation are also highlighted in this play During Act 2 Scene 1 Gonzarlo give an ironic speech all about his idea of a kingless society. Gonzarlo is talking nonsense for if there was no king evil men with a greed for power such as Antonio would take over anyway. The irony of this speech is that Gonzarlo quickly contradicts himself for he says that if he were king there would be no king.
If there were no king the country would be in chaos for there would be no one to stop power hungry men from taking over and ruling themselves, there would be no one to protect the country from war, a civil war would almost immediately brake out between those who want to rule the country and there would be nobody to say what’s right and what’s wrong.
Overall the play has very traditional and Christian values for example there is and empathises on the chain of being and that Machiavelli’s idea is completely wrong. Also the Christian view of forgiveness is also empathised in the play through Prospero when he forgives his brothers wrong doings although his brother did not apologise and was not sorry.
The play ended with order being restored just like in a tragedy.
