Illusions and Dreams in the Tempest

Connor Lachman

Ms.Carr

Illusions and dreams in The Tempest

The Tempest, By William Shakespeare, tells the story of an old man, Prospero, who is stuck on an island with his daughter Miranda. Prospero used to be the Duke of Milan, but because of his extreme desire to acquire knowledge of magic, his brother Antonio, took over the position of Duke. On the island, Prospero puts his magic to use, He causes a Tempest which stranded a ship of people, including, his brother Antonio, the Duke of Milan, Alonso, who is the King of Naples and his nephew, Ferdinand. Prospero uses magic in the form of illusions and dreams to hide reality from the other characters in order to achieve his plan to exact revenge against them for their actions against him. The Tempest is a commentary on the reality of life and death in the world, showing how all life is just an illusion.

At the very beginning of The Tempest, Prospero asks Ariel if he “Preformed to point the tempest that [he] bade [him]” (1.2.230). Prospero is asking Ariel if he followed his orders and created a tempest to bring the ship with his brother and nephew onto the island. Ariel responds by saying “[he] boarded the King’s ship…[and] flamed amazement” (1.2.232;234). Ariel further explains that “not a hair perished” ( 1.2.258) and that “as thou bad’st me,/ In troops I have dispersed them ‘bout the isle/ The King’s son have I landed by himself” (1.2.260-263). Ariel explains to Prospero that he has followed his orders by boarding the King’s ship and making everybody terrified but also amazed. Ariel furthers this idea by saying that nobody died, and as Prospero ordered, he dispersed everybody throughout the island, with Ferdinand being alone by himself. In this scene, Prospero instructed Ariel to create an illusion of a tempest wreaking havoc on the ship, and to then transport the people on the ship to various places on the island. By coming up with the idea to create the tempest and instructing Ariel to perform the illusion, Prospero is essentially creating the illusion himself. Prospero used this illusion to hide from the sailors, the reality that the people dispersed around the island were not killed in the tempest, but instead, scattered around the island.

Scattering the characters around the island is the first step for Prospero to take his revenge. Because of Prospero’s magic, Alonso believes in a false reality that his son, Ferdinand is dead. Gonzalo tries to convince Alonso that the island is magic and Ferdinand is still alive. However, Alonso firmly believes his son is dead saying “my son is lost...O,thou mine heir/ Of Naples and of Milan, what strange fish/Hath made his meal on thee?” (2.1.115;117-119). Prospero is punishing Alonso by making him believe in the false reality that his son is dead. Instead, Prospero put Ferdinand on a different part of the island to achieve his plot to make Alonso suffer. Prospero also used magic to make sure Ferdinand suffered too. Prospero instructed Ariel to sing, invisibly to Ferdinand, who said it “crept by [him] upon the waters,/Allaying both their fury and my passion/ With its sweet air. Thence I have followed it” (1.2.469-471). The music sung to Ferdinand soothed his grief, because he believed his father died, and made him follow the sound. The music led to Prospero, who enslaved him, and made him do backbreaking work in order to punish him. Prospero was hiding reality from Ferdinand when he used the illusion to make him believe that the island was magical. The reality was that Prospero just wanted to enslave Ferdinand, to punish him for being the heir to the Dukedom of Milan and to make Miranda fall in love with him to achieve his plan. However, punishing the characters by separating them was not enough for Prospero as he wanted to make them suffer even more.

Prospero uses illusions and dreams later in the play to make Alonso really suffer. Prospero orders spirits to bring a banquet to Alonso. Antonio, Sebastian and Gonzalo. The banquet is lively and the servants are kind which leads to Alonso be amazed by “such shapes, such gesture, and such sound,/ expressing--/Although they want to use of tongue--a kind/Of excellent dumb discourse” (3.3.46-48). Alonso thinks the spirits are fascinating and that the island is fascinating. However, when the characters move to eat, Ariel, swoops in looking like a harpy and makes the banquet vanish. Ariel then proceeds to remind Alonso, Antonio and Sebastian that:

“ you three

From Milan did supplant good Prospero,

Exposed unto the sea, Which hath requit it,

Him and his innocent child, for which foul deed,

The powers-delaying, not forgetting-have

Incensed the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures

Against your peace.”

(3.3.87-93).

Alonso and company took the position of Duke of Milan from Prospero and threw him and his innocent child, Miranda, into the sea. Ariel explains that the “higher powers” have not forgotten this and are now taking revenge by pitting every creature on land and in the seas against them. Ariel then tells Alonso that