In act five, scene one, Prospero has everyone under his control and the conclusion of the book rests in Prospero’s use of power. Having all this power almost gives Prospero the sense of a God-like figure. This is a reference to earlier scenes between Ferdinand and Miranda, where Miranda refers to Ferdinand as ”A thing divine“ and Ferdinand calls Miranda a ”goddess“ in act one, scene two. When Prospero says ”They being penitent“ this gives Prospero another parallel with God, by using penitence in this pagan play. The continuation of Prospero’s parallel with God-like creatures continues as he says ”graves at my command / Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let ‘em forth / By my so potent art“. Here Prospero allays his art with the power of hubris which is carried out only by Jesus. This demonstrates that he can use his art for better or good and has experimented with his art both directions.
Act five opens with the line ”Now does my project gather to a head“. ”My Project“ suggests a planned task on Prospero’s part using his ”art.“ This line hints to us that Prospero had already planned for a decision to be made. If this is the case then Prospero’s forgiveness could be made to seem less admirable, than if he had no choice but to make the decision.
Prospero’s decision to choose virtue over vengeance could have been foreseen, and therefore is far less complex to make if everything in ‘The Tempest’ is a product of Prospero’s brain and imagination. This idea shows a close link between Shakespeare and Prospero as all of Shakespeare’s work is the product of his creativity, which could mirror Prospero and mean that all of his world and art is also the result of his brain. This could be the reason why Prospero looks at life as if it is a trivial sequence of events in act four, scene one; ”We are such stuff / As dreams are made on; and our little life / Is rounded with a sleep“. Prospero here shows that he, as all humans, is fundamentally mortal, holding a gentle tolerance of life. This offers an explanation as to why Prospero does favour virtue over vengeance as his creativity is dying and his art is too tired to take the route of vengeance so late in life.
In making his decision, Prospero needs to take into account the consequences of his actions concerning Ariel and Caliban. Throughout the play Prospero promises Ariel freedom ”Do so, and after two days / I will discharge thee“, act one, scene two. Ariel will be no more once released from Prospero’s grasp; “I drink the air before me, and return / Or ere your pulse beat twice“. From this we do not know whether Prospero’s choice of virtue is a reward for Ariel as he becomes nothing more than air. Caliban is affected in a different way, and Prospero’s treatment of Caliban is not completely explained. It does not become clear whether Caliban leaves the island with Prospero or stays on the primitive island he is familiar with. Caliban’s release from Prospero is, in a way, almost a punishment as Caliban knows nothing more than to serve a master, and freedom for him is having a new master. We see this in act two, scene two with ” Ban, Ban, Cacaliban / Has a new master – get a new man! Freedom, high-day! High-day, freedom! Freedom / High-day freedom!“
In ’The Tempest‘, Ariel, although being a lower status than Prospero, as he is merely a spirit of the air, is able to offer advice to Prospero. ”Mine would, Sir, were I human“, act five, scene one, line 19. Here, Prospero’s humanity is challenged as Prospero listens to what would be the human emotions belonging to an ”airy spirit“. This leads us to question how much emotion is within Prospero as Ariel seems almost incapable of feeling human emotion in act four, scene one, line 48 with ”Do you love me, Master? No?“ Here it would become apparent that Ariel does not feel any emotion, rather a desire to be loved. For this reason it seems ambiguous that Prospero should listen and act on the somewhat emotional advice of Ariel.
I believe that the lines ”The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance“ are pivotal to the text in more than one way. The most obvious way is that the finality of the play would be considerably different had Prospero chosen to reap revenge on his brother for taking his dukedom from him. However, the lines are also pivotal on a more discreet level. ‘The Tempest’ was Shakespeare’s last completed play, which is most likely the reason for the character of Prospero who shares several of Shakespeare’s qualities but on different levels. At the end of ‘The Tempest’, Prospero is an old man, which may have softened him, which is why we may think that he chooses forgiveness; as it is an easier route than vengeance. I believe that it is in fact, the voice of Shakespeare that comes across, disguised by Prospero where Prospero opts for forgiveness. Prospero recognises that he has the chance to cleanse society when given the opportunity for revenge, but he chooses not to act on it, as he recognises that he is also part of the tarnished society. Instead of cleansing society, he almost withdraws himself from it, as Shakespeare did in the literary world. Prospero stopped using his ”art“ just as Shakespeare stopped his writing, which is his art. At the end of the play Prospero is able to forgive and move on where ”every third thought shall be my grave“, and Shakespeare stops writing and by doing so preserves his magic in his works.
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