Prospero's Use Of Magic In The Tempest

In William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the main character, Prospero, uses magic throughout the play to fulfill his plans for revenge and regain the power of his dukedom. His magic is seen in his control of Ariel and Caliban, as well as his ability to create a storm at sea that causes King Alonso’s ship to crash. However, by the end of the play, Prospero has decided to give up his magic, now being fulfilled with the power of his returned dukedom. In 5.1, Prospero delivers a soliloquy discussing his magic and his act of surrendering them. There are multiple ways to consider the tone of Prospero’s reflection. On the one hand, it could be an appreciative reflection on his mastery of magic. On the other hand, it could be portrayed as a negative reflection, …show more content…
The delivery would emphasize some words more to create this sense of pride. At the beginning of his soliloquy, Prospero lists off many abilities that he has learned to do with his magic. In saying each of these experiences, the actor portraying Prospero could emphasize especially the verbs and the possessive adjectives to show the actions that Prospero himself as taken. For example, in the lines “have I given fire, and rifted Jove’s stout oak / …graves at my command / have waked their sleepers…,” the actor portraying Prospero would emphasize ‘have I given’ and ‘at my command’ (V.I. 54, 57-58). The emphasis on these two phrases both work to show Prospero’s ownership over his actions. They also show how Prospero could control natural actions at his own will, even teaching himself. Prospero’s emphasis could be achieved with a raise in tone or hand gestures. Prospero’s tone throughout would sound in awe of all the things he has done, but during these parts, he could sound especially prideful that it has been he himself who has had these mighty powers. Prospero could almost be in disbelief that he has could accomplish so much through his own studies. Additionally, these phrases could be emphasized with gestures, referencing back to staging choices. For example, the actor portraying Prospero could make gestures like those used to execute that particular spell, or open one of the many books in the room, as if they were helping to trigger that memory with something written inside. These gestures would call attention to the words and involve other aspects of the staging to provide a complete performance. These choices in delivery and ways to emphasize parts of the speech would help the audience see Prospero’s abilities as his own, as well as capturing Prospero’s prideful final reflections on the ways he has used