Prospero is one of Shakespeare’s more mysterious protagonists. He is a sympathetic character because of how his brother, Antonio, usurped his dukedom and exiled him and his daughter from Milan. On the other hand, Prospero is very hard to like. His control of Miranda, Ariel and Caliban make portray him as a merciless dictator. In Act II, scene i, we are introduced to all three relationships (Prospero-Miranda, Prospero-Ariel, Prospero-Caliban) and Prospero’s need to control them unquestioningly. Prospero uses the past to control the present by recounting previous events in which Prospero in a way saved the other’s life. First, he tells Miranda how they had to flee Milan when she was an infant or else they would both die. He repeatedly insists that Miranda pay attention to his story. Next, we are introduced to Ariel, whom Prospero has enslaved after rescuing from his imprisonment in a pine tree. Ariel, a spirit, uses his powers to do Prospero’s bidding, such as conjuring the storm form Act I. Ariel serves Prospero eagerly, but when Ariel reminds Prospero about his promise to remove a year of service from Ariel’s servitude, Prospero lashes out angrily. Again, he tells a story of how he saved Ariel and that he will not be questioned. Ariel complies with Prospero, allowing him to assert his power of Ariel. Finally, Prospero’s other slave, Caliban, enters cursing him. Prospero attempts to use his language and history to control Caliban, but it has no effect. Prospero uses his magic to torture Caliban, forcing him to be his slave.
Another element of Prospero that makes him difficult to like is his hypocrisy in his quest for justice. The idea of justice is subjective, since it is Prospero’s view on it that controls the fate of the other characters. He despises Antonio, Sebastian and Alonso for his exile and demands revenge, yet he takes no issue with enslaving Ariel and Caliban. His sense of justice is one sided and only pertains to what is best for himself.
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