Prospero's Characterization

            Shakespeare characterizes Prospero to be an individual who is lost in a cloud of anger and revenge in Act 1 scene 2. As Prospero is referring to Antonio’s recent acquiring of dukedom in Milan, Prospero explains to his daughter, Miranda, the process of how Antonio managed to gain dukedom after Prospero lost that position. Throughout the monologue, Prospero repeats several phrases: “Dost thou attend me?” (Act 1, scene 2, 96), “Thou attend’st not” (Act 1, scene 2, 106), and “Dost thou hear?” (Act 1, scene 2, 126). The repetition in these phrases resembles how Prospero is carefully assessing Miranda in hoping for her to understand Prospero’s reasoning for why he lost his original position of dukedom. A vital phrase Prospero speaks within this scene is when he states his brother’s wellbeing by stating “Mark his condition and th’ event. Then tell me / If this might be a brother.” (Act 1, scene 1, 138-9). His anger towards Antonio is justified by his negative tone and the diction of “this” to resemble his brother.  

Shakespearean Comedy

            Shakespearean comedy is highly noticeable within Shakespeare’s The Tempest. In any of Shakespeare’s comedies, there must be a comic solution by the end of the play, which means that there must be a positive conclusion along with the disappearance of the pretenses and disguises that guided the play. In The Tempest, the protagonist, Prospero, destroys his magic staff and results in him wiping away the use of magic he used throughout the play. In this case, Prospero comes to his senses in order to retain his lost dukedom in which he originally lost in the beginning of the play for concentrating more on magic rather than his job.

            Shakespeare introduces a comic situation near the end of the play in which he defines Shakespearean comedy to its fulfillment. As King Alonso and his party are growing weary from searching for Ferdinand, they begin to visualize a banquet and thus become bewildered upon the perplexities and the unusual amounts of food that are presented to them. At this point, Shakespeare demonstrates a scene where people are charmed in a way that makes them visualize the banquet and makes the world convert into a makeshift dream. Both these examples exemplify Shakespeare’s main idea in constructing multiple plays, including The Tempest, to incorporate Shakespearean comedy.