Betrayal by loved ones is devastating to a person, and no one experienced more of it than Prospero in "The Tempest".

by rjaganna25studentsd125org (student)

The Tempest

Question: Who has the most valid claim that they have been most wronged by others?

Betrayal by loved ones is devastating to a person, and no one experienced more of it than Prospero in The Tempest by Shakespeare. Prospero was the former duke of Milan, but was betrayed and overthrown by his own brother, and was forced to sail away, ending up on a desolate island with his infant daughter, Miranda. On the island, he met and raised a young creature named Caliban, who was the son of the witch who previously inhabited the island; this creature grew into a monster who attempted to rape Miranda and tried to kill Prospero. After years of living on the island, Prospero uses his magical powers and his magical servant to take revenge on all those who had wronged him by stranding them on hisisland so that they would be at his mercy; however, in the end, he simply ends up forgiving them. Prospero has the most valid claim that he has been wronged, because although he had close relationships with people he loved and trusted, these people made him the victim of several betrayals, which ruined his quality of life by taking away his power and endangering his daughter.

Caliban was one character who wronged Prospero by taking advantage of his trust in him and their close relationship to harm Prospero’s daughter for his own evil intentions. Caliban was a creature who inhabited the island that Prospero came to, who was left stranded to fend for himself after his mother, the strong witch Sycorax, was banished. When Prospero came to the island first, he was the first person he met and saved besides Ariel. When Prospero is discussing his arrival to the island with Ariel, he states, “Then was this island (save for the son she did litter here, a freckled whelp, hag-born) not honored with a human shape (Shakespeare, 1.2. 334-337).” Prospero described Caliban as a “whelp” in this discussion, whelp meaning a baby. Caliban, as a baby, was left on the island alone by his mother Sycorax, without a single human left to take care of him. Thus, Prospero found Caliban in a deadly situation when he arrived on the island. Prospero, when he did find Caliban in this situation, decided to help him and save his life out of the goodness of his heart. Propero, when accusing Caliban of lying when he assigned guilt to Prospero for his situation, brings up the point that, “I have used thee, filth as thou art, with humane care, and lodged thee in mine own cell. (1.2.413-417)” Prospero said he treated Caliban with “humane care,” and that he also said “lodged thee in mine own cell,” meaning that he saved Caliban as a baby by taking him into his own home and taking care of him, meaning Caliban and Prospero probably developed affection for each other in a father-son relationship. However, after Prospero brings up this point, he says, “Till thou didst seek to violate the honor of my child (1.2. 415-417).” Prospero pointed out that because Caliban raped his daughter, Prospero would no longer care for him. Caliban’s actions and Prospero’s words show how huge Caliban’s betrayal of Prospero’s trust was; Prospero saved Caliban as a baby, and lodged him, and they forged a deep connection where Prospero trusted him. However, Prospero’s trust was taken advantage of and Caliban attempted to harm his daughter out of his evil intentions. What makes this offense worse is how Caliban responded to Prospero’s accusation, by saying, “O ho, O ho! Would’t have been done (1.2.419-420)!” When Caliban laughed (O ho, O ho!), it shows how Caliban truly did not take Prospero’s accusation seriously, and didn’t care about his opinion or Miranda’s safety. This emphasizes the breach of Prospero’s trust. Also, Caliban says, “Would’t have been done,” meaning he wished Prospero did not prevent him from raping his daughter, further emphasizing Caliban’s lack of respect for Prospero’s deep trust and especially Miranda herself. Caliban’s grave betrayal of a once trusting and loving Prospero endangered his daughter and ruined their relationship.

