The Tempest Act I

Prompt: How is Prospero able to control other characters through his use of rhetoric? In other words, how does Prospero manipulate those around him by constructing historical narratives? Think about the way he composes particular versions of the past when speaking to Caliban, Miranda, and Ariel. How do these narratives allow him to maintain power over these individuals?

In Shakespeare's The Tempest,  Prospero is able to control the other characters in the story. He comes up with a completely different and false view of the past. He tells Miranda: "Your mother was extremely virtuous, and she said you were my daughter. And your father was Duke of Milan, and you were his heir, a Princess." Miranda did not know about her past, so Prospero filled her head with lies. Since she knows no better, Prospero is able to manipulate her into thinking anything he pleases. Prospero says "To make his political performance absolutely perfect, he [Antonio] simply had to become the Duke of Milan himself...He's so power-hungry that he allies himself with the King of Naples..." None of this information was correct, but he was able to manipulate Miranda into thinking what he wanted regardless.

Prospero also manipulates the minds of his slave, Ariel. She asks Prospero for freedom, and he responds by acting like her request was impossible and unfair. He manipulates her by saying, "Have you forgotten the torture I freed you from?.... You have forgotten, and you think it's a burden when I ask you to walk through the ocean, or run on the north wind..." He guilt trips her into thinking what she asks is preposterous.

Prospero manipulates the past into lies to make himself look better, altering the history of what happened. This connects to 1984 and the article we read in a sense because he is changing the past to "better" the future, even if it does no one benefit but himself.

He maintains power over the characters in the play by treating them like his puppets. Because he made up the past they all now believe, he can make them do whatever he pleases. Again this connects to 1984 in a huge sense. Big Brother was able to control and manipulate the people of Oceania into thinking whatever "he" so pleased.

Word count: 319