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| Character | Prospero | |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Male | |
| Age Range(s) | Senior (>50) | |
| Type of monologue / Character is | Descriptive, Lamenting, Reminiscing life story/Telling a story | |
| Type | Dramatic | |
| Period | Renaissance | |
| Genre | Drama, Comedy | |
| Description | Prospero narrates his past to his daughter | |
| Location | ACT I, Scene 2 | |
Summary
The play starts with a storm hitting a ship that carries the King of Napes, Alonso, his son Ferdinand, Alonso's brother Sebastian and other characters. In the second scene we find Miranda with her father Prospero on the shore of an island close to the shipwreck. Miranda asks her father to help the people on the ship. After Prospero confesses that he is actually responsible for the shipwreck, he tells her the story of his and her past, of how they got to the island.
In this monologue Prospero tells Miranda how his brother Antonio, who is on the ship hit by the storm, conspired against him years before. Prospero used to be the Duke of Milan until his brother usurped his position with the help of the King of Naples and was forced to flee on a boat with her to save their lives.
In this monologue Prospero tells Miranda how his brother Antonio, who is on the ship hit by the storm, conspired against him years before. Prospero used to be the Duke of Milan until his brother usurped his position with the help of the King of Naples and was forced to flee on a boat with her to save their lives.
Written by Administrator
| Excerpt |
|---|
| PROSPERO My brother and thy uncle, call'd Antonio-- I pray thee, mark me--that a brother should Be so perfidious!--he whom next thyself Of all the world I loved and to him put The manage of my state; as at that time Through all the signories it was the first And Prospero the prime duke, being so reputed In dignity, and for the liberal arts Without a parallel; those being all my study, The government I cast upon my brother And to my state grew stranger, being transported And rapt in secret studies. Thy false uncle-- Dost thou attend me? [MIRANDA Sir, most heedfully.] PROSPERO Being once perfected how to grant suits, How to deny them, who to advance and who To trash for over-topping, new created The creatures that were mine, I say, or changed 'em, Or else new form'd 'em; having both the key Of officer and office, set all hearts i' the state To what tune pleased his ear; that now he was The ivy which had hid my princely trunk, And suck'd my verdure out on't. Thou attend'st not. [MIRANDA O, good sir, I do.] PROSPERO I pray thee, mark me. I, thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated To closeness and the bettering of my mind With that which, but by being so retired, O'er-prized all popular rate, in my false brother Awaked an evil nature; and my trust, Like a good parent, did beget of him A falsehood in its contrary as great As my trust was; which had indeed no limit, A confidence sans bound. He being thus lorded, Not only with what my revenue yielded, But what my power might else exact, like one Who having into truth, by telling of it, Made such a sinner of his memory, To credit his own lie, he did believe He was indeed the duke; out o' the substitution And executing the outward face of royalty, With all prerogative: hence his ambition growing-- Dost thou hear? [MIRANDA Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.] PROSPERO To have no screen between this part he play'd And him he play'd it for, he needs will be Absolute Milan. Me, poor man, my library Was dukedom large enough: of temporal royalties He thinks me now incapable; confederates-- So dry he was for sway--wi' the King of Naples To give him annual tribute, do him homage, Subject his coronet to his crown and bend The dukedom yet unbow'd--alas, poor Milan!-- To most ignoble stooping. |
