How would you characterize Prospero based upon what you have read so far in Act 1? Give a brief character analysis of him, and be sure to include specific examples from the reading. For example, if you think Prospero is generous, give evidence.
Response is due Friday, October 8. Write a minimum of 6 sentences and be sure to use textual evidence in your response. Please do not just steal ideas from your classmates! Be original! Feel free to respond to each other's comments.
I think that Prospero is very kind to Miranda yet cruel, arrogant and doesn't care what they think, or how they might feel. With Miranda, his kindness is expected because she is his daughter. Yet he continually talks to her as if she was still a child, so his kindness towards her is only out of his love for the childlike ignorance in her. He shows his more bossy, rude, and arrogant side when he is speaking to Ariel. He shows that he has no mercy on his enemies, he only spares them to torture them further.He also shows no kindness towards his favorite servant when he asks for what Prospero promised. Showing that he really had no intention of fulfilling this promise.
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ReplyDeleteI think Prospero treats Miranda very kindly because he knows that he doesn't have much anymore besides her. He's lost his throne to his brother and he was sent to this island. Prospero shows the other side of him when he is talking to Ariel. He told her that he would lower her service time by one year if he did what Prospero asked. Ariel did it, and Prospero didn't agree. Prospero had no plans to hold up his end of the deal, which showed his more arrogant and ignorant side.
I think Prospero is a nice guy, other than getting revenge on the royalists. But If I was put in Prospero shoes I probably would have done the same thing because his brother shouldn’t have stolen the thrown. Especially since Prospero was nice enough, trying to share it. Prospero did everything he could to make his daughter happy. If I was her I would be mad because I would have wanted to know earlier. Overall I think Prospero is kind but yet mean and revengeful.
ReplyDeleteProspero can be characterized from two angels. The first is that he is a nice magician. We see this side of him when he is with his daughter. He raised her on this island he treated her right and gave her a proper schooling. However the other side of him is cruel and vengeful. We witness his vengeful side when he congers a storm to trap his brother on the island. His brother stole his land though so I can actually understand him wanting revenge on that one. We witness the cruelty when he is talking to Caliban. He treats Caliban so poorly when his only crime is trying to repopulate, and Prospero did steal the island from Caliban, and since his brother stole his land you would think Prospero would know better than to do the same thing to somebody else. This characterization is how I feel about the character Prospero it might change by the end of the play though…
ReplyDeleteI think Prospero in my mind is a generaly cruel person. He spares his enemies lives but to only torture them futher. He makes it so that Antonio thinks his son is dead. At the same time Ferdinan think he is the only survivor of the wreck. He also keeps Ariel and caliban as his servants against their will. That just makes him a cruel and spiteful person.
ReplyDeleteProspero is a very determined and clever person. His actions ever since he was usurped from the throne have been planned. Even in the face of hopelessness, he didn't give up. He's also a very vengeful soul. After twelve years you should be able to get over a little mishap. Really, he has his own island. Sure his daughter is kind of isolated, but if he wanted to, he could probably make a boat and sail back to Italy. Although he is full of vengance he is also a very kind person. He could have killed everyone on the ship, however, he let them live.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I think that Prospero is a pretty decent guy. The reason I think this is because he raised his daughter, Miranda, basically all by himself on an island for twelve years and treated her very well. Another reason is because he was a duke and trusted his brother, Antonio, to help him rule and Antonio betrayed him and stole all of him power. So Prospero got revenge on him by creating a storm and trapping the royalty. Then to make it worse, following Prospero orders, Ariel sets the ship on fire and then when they jumped I n the water, to get rid of the fire, they came out and their clothes were clean and crisp.So in a way Prospero is a bit cruel and mean, but if someone I trusted did, just stabbed me in the back like that, I would want to take revenge on them too.
ReplyDeleteProspero is a bitter figure who will stop at nothing to reclaim what was rightfully his. He uses his arcane magic to enslave Ariel to his will and employs him as just a means to his revenge. He strands the guilty party on his ill-gotten island with no regard to the innocents aboard the ship who have done him no wrong. Prospero's only love is his daughter Miranda, but he keeps her an ignorant child by blinding her to their past and the world around her. He punishes the brute Caliban for violating Miranda, even though Caliban was only doing what he believed was proper. This shows a blind arrogance in Prospero's character. Only he can know all that is occurring. He is a true philosopher in that he left his people for his books and didn't care for anything else. His brother ousted him from the throne and Prospero wants vindication. But I don't think he deserves it.
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ReplyDeleteI think that at times Prospero can act cruel however he does have a calm caring side to him. If my brother took advantage of me and my power I would have acted the same way he did. To take something someone was willing to share with you out of kindness is totally wrong, especially his own brother. In that case I would have used my magical powers to put revenge back on him and everyone. His daughter Miranda, because of his brother’s selfishness has to suffer. With no life on a disserted island, Prospero tries to give her as a father the best life he could offer with such a little he has. Prospero can have a temper and cruel actions at times; however they all have some kind of reasonable reason. Unlike his brother (whose power went right to his head) he didn’t abuse it.
