feat_summary_path: finished_summaries/gradesaver/The Tempest/section_0_part_2.txt
feat_book_id: The Tempest.act 1.scene 2
feat_summary_id: act 1, scene 2
feat_summary: {"name": "act i, Scene 2", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20210309152602/https://www.gradesaver.com/the-tempest/study-guide/summary-act-i", "summary": "Prospero and his daughter Miranda are the focus of this scene, and from Miranda's first speech it becomes clear that the storm in the previous scene was somehow caused and controlled by Prospero. Miranda is concerned that good men were lost in the wreck, but Prospero assures her that it all went to plan, and no men were harmed. Prospero explains his motivations for causing the storm by telling her his history with the nobles aboard the ship; he reveals to Miranda that Antonio is his brother, and that he was once the rightful Duke of Milan, a position Antonio now holds. Antonio usurped Prospero's estate and wealth while Prospero became increasingly \"rapt in secret studies\" and oblivious to his brother's machinations; and in order to take Prospero's title as well, Antonio arranged to have his brother Prospero and Prospero's daughter Miranda killed secretly. But Prospero is widely known to be a good man, so those charged with his death decide not to kill him, Instead, Prospero and Miranda were set adrift on the open sea in a decayed vessel, and were able to survive off the supplies that the honest councilor Gonzalo arranged for them to have; thus, they landed on the island where they now live. After Prospero's tale, Ariel, a magical spirit, appears; it becomes clear that she is in Prospero's service, and caused the storm, at Prospero's bidding. King Alonso and company are now \"dispersed'bout the isle,\" and Ariel has made the incident look like a shipwreck. Ariel also expresses her wish to be freed by Prospero, although he rescued her from the nasty witch Sycorax. Caliban, who was Syncorax's son, also makes an appearance; Miranda expresses her strong dislike for him, and he has been reduced to no more than Prospero's slave. Ferdinand, Alonso's son, meets Miranda, and falls immediately in love with her; this appears to be of Ariel's doing, and part of the carefully-laid plan that she must carry out to win her freedom from Prospero.", "analysis": "The play begins with a pair of contrasting scenes; one showing men who are helpless against the storm they believe to be nature's wrath, and one showing the storm itself to be merely the work of an illusionist, trying to reclaim his place through his magic. In the first scene, the boatswain suggests that men, despite their power, are still subject to nature; \"what cares these roarers for the name of king,\" he asks, when the king's ship is being pummeled by the storm. The boatswain's statement makes sense in the context of that scene; however, it becomes ironic in the second scene, when Miranda and Prospero reveal that it was Prospero himself who caused the storm. Antonio and Sebastian's behavior also reveals the brutish, unkind characteristics that mark them throughout the play; Antonio's depiction in this scene gives credence to Prospero's traitorous depiction of his brother that comes out when he tells Miranda about the wrongs perpetrated against him. The first impression of Gonzalo is not quite as correct as those of Antonio and Sebastian; he abets their affront of the boatswain, and shows little of the honesty or kindness which he exhibits later in the play, or for which Prospero remembers him. Also, Antonio and Sebastian's diffidence toward the boatswain on account of their status is the first demonstration in the play of social hierarchy, which becomes an important theme. Characters within the work, like Antonio, Sebastian, and even Prospero, depend upon the perpetuation of this hierarchy to give them their power, and only become leaders when those beneath them in station submit to them. Caliban is well aware that Prospero's position depends on Caliban's obeisance, as he says to Prospero, \"I am all the subjects that you have\"; though it is Prospero's \"art\" and power, rather than a landed title, that makes Caliban, the natural owner of the island, subordinate. The nature of power is repeatedly in question in this first act; Prospero believes Antonio's power to be marred by its underhanded acquisition, while Prospero believes his own power to be valid and just because he acquired it through his own knowledge and effort. Prospero reasserts his authority over Ariel, claiming that his pains to free her indenture her to him; and over Caliban too, because the charge of attempted rape takes away his credibility, as far as Prospero and Miranda are concerned. However, Prospero's power is not as justly attained as he would like to believe; he keeps Ariel in unwilling bondage, as Sycorax did, and keeps control of Caliban through threats of his power. Prospero debates throughout the work that his power, which he achieved through oppression, is more legitimate than Antonio's, which he achieved through theft; and it is this value judgment that allows Prospero to cast himself as the victim, and Antonio as the villain, though this case might not be correct. If Prospero has a mirror in any of the characters, it is Sycorax, whom Prospero repeatedly condemns as a witch. Their histories are remarkably similar; both were banished from their native countries, fled to the island for a new life, and gained control over the spirits on the island. Despite Prospero's dislike for Sycorax , they are also similar in their failings; they share the same anger, both demand servitude from those who are unwilling, and keep others in control though constant threats. Prospero and Sycorax have the same magical abilities through their mutual claim of Ariel, and share the ability to perform feats of magic through the servitude of Ariel. Prospero's long speech in scene 2 shows several of the contradictions inherent in Prospero's appearance and nature. Prospero can be empathetic and calm, as shown when he gracefully allays Miranda's fears for the safety of the men; but, he is also angry and vengeful, when he speaks of his past and his brother's alleged treachery. He calls his brother \"perfidious,\" \"false,\" and casts his brother as a villain when telling his history to his daughter. Paradoxically, Prospero also admits that it was his \"being so retired\" from his duties that \"awaked an evil nature\" in his brother, and his \"trust did beget of a falsehood\". Prospero himself causes events, like the shipwreck, without which the play could not exist; in these powers of manipulation, he performs the functions of the author from within the work. Some essayists have gone as far as to claim that Prospero is a mirror of Shakespeare as a writer because of how he fulfills the author function, though there seems to be little supporting evidence for this claim. As of the end of Act One, Prospero is the only character who is fully fleshed out. The characters of Antonio and Sebastian have been sketched out; and Ariel, Caliban, and Miranda appear, though their interactions with Prospero do more to further Prospero's characterization than their own. However, in Prospero, more than any other character, key themes come into play, and Act One begins the development of this exceedingly crucial character"}
text: SCENE II. 
  
