“…your charm so strongly works em that if you now beheld them, your affections would become tender…”
This shows that she can think knows what’s going on around her and that she has feelings which are what basic animals can’t do.
Caliban who is the child of a devil and a witch, had at first a very good relationship with Prospero and Miranda tries to teach him their language and in return Caliban shows Prospero
"All the qualities o'th isle'
But all this changes when Caliban tries to rape Miranda. Caliban endures years of physical torture by Prospero who also hurls insults like
"Monster" "... Misshapen knave" and one who is "as disproportions in his manners as in his shape"
Caliban and Prospero’s relationship is extremely hostile. Caliban calls Prospero
"…The tyrant that I serve…”
But does he say this as a result of what Prospero has done to him or is it because he regards Prospero as the usurper who has taken the island that he so badly wants to be the ruler of, from him that he will do and say anything. Let us not forget that before Prospero came, Caliban ruled and roamed the island freely, he is now Prospero's slave and is treated harshly. When Prospero first came to the island they got on well together, but it all changed when Caliban tried to rape Miranda, and Prospero enslaved Caliban. However, Prospero could have distanced himself and Miranda from Caliban by moving to another area of the island. Caliban being enslaved means that he will see more of Miranda. Caliban understands and resents the fact that his home has been seized and his freedom stolen,
“…..this islands mine by Sycorax my Mother, which thou tak’st from me”
Caliban does not complain of being exploited instead he feels betrayed
“….When thou cam’st first, Thou strok’st me and made much of me, woulds give me water with berries in’t, and teach me…”
Where as now:
“…..I am all the subject you have, which first was mine own kind, and here you sty me in this hard rock, whiles you do keep from the rest o’th’ island….”
In the above passage, Caliban voices his resentment towards Prospero’s colonization. He was freely living without them on the Island. Then Prospero came and attempted to colonise him. Here we can make a comparison of Prospero with the Europeans who at this time were colonizing the Americas. Caliban would in this instance represent the Native Americans.
Prospero's actions indicate here that he is an oppressive colonizer. However, the fact that in the beginning Prospero tried to get along with him by teaching him his language, giving him shelter and trying to civilize him until the day Caliban tried to rape Miranda
"….Thou didst seek to violate the honor of my child….."
This would indicate that Prospero has the qualities required to be a magnanimous ruler.
Prospero can also be accused of treating Caliban as sub-human. Prospero punishes him with cramps and pains. But the easiest way to hurt and bring someone down is by using language to diminish them. With the use of non-human metaphors like "hagseed" or “filth" he has managed to debase him. This intern is definitely not the behavior of a magnanimous ruler.
Prospero's relationship with Antonio is firstly that of brother, and before he helped Alonso deprive Prospero of his dukedom, he loved and trusted him but Antonio proved to be false.
“…..my brother and thy uncle, call’d Antonio….he whom next thyself/of all the world I lov,d…”
According to Prospero, Antonio would have killed Miranda and himself, but he was afraid that the people would not tolerate such an action.
"…..So dear the love my people bore me"
This treacherous act would indicate that Antonio does not have a conscience and is only stopped from anything worse because it concerns him what other people think... At no stage does he seem to repent his wrong doings and yet Prospero includes him in his general absolution, adding insult to injury Prospero never receives any thanks for this. For Prospero to be able to freely forgive would show his love and compassionate nature and with this evidence he would appear to have yet again the qualities of a magnanimous ruler.
Alonso is a better person than Antonio, He shows that he is capable of remorse and possesses the desire to repent. However, he shows weakness in that he was easily swayed by Antonio’s temptations, but compared to Prospero he appears inferior, e.g. he let Prospero and Miranda be left on a boat that he knew to be un seaworthy and allows himself to be manipulated by Antonio. But, he does show many redeeming qualities, he also loves his son, Ferdinand, deeply and persists in his attempt to find him. He also has a great sense of rightfulness and when Aerial points out his crimes against Miranda and Prospero he shows a very deep desire to repent and is almost driven to commit suicide:
"...Ill seek him deeper than e'er plummer sounded, and with him there lie mudded"
Alonso does admit his faults and shows his remorse for his wrongdoings but is there any part in the play where Prospero shows contrition?
Like Antonio, Sebastian shows little sign of repentance for his wrongdoings but Prospero does manage to include him in his forgiveness. Sebastian, is very much like Antonio both mocking Gonzalo, and has played a role in the usurpation of Prospero and is quite willing to abandon his conscience in pursuit of his ambition with promises made to him by Antonio:
"...And I the king shall love thee".