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Antonio was another character who betrayed Prospero, taking advantage of their close relationship and his trust in him given by their brotherhood to steal Prospero’s rightful power and his kingdom, which ruined his quality of life by taking away his power. When Prospero is finally telling Miranda about how they ended up on the island, and their backstory, he first tells Miranda about his brother, Antonio. He says, “My brother… he whom next thyself of all the world I loved, and to him put the manage of my state… rapt in secret studies (1.2.86-95).” Prospero mentions, “ next thyself of all the world I loved,” meaning that next to Miranda, Prospero’s own daughter, who throughout the book is the one character that Prospero wants to protect, he loved his brother more than anything else in the world. Prospero also tells Miranda that, “to him put the manage of my state…rapt in secret studies,” meaning that Prospero gave his dukedom to Antonio temporarily while he was studying magic. The amount of trust Prospero demonstrated in Antonio with this action is huge; he trusted Antonio to take over all the responsibilities of the Duke of Milan, but more importantly, he trusted Antonio with all that power given to him. Prospero trusted Antonio with so much power while he was off studying, meaning that he believed Antonio would not be corrupted by it, or abuse it. However, this deep trust was not placed in the right person, because Antonio ended up betraying this deep trust put in him by Prospero. When Prospero is informing Miranda about his fall from power, he tells her, “His needs will be absolute Milan…Now the condition. This King of Naples, being an enemy to me inverterate…much tribute, should presently extirpate me and mine out of the kingdom, and confer fair Milan, with all its honors, on my brother (1.2. 129-151).” Prospero is saying that his ambitious brother paid the King of Naples, Prospero’s enemy, to help Antonio overthrow Prospero and take over Milan. One thing Prospero said here was, “His needs will be absolute Milan,” meaning that Antonio, once he was given temporary power over Milan, needed to acquire all of it. Therefore, it is obvious that Antonio was greedy and over ambitious when he was given power by Prospero. Next, Prospero also remarked, “This King of Naples, being an enemy to me inverterate…much tribute, should presently extirpate me and mine out of the kingdom.” The greed and over ambitiousness of Antonio led him to team up with his own brother’s known and long-established enemy to kick him out, thus exhibiting a lack of love and trust from Antonio’s side of his relationship with Prospero, because he would rather serve his brother’s enemy and kick out Prospero in an attempt to gain power than stay on his brother’s side. In the meanwhile, as demonstrated in the last quote, Prospero loved and believed in Antonio deeply while he was away studying, expecting the best of him, while he received the worst. This extirpation of Prospero led to the quality of his life being ruined, as his power was stripped from him and he could no longer rule over Milan. Instead, he was forced to live on a desolate island. When Prospero is explaining to Alonso how he ended up on the island, he says, “Thrust forth of Milan, who most strangely upon this shore, where you were wracked, was landed… Welcome, sir. This cell’s my court. Here I have few attendants and subjects none abroad (5.1.186-195).” Prospero mentioned how he has, “few attendants and subjects none abroad.” He is referring to his lack of power and how desolate this island is compared to how he had so much power over so many people in Milan. Having to live on a desolate island where Prospero had no subjects ruined the quality of life for him, because he had rightful power in Milan. Prospero was a leader who loved his power in Milan, and this was stolen from him by Antonio, making his lifestyle the opposite of the one he loved. Antonio’s capitalization on Prospero’s trust and their close relationship to steal his power and kingdom was a devastating betrayal that ruined Prospero’s quality of life.

In conclusion, Prospero is the most wronged character in The Tempest because of the two betrayals that devastated him and his loved ones. Caliban’s betrayal led to Miranda being endangered for his own evil intentions, and this betrayal is worse when the facts that Prospero saved Caliban from almost certain death and that they had a father-son relationship at one point are taken into consideration. Antonio’s betrayal of Prospero led to his fall from power and ruined his quality of life, and Antonio and Prospero had a very close relationship with love and trust before that because of their brotherhood. Two of Prospero’s closest friends ended up betraying him, and ended up ruining his life, taking away his power, and endangering his daughter in the process, making Prospero the most wronged character in the play.

Your essay needs to include:

-A complex claim that directly answers the question.

-Textual evidence from multiple acts in the play. You cannot use evidence from 1.2

-Multiple paragraphs in which you properly develop context for your quotes, provide relevant evidence, and analyze your evidence with specific warrants— WQEQ .

-An introduction, and conclusion.

Don’t have significantly more than 2000

Your essay needs to be submitted by the end of class on Thursday 12/9 on turnitin.com.

Freshman Accelerated English

Writing Argument Rubric