Prospero--magician. Right Duke of Milan who let his brother take over governing so he could study magic. (Reason dictated that he should have been governing rathering than studying all the time.  Prospero had been out of balance). Prospero's brother took over and kicked him out and Prospero was exiled to an island in the Mediterrean Sea somewhere between Tunis and Naples.  Shakespeare may have gotten the idea for a shipwreak from a famous incident that had occurred in 1609.  A ship bound to Virginia was blown off course & wrecked on a deserted island in Bermuda, where they survived for 10 months until their rescue.

During the time of the play, England was colonizing the world. In the play, Antoinio takes over Prospero's land. Prospero had already taken over form Caliban, the son of the hag (witch) who originally controlled the island.
 

• Caliban.  The image of Caliban (ie. The native population of the island) is negative and justifies colonization by the English. He is sub-human.   After Colombus, the church had to decide whether the natives were human and thus had souls worth saving. Caliban is flesh without spirit, and represents the element earth.  From the theory of humors, we expect Caliban to be melancholic, meaning "depressed, tending to depress the spirits, irascible, sad, saddening."  He's especially irascible
• Ariel.   Ariel is spirit without flesh (representing the element air).  According to the theory of humors, we expect him to be sanguine, meaning "sturdy, confident, optimistic, cheerful, happy."  Prospero finds Ariel imprisoned on the island and frees him, again justifying western intervention and colonization.  The islanders did not know how to rule themselves & needed Prospero to bring them civilization and good government.

Act I, Scene II, Line 267~ Caliban is subhuman, so it is okay for him to be kept in service. "Littered" means to be born like an animal.
 

• Dream~Ariel--represents air. He/She is the fairy who performs magic for Prospero.
• Nightmare~Caliban--creature of the Earth. He is "Chthonic"--risen from the earth, from below and is a servant/slave. He hates Prospero and curses him. (Sycorax is his mother. Ho taught Prospero about the island, and where to find food. Prospero taught him about the sun and the moon and how to talk. Prospero thought him to be ignorant because he could not understand his language. He has nightmares because Caliban wants Prospero's daughter, a European.

 Act I, Scene II, Line 307-320

Notice that he calls Caliban "Thou earth," Caliban's element.  Prospero doesn't like Caliban, but who else is there to fetch wood, make fire, etc.?

 Act I, Scene II, Line 307-320
Caliban at least gets to make his point - he's gone from being the king of his island to a slave, kept in a sty and not allowed to eat his supper until the master's finished with him.

 Act I, Scene ii, Line 439
Miranda and Ferdinand - Love at first site. Prospero pretends to disapprove. He wants to test Ferdinand. Prospero is a puppet-master and creates action through Ariel.  He is so firmly in control that the schemes of others never have a chance.  Prospero governs the action with a firm but gentle hand, keeping the action from spinning out of control as it might without him.

Act II, Scene i, Line 143

Gonzalo dreams of making this island his plantation, i.e., of colonizing it.

 Act II, Scene i, Line 147
Gonzalo talks about his utopia.

 Act II, Scene ii, Line 73
 Caliban worships Sebastian and Antonia because they get him drunk. He wants them to be his kings - he's  naturally just a slave, making enslaving him OK.

 Act II, Scene ii, Line 185
Caliban mistakenly thinks serving them will be better than serving Prospero.  He's singing "Freedom, Heyday! Heyday, freedom!" while they plot to take him back to Europe & display him.

 Act III, Scene iii, Line 40ff
Explorers  came back with accounts of all kinds of unusual creatures & unusual people.  The Ewaipanoma had no heads; their eyes were in their shoulders, their mouths on their stomachs.

Act V, Scene i, Line 182

Miranda O, wonder!
        How many goodly creatures are there here!
        How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
        That has such people in't!
Prospero 'Tis new to thee.

The End~Prospero reveals himself to the king. Tells his brother that he will forgive him. He frees Ariel and Prospero leaves the island.

Reason controls passion because Prospero is controlling all of the action.

Prospero gives several speeches that some see as farewell to the stage.

IV. i. 146.
        You do look, my son, in a moved sort,
        As if you were dismay'd: be cheerful, sir.
        Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
        As I foretold you, were all spirits and
        Are melted into air, into thin air:
        And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
        The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
        The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
        Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve
        And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
        Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
        As dreams are made on, and our little life
        Is rounded with a sleep. Sir, I am vex'd;
        Bear with my weakness; my, brain is troubled:
        Be not disturb'd with my infirmity:
        If you be pleased, retire into my cell
        And there repose: a turn or two I'll walk,

V. v. 34

        Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,
        And ye that on the sands with printless foot
        Do chase the ebbing Neptune and do fly him
        When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
        By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
        Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime
        Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
        To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,
        Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimm'd
        The noontide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds,
        And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault
        Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder
        Have I given fire and rifted Jove's stout oak
        With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
        Have I made shake and by the spurs pluck'd up
        The pine and cedar: graves at my command
        Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let 'em forth
        By my so potent art. But this rough magic
        I here abjure, and, when I have required
        Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
        To work mine end upon their senses that
        This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
        Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
        And deeper than did ever plummet sound
        I'll drown my book.
 

EPILOGUE
                Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
                And what strength I have's mine own,
                Which is most faint: now, 'tis true,
                I must be here confined by you,
                Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
                Since I have my dukedom got
                And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell
                In this bare island by your spell;
                But release me from my bands
                With the help of your good hands:
                Gentle breath of yours my sails
                Must fill, or else my project fails,
                Which was to please. Now I want
                Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
                And my ending is despair,
                Unless I be relieved by prayer,
                Which pierces so that it assaults
                Mercy itself and frees all faults.
                As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
                Let your indulgence set me free. Exit
 

Sonnet 116

all the world changes but love does not.
Line 3 Love is not true if it changes when the person loved is altered or ages.
Fidelity~Good looks will fade, but love remains if it is true.

"Blazon"-a poetic device which describes the various parts of a person.  It's especially popular in sonnet writing.  Bugs Bunny's friend Pepe le Peue is very fond of the blazon - your eyes are like limpid pools, your teeth are like pearls, etc.

Blonde hair and white skin represented purity. Her hair is described as black wires; her skin as brown.

This poem is a satire- it is making fun of the conventional poetic description of ladies.
Dark Lady- she may be his mistress, or evil. Ironic blazon - cuts her down.

 Sonnet 138~

A married man is having an affair but expects his mistress and wife not to sleep with anyone else.
He knows she is lying to him; and thinks he is naive.
Both are lying-she is when she she's telling the truth; he-when he says he believes her:

They observe the formalities of romance.  They are acting out a plot where they pretend that she is faithful & that he is young.  Their theme song should be, "Third Rate Romance, Low Rent Rendezvoux."

The last lines are a play on words.  "Lie" has two meanings - to have sex with, and to tell an untruth.  

They cover their faults with lies to make each other happy.