  _The island.
  
  Before PROSPERO'S cell._
  
    _Enter PROSPERO and MIRANDA._
  
  _Mir._ If by your art, my dearest father, you have
  Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.
  The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch,
  But that the sea, mounting to the welkin's cheek,
  Dashes the fire out. O, I have suffer'd                              5
  With those that I saw suffer! a brave vessel,
  Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her,
  Dash'd all to pieces. O, the cry did knock
  Against my very heart! Poor souls, they perish'd!
  Had I been any god of power, I would                                10
  Have sunk the sea within the earth, or ere
  It should the good ship so have swallow'd and
  The fraughting souls within her.
  
  _Pros._                        Be collected:
  No more amazement: tell your piteous heart
  There's no harm done.
  
  _Mir._              O, woe the day!
  
  _Pros._                           No harm.                          15
  I have done nothing but in care of thee,
  Of thee, my dear one, thee, my daughter, who
  Art ignorant of what thou art, nought knowing
  Of whence I am, nor that I am more better
  Than Prospero, master of a full poor cell,                          20
  And thy no greater father.
  
  _Mir._                   More to know
  Did never meddle with my thoughts.
  
  _Pros._                          'Tis time
  I should inform thee farther. Lend thy hand,
  And pluck my magic garment from me. --So:
                                  [_Lays down his mantle._
  Lie there, my art. Wipe thou thine eyes; have comfort.              25
  The direful spectacle of the wreck, which touch'd
  The very virtue of compassion in thee,
  I have with such provision in mine art
  So safely order'd, that there is no soul,
  No, not so much perdition as an hair                                30
  Betid to any creature in the vessel
  Which thou heard'st cry, which thou saw'st sink. Sit down;
  For thou must now know farther.
  
  _Mir._                        You have often
  Begun to tell me what I am; but stopp'd,
  And left me to a bootless inquisition,                              35
  Concluding "Stay: not yet."
  
  _Pros._                The hour's now come;
  The very minute bids thee ope thine ear;
  Obey, and be attentive. Canst thou remember
  A time before we came unto this cell?
  I do not think thou canst, for then thou wast not                   40
  Out three years old.
  
  _Mir._             Certainly, sir, I can.
  
  _Pros._ By what? by any other house or person?
  Of any thing the image tell me that
  Hath kept with thy remembrance.
  
  _Mir._                        'Tis far off,
  And rather like a dream than an assurance                           45
  That my remembrance warrants. Had I not
  Four or five women once that tended me?
  
  _Pros._ Thou hadst, and more, Miranda. But how is it
  That this lives in thy mind? What seest thou else
  In the dark backward and abysm of time?                             50
  If thou remember'st ought ere thou camest here,
  How thou camest here thou mayst.
  
  _Mir._                         But that I do not.
  
  _Pros._ Twelve year since, Miranda, twelve year since,
  Thy father was the Duke of Milan, and
  A prince of power.
  
