The Tempest: a Blessing or a Curse?

823 Words4 Pages
In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Prospero brews up a storm that throws the passengers into a strange island, surrounded by music and magic. At first, many characters think of the tempest as a curse, and that they would all die, but many characters had faith. Gonzalo reassured Alonso countless times that Ferdinand, his son who had been thrown into a different part of the island, was still alive. It also is the first step of Prospero’s spirit, Ariel, to be freed, as he must complete a series of quests regarding the tempest’s effects on the characters, and once he does, he will no longer have to be under Prospero’s rule. In the end, Prospero breaks the chain of being, which sets a new platform for the near abandoned island. The tempest that Prospero created was ultimately a blessing because it found Miranda love, set Ariel free, and broke the chain of being. The tempest turned out to pair up Ferdinand and Miranda, who would go on to get married. When Miranda hears news of the tempest made by Ariel, she is upset with her father, not understanding why he would do this. Little did she know, he was doing it all for her. Since she has lived on the island for practically her whole life, she has never had the opportunity to see another man besides her father, which is confirmed on page 43, line 498, when she says, “I might call him a thing divine, for nothing natural I ever saw so noble.” Prospero managed to make a storm that throws the passengers of course and scattered throughout the island, leading Ferdinand, Alonso’s son, to him and his daughter. It is here that Prospero tests Ferdinand’s worthiness, and in the end, Ferdinand and Miranda end up married. Due to the tempest, Miranda finds true love, and so for her, it was a blessing. Ariel has been under Prospero’s control for years, but by the end of the story, he is eventually freed. Ariel was rescued by Prospero from a
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