I think Prospero is the way he is because he's doing what he thinks needs to be done to get back to where he was. Being the duke. He is using the resources around him which happened to be Caliban and Ariel. But he is using them for a good cause but they don't see it that way. Yes, he is making them his slaves but he has a propose that is right behind what seems evil to most people. None of this would be this way if he was never removed from the kingdom. I see what he's doing as a good deed compared to what happened to him in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI feel that prospero is a nice man, with downfalls. He is caring for Miranda, yet at the same time he is trying to control her. Prospero however, does not have any pity for his enemies. Such as Antonio, Prospero trapped royalty on his island to get revenge on them. I feel that, that act is cruel. He shouldn't want to torture his enemies, although I think he feels they deserve it.
ReplyDeleteI believe Propero is generous to Miranda, Ariel, and Caliban. In the play, he protects Miranda from the truth until she is old enough to understand the whole situation. Also, he saves Ariel's life, even though he is a slave right now he'll be set free soon, without Prospero Ariel would be dead. Caliban is a wild animal, and Prospero raised him into being like a human. They all live together, Prospero could have just killed him and ate him for dinner. It may seem like Prospero is cruel to the royal group, but any other person would want revenge on them if it was their throne that was stolen. I think Prospero's feelings are normal for wanting to get back at them because they have not only ruined his life, but also Miranda's.
ReplyDeleteI would characterize Prospero as someone who strongly believes in revenge. Since the fued between him and his brother, he has wanted nothing more than to seek revenge on him. Prospero purposely sets up Meranda and Ferdinan to meet each other. I believe this is some way to get back at his brother who turned against him because it will put royalty back in the family. Also, the situation with Caliban shows that once he makes up his mind and has an opinion, it doesnt change. For example, Caliban tried to rape Meranda, seeing nothing wrong with that, and ever since he has been treated poorly. That is what I think of Prospero's character.
ReplyDeleteAJP14
ReplyDeleteI think that Prospero is an overall good person. He raised his daughter Miranda with no help which showed his patience. However, there is a part of him that is bitter. He wants revenge on his brother, Antonio, for taking over his powers as Duke. Prospero could also be described as having a weakness in his judgement. He treats Caliban very poorly because of the incident with Miranda and is blind to the fact that Caliban has the nature of an animal and doesn't know any better.
I would say Prospero is a good father. He treats his daughter Miranda very kindly. He has also shown a diffrent personality to the others on the island though. He showed rudeness by freeing ariel at one point but keeping him as his slave, he makes Antonio believe his son is dead and crashes the ship his enemies were on. Overall i would characterize Prospero as being a good guy from seeing mostly good things from him from what we had read so far.
ReplyDeleteProspero is many things, but to me he inteligent. Prospero tought himself to do majic witch helps him crash his enemies on his island. Also he came up with a plan to get back at all the people who kicked him out of his old kindom. To me that would take alot of thinking and preperation for all of that to work. Prospero has a doughter who he tought her everything, and even he has two slaves. For anyone to accomplish all of these thing they would have to be very inteligent.
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dukefan04
ReplyDeleteI think that Prospero is mainly focused on getting revenge. He isn't very caring twards anybody except Miranda. All he wants is to get back what he had. He won't stop until he is duke again. He even makes people his slaves for 12 years. The royalty that he makes crash on to the island, he tourtures.
I think that Prospero is a bad guy. He creates a storm to get his enemies on the island,so he can torture them. Prospero knows that if Miranda sees Ferdinand that she will fall in love with him. He knows that Ferdinand will be king of Naples one day. Prospero is basically just using his daughter to get back into the royal family. Prospero only brings his enemies to the island because he wants to watch them suffer. He makes Caliban and Ariel be his servants because he saved them. I believe that Prospero is not a good guy.
ReplyDeleteI think Prospero is a good guy who just gave in to human nature. When someone does us wrong, we naturally think to get revenge on them. He has been trapped on an island at the fault of his own brother for 12 years. Two wrongs do not make a right. At this point there's not much else he has to do except for think of ways to get revenge. He even told his daughter the truth because he felt he owed it to her. He could have easily kept her in the dark forever.
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I believe that Prospero is a good guy but just very strict. He wants things to go his way on his island so he bosses Ariel and Caliban around. Hes not generous to the anyone and he is very selfish and will not give anyone a break. For example, Caliban doesn't realize that trying to rape his daughter was such a bad thing and he will not free Ariel though he is doing all that Prospero is telling him to do. Prospero is also very vendictive. He is doing all he can to get his revenge on the royalty. He is also out to get revenge on Caliban for trying to rape Miranda. This is how i see Prospero's character.
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