The Tempest (Act 1)

In The Tempest, Prospero shows a mastered understanding of manipulation. As seen in the first act he utilizes unique historical narratives to control the three “subjects” in play so far: Miranda (his daughter), and Ariel and Caliban (his slaves.)

As scene two opens in act one the reader is immediately informed of the so-called “history” that lays the foundation to the rest of the novel. Prospero shares with Miranda of their past and how they ended up on the island. Miranda inquires at the beginning of her father’s story, “You have often begun to tell me what I am, but stopped.” This suggests that Prospero has built up the story he is about to reveal to Miranda, making her slowly over time more susceptible to what he says. Prospero conveys a story to her that makes himself seem in deserve of her reverence and sympathy; which leads to control.

Ariel and Caliban also succumb to a similar control. When reminding Ariel of the witch he saved her from, Prospero tells Ariel, “Have you forgotten the torture I freed you from? ... I’ll have to tell the story again every month, since you seem to forget it.” This, much like in Miranda’s case, suggests that Prospero has been installing the story within Ariel for awhile now. Again by using sympathy and building reverence, Prospero is able to recruit the command of another subject.

In slight contrast, however, Caliban is told a history conveying self-fault and guilt. Prospero recalls, “I once took good care of you—piece of filth that you are—and let you stay in my own hut until you tried to rape my daughter.” More effective though, Prospero used fear to control him and maintain control. Caliban states, “I have to obey. He’s got such strong magic powers that he could conquer and enslave the god, Setebos, that my mother used to worship.”

Like we’ve been discussing in class, isolation is the key to these historical narratives. In The Tempest the characters are plotted on an isolated island in which the account for the past is conveyed by the sole figurehead, Prospero.