GCSE · English Literature · AQA · Spec 8702
The Tempest: power and authority
Prospero can conjure a storm that shipwrecks a king. Yet some of his most frightening moments are just words: a promise of cramps, a threat to split an oak.
Close reading · Act 1 Scene 2
How Prospero talks to the two he controls
First Ariel, the spirit who wants freedom. Then Caliban, who was born on the island. Tap each underlined phrase and ask: how is this keeping them obedient?
Tap an underlined phrase to see how it works. Try the Ariel lines first, then Caliban's.
Reading “My liberty.”
What to notice
Two words, no 'please', no 'master'. Ariel gets straight to the point.
Effect
The bluntness lets us hear Ariel's frustration: Ariel wants freedom and says so.
Meaning
Ariel's language mixes deference with frustration. Keep an eye on how Ariel's tone changes once Prospero pushes back.
Predict, then check
You've read the words. Now imagine them on a stage.
In one Royal Shakespeare Company performance of this scene, Ariel floats above Prospero. Who does that make seem more powerful?
Where the power comes from
Reason it through
Why does the most powerful man in the play give his magic away at the end?
First link · your turn
Start with the source. What actually gives Prospero his power?
Three ways to see it
Whose island is it?
Read each position on its own terms before you decide what you think.
Caliban was born on the island. Prospero now rules it. How can we read that?
Caliban's claim
Caliban, Act 1 Scene 2
- The island is his home: he was born there, and he claims it by right of his mother, Sycorax.
- Before Prospero came, he was his own king there.
- When Prospero and Miranda first arrived, he showed them how to survive there.
Prospero's position
What happens between them, as the play shows it
- Prospero and Miranda taught Caliban their language.
- After Caliban tried to hurt Miranda, Prospero enslaved him.
- Since then Prospero has forced Caliban to obey through threats of physical violence.
A colonial reading
An interpretation many scholars hold, not a fact about Shakespeare's intentions
- Colonialism means taking control of another country, occupying it with settlers and exploiting it economically. When Shakespeare was writing, England was beginning to build an empire with colonies in North America.
- Colonists brought their own laws and beliefs and taught their language to Indigenous people, which implies they believed themselves, and their language, superior.
- Many scholars read Caliban as representing Indigenous people controlled by colonists: he was born on the island, while Prospero arrives, takes control of its land, resources and people, and teaches Caliban his language.
Common ground
- All three start from the same facts: Caliban was born on the island, and Prospero now rules him.
Tap each position. Notice that the colonial reading doesn't add new events; it gives the same events a new meaning.
WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED
A quick recap of today's lesson.
How Prospero gets power, keeps it and finally gives it up, and whether he uses it well.
What you need to know
- Power means the ability to control others as well as influence events.
- Magic is the source of Prospero's power: only he and Ariel can perform it, and the other characters are completely powerless against it.
- Prospero rules Caliban through fear, threatening physical violence if he does not obey.
- Prospero keeps Ariel obedient with the threat of imprisonment in a tree and by reminding Ariel of the torment he freed Ariel from.
- Antonio usurped Prospero's dukedom, and Caliban and Sebastian both plot to gain power.
- Prospero is arguably both a victim of injustice (usurped by his brother) and a cause of it (exploiting Ariel and Caliban).
The big picture
Prospero is the most powerful character in The Tempest: his magic lets him direct every event on the island. In Act 1 Scene 2 he rules Caliban through fear and keeps Ariel obedient through threats and reminders, and his labels ('slave', 'malignant thing') show who he thinks is superior. Others want power too: Antonio usurped Milan, Sebastian plots for the throne of Naples, and Caliban plots to take back control. Prospero is arguably both a victim of injustice and a cause of it, until he forgives his enemies, frees Ariel and gives up his magic.
Key points
Worked example
Problem
How does Shakespeare use Caliban's words in Act 3 Scene 2 to show his desire for power? Use: "a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island." and "Thou shalt be lord of it, and I’ll serve thee."
⚠ Watch out
Treating Prospero as simply the good, rightful ruler because he was usurped. He was a victim of Antonio's injustice, and then he caused injustice himself by exploiting Ariel and Caliban. Your answer needs both halves.
Memory hook
Magic makes it, menace keeps it, 'master' and 'slave' label it, and in the end he drowns the book.
Check yourself
Name one way Prospero controls Ariel and one way he controls Caliban, with a phrase from Act 1 Scene 2 for each. Then decide: is he more victim or cause of injustice?
Flashcards
(14)What does 'power' mean?
Where does Prospero's power come from?
What does 'usurp' mean, and who does it in The Tempest?
How does Prospero rule Caliban?
What does calling Caliban 'slave' (six times in Act 1 Scene 2) emphasise?
Why do the honeycomb and bee comparisons work so well as threats?
What threat keeps Ariel obedient?
What does 'Thou liest, malignant thing!' do to Ariel?
Give two readings of Ariel's 'Pardon, master:'.
Why, most likely, does Prospero give up his magic?
What was the context of magic when The Tempest was first performed?
What is a colonial reading of The Tempest?
How does gender affect power in the play?
How does Prospero use his power well at the end?
Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.
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