The Tempest: Illusion vs. Reality

The main setting of the play is on an island, although not created by Prospero, he has much control over it. Through his various spirits, and their leader Ariel, Prospero generates most of the action of the play. In this way Shakespeare creates the world of illusion. However, mixed in with these illusions is also reality and often characters find it hard drawing a line between the two. One example of this is the meeting of Ferdinand and Miranda. Ferdinand is going into the situation with an altered sense of reality. Because of the storm, he believes himself to be the only survivor from the ship and therefore the King of Naples. Also through the guises of Ariel he is seeing Miranda as if she were a goddess, a surreal being. However, Prospero is not in complete control. As he

However, in other situations, characters are not as perceptive as Ferdinand. An example of this is the case of Caliban with the drunken servants of Alonso, Stephano and Trinculo. Because of their initial drunkard actions, Caliban believes them to be spirits of Prospero, here to torment him for being slow. When Stephano gives him some of his wine in hopes to calm him down, it only furthers Caliban’s belief, now believing them great spirits or god’s, perhaps even greater than that of his master, Prospero. The mistaken reality of the situation is apparent on both sides. While Caliban believes the two men to be gods, Stephano perceive Prospero to be simply a man, who can be overcome by deception. Through this dual misconception, the party goes to the cell of Prospero in hopes to kill him, led on by the lies of Caliban. They travel too in a sense of often humorous illusion, with Stephano often referring to Caliban as his lieutenant and other military posts. However, Prospero again demonstrates his control over the situation (although it is unknown whether he himself instigated the circumstances by allowing Caliban to meet Stephano and Trinculo) by delaying their progress until he can deal with them properly. However, when Prospero does finally catch the three in their plot, he shows mercy. Instead of killing them, he returns St

Some topics in this essay:
Caliban Prospero, Stephano Trinculo, King Naples, Tempest Shakespeare, Ariel Prospero, Miranda Ferdinand, stephano trinculo, ability perceive reality, judging actions, caliban believes, ability perceive, perceive reality, play shakespeare, nature caliban,