ANALYSIS OFCHARACTERS

IN THE PLAY
THE TEMPEST

PROSPERO
Protagonist and father of Miranda
He was the Duke of Milan
Antonio, his brother made a
conspiracy with the Alonso the king of
Naples and forced him to flee in a
boat with his daughter
The honest Lord Gonzalo helped him
in his escape
He has spent 12 yrs in a an island with
the magic that gives him the power to
punish and forgive his enemies

MIRANDA
The daughter of Prospero
Miranda was brought to the island
at an early age and has never
seen any men other than her
father and Caliban
She falls in love with Ferdinand
She is compassionate, generous,
and loyal to her father
From her very first lines she
displays a meek and emotional
nature. O, I have suffered / With
those that I saw suffer! she says
of the shipwreck

ARIEL

Prosperos spirit helper

Rescued by Prospero from a long
imprisonment at the hands of the
witch Sycorax
able to travel the length of the
island in an instant and to change
shapes at will.
He carries out virtually every task
that Prospero needs accomplished
in the play.
He is the source of Prospero's
magical powers, causing the
tempest and many of the
conspiracies in the play, and works
for Prospero somewhat against his
will
He is an intelligent, capable
servant, and is finally freed by
Prospero for his devoted service

CALIBAN
Prosperos dark, earthy slave,
frequently referred to as a monster
by the other characters
Caliban is the son of a witch-hag
and the only real native of the island
Caliban believes that the island
rightfully belongs to him and has
been stolen by Prospero
His speech and behavior is
sometimes coarse and brutal, as in
his drunk
sometimes eloquent and sensitive,
as in his rebukes of Prospero in Act I,
scene ii, and in his description of the
eerie beauty of the island in Act III

FERDINAND
Son and heir
of Alonso
He falls in love with
Miranda upon first
sight and happily
submits to serve as a
slave in order to win
her fathers approval
Prospero finally
declares him worthy,
and the engagement
is at last approved by
both Prospero and
Alonso.

ALONSO

King of Naples and

father of Ferdinand
One of the conspirator
who unseated Prospero
from his dukedom
He blames his decision
to marry his daughter to
the Prince of Tunis on
the apparent death of
his son
After the magical
banquet, he regrets his
role in the usurping of

ANTONIO
Prosperos brother
Antonio quickly demonstrates
that he is power-hungry and
foolish
he persuades Sebastian to kill
the sleeping Alonso
He then goes along with
Sebastians absurd story about
fending off lions when Gonzalo
wakes up and catches Antonio
and Sebastian with their
swords drawn.

SEBASTIAN
Alonsos brother
Like Antonio he is both
aggressive and cowardly
He is easily persuaded to
kill his brother
he initiates the ridiculous
story about lions when
Gonzalo catches him with
his sword drawn.

GONZALO
An old, honest lord
Gonzalo helped Prospero
and Miranda to escape after
Antonio conspiracy
Gonzalo is optimistic, goodtempered, and loyal
he is one of the
unquestionably good
characters in the play, with
no apparent dark side in him

TRINCULO

A consistently drunken joker

He is a servant of Alonso's
and brought ashore in the
shipwreck
He is a dull fool mostly, not
capable of any real action,
and providing a good deal of
comic relief
Trinculo does become a part
of Caliban's plan to murder
Prospero and take over the

STEPHANO
Trinculo's friend, a
consistently drunken butler
somehow Caliban takes him
on as a new master, thinking
that he has some magical
powers
He agrees to Caliban's plot to
make him ruler of the island,
and gain him the favors of
Miranda
like Trinculo he is not
cunning, and is completely
incapable of carrying out the
plan