Gonzalo is an old man who maybe talks too much and is cynically mocked by Sebastian and Antonio for his garrulousness. He is the eternal optimist and truly believes that they will not drown because the Boatswain had the appearance of a man who was born to be hanged not drowned.
"…..I have great comfort from this fellow: methinks he hath no drowning mark upon him; his complexion is perfect gallows"
Gonzalo has been loyal to Alonzo for at least twelve years, and even though he is a Neapolitan and therefore Alonso's subject and not Prospero's he shows a great sense of justice when he provides Miranda and Prospero the essentials for survival when they were adrift in a leaking boat. He reproaches Sebastian for his ill treatment towards them and asks that he shows some gentleness. This in turn wins him Prospero's praise for his loyalty.
"…..O good Gonzalo, My true preserver, and a loyal sir / to him thou follow'st"
This statement by Prospero, suggesting that we should follow Gonzalo would indicate it was made by someone who was very magnanimous in his rule.
When Prospero sees Miranda and Ferdinand together he is very protective over his daughter. It is not necessarily because he distrusts Ferdinand but because he realizes how badly he has been treated by his brother he has learnt not to take people on first appearances. It may look as if Ferdinand truly loves Miranda but he is determined to test the strength of this love.
"…..They are both in either's power's: but this swift business I must uneasy make, lest too light wining make the prise light"
Ferdinand does however win the approval of Prospero not only by the way he behaves during his imprisonment but also how he accepts the menial tasks he is asked to do and o treats them as if they are dignified by merely thinking of Miranda.
Although Prospero displays a tyrannical nature in his slave treatment of Ferdinand this could also be argued that it was a father's love to test him to see if he is fit for his daughter.
Prospero: There are two very different sides to his character. Either that of a magnanimous ruler or an oppressive colonizer.
He is a colonizer in the fact that when he comes to the island he takes it off the original inhabitants, Ariel and Caliban, and makes himself the ruler. He doesn’t only take the island off the natives he enslaves them and beats and punishes them as well .Which is a bit like what the oppressive colonisers in the past have done e.g. European settlers who colonised the Americas and their treatment of the natives .
The harsh side of his nature is apparent in the way he treats his two slaves, Ariel and Caliban who are kept in his service under threat of painful punishment. Although he feels love for Ariel, Caliban is treated with severe contempt and is controlled by violence:
“…whom stripes may move, not kindness…”
Caliban may have bought this treatment upon himself as at first Prospero had befriended him and once again just like his brother Antonio, betrayed him, so to does Caliban when he attempts to rape Miranda. Prospero is almost driven to the other extreme by this double betrayal and now seems almost unforgiving.
Power is a key part in Prospero's character, he loses political and social power when Alonso usurps him and takes his dukedom from him. He gains power once again on the island when he takes it from Caliban. The usurped now has become the usurper! Prospero also uses power gained from his magician’s art to get what he wants.
Prospero is capable of showing love; love for his daughter Miranda, love for Ariel and love for Gonzalo. He is capable of forgiveness and this is evident when he forgives Alonzo, Antonio and Sebastian for all the evil they have done. It is also in the reasons why he was persuaded to forgive and not seek revenge we can see his magnanimity in the way he was able to listen to Aerial, his servant, to sympathize with others of his kind and show the 'virtue of forgiveness.
Prospero successfully learns to practice his magic but is it for good or bad. It is for good that he uses it to bring love between Miranda and Ferdinand but is for bad when he uses to control the natural world, which should be left nature... The worst use of his magic is that he uses it to control and manipulate all the main characters in the play except Miranda... Caliban and Ariel are enslaved under threats of cruel punishments by Prospero. Ferdinand’s character is demeaned as he is forced to do menial tasks while he is Prospero's prisoner Alonzo, Sebastian and Antonio are driven into madness. Stephano and Trinculo are tormented by Prospero’s spirits. The sailors are confined, fast asleep, below decks these are definitely not the acts of a magnanimous but a ruler who wants to colonise by power and not divine right.
So, is Prospero a magnanimous ruler or a sadistic oppressive colonizer....?
While prospero was in Milan he was the divine ruler, his people loved him and this was all done without the aid of magic to control people. However, when prospero arrives on the island he tries to take it by force off the original inhabitants and from Caliban, who is the ruler by right. The way in which he beats Caliban is cruel and the fact that he keeps everyone under control by force is an act of an oppressive coloniser. This is nothing short of what the European colonisers did to the native Americans.
While Prospero is in Milan he has the divine right to govern and is a magnanimous ruler, but while on the island he thinks he is doing what is best, not what is right, and so has become in effect an oppressive ruler and coloniser who keeps people under his control force fully.
.