  _Mir._           Sir, are not you my father?                        55
  
  _Pros._ Thy mother was a piece of virtue, and
  She said thou wast my daughter; and thy father
  Was Duke of Milan; and his only heir
  And princess, no worse issued.
  
  _Mir._                       O the heavens!
  What foul play had we, that we came from thence?                    60
  Or blessed was't we did?
  
  _Pros._                Both, both, my girl:
  By foul play, as thou say'st, were we heaved thence;
  But blessedly holp hither.
  
  _Mir._                   O, my heart bleeds
  To think o' the teen that I have turn'd you to.
  Which is from my remembrance! Please you, farther.                  65
  
  _Pros._ My brother, and thy uncle, call'd Antonio,--
  I pray thee, mark me,--that a brother should
  Be so perfidious!--he whom, next thyself,
  Of all the world I loved, and to him put
  The manage of my state; as, at that time,                           70
  Through all the signories it was the first,
  And Prospero the prime duke, being so reputed
  In dignity, and for the liberal arts
  Without a parallel; those being all my study,
  The government I cast upon my brother,                              75
  And to my state grew stranger, being transported
  And rapt in secret studies. Thy false uncle--
  Dost thou attend me?
  
  _Mir._             Sir, most heedfully.
  
  _Pros._ Being once perfected how to grant suits,
  How to deny them, whom to advance, and whom                         80
  To trash for over-topping, new created
  The creatures that were mine, I say, or changed 'em,
  Or else new form'd 'em; having both the key
  Of officer and office, set all hearts i' the state
  To what tune pleased his ear; that now he was                       85
  The ivy which had hid my princely trunk,
  And suck'd my verdure out on't. Thou attend'st not.
  
  _Mir._ O, good sir, I do.
  
  _Pros._                 I pray thee, mark me.
  I, thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated
  To closeness and the bettering of my mind                           90
  With that which, but by being so retired,
  O'er-prized all popular rate, in my false brother
  Awaked an evil nature; and my trust,
  Like a good parent, did beget of him
  A falsehood in its contrary, as great                               95
  As my trust was; which had indeed no limit,
  A confidence sans bound. He being thus lorded,
  Not only with what my revenue yielded,
  But what my power might else exact, like one
  Who having into truth, by telling of it,                           100
  Made such a sinner of his memory,
  To credit his own lie, he did believe
  He was indeed the duke; out o' the substitution,
  And executing the outward face of royalty,
  With all prerogative:--hence his ambition growing,--               105
  Dost thou hear?
  
  _Mir._        Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.
  
  _Pros._ To have no screen between this part he play'd
  And him he play'd it for, he needs will be
  Absolute Milan. Me, poor man, my library
  Was dukedom large enough: of temporal royalties                    110
  He thinks me now incapable; confederates,
  So dry he was for sway, wi' the King of Naples
  To give him annual tribute, do him homage,
  Subject his coronet to his crown, and bend
  The dukedom, yet unbow'd,--alas, poor Milan!--                     115
  To most ignoble stooping.
  
  _Mir._                  O the heavens!
  
  _Pros._ Mark his condition, and th' event; then tell me
  If this might be a brother.
  
  _Mir._                    I should sin
  To think but nobly of my grandmother:
  Good wombs have borne bad sons.
  
  _Pros._                       Now the condition.                   120
  This King of Naples, being an enemy
  To me inveterate, hearkens my brother's suit;
  Which was, that he, in lieu o' the premises,
  Of homage and I know not how much tribute,
  Should presently extirpate me and mine                             125
  Out of the dukedom, and confer fair Milan,
  With all the honours, on my brother: whereon,
  A treacherous army levied, one midnight
  Fated to the purpose, did Antonio open
  The gates of Milan; and, i' the dead of darkness,                  130
  The ministers for the purpose hurried thence
  Me and thy crying self.
  
  _Mir._                Alack, for pity!
  I, not remembering how I cried out then,
  Will cry it o'er again: it is a hint
  That wrings mine eyes to't.
  
  _Pros._                   Hear a little further,                   135
  And then I'll bring thee to the present business
  Which now's upon 's; without the which, this story
  Were most impertinent.
  
  _Mir._               Wherefore did they not
  That hour destroy us?
  
  _Pros._             Well demanded, wench:
  My tale provokes that question. Dear, they durst not,              140
  So dear the love my people bore me; nor set
  A mark so bloody on the business; but
  With colours fairer painted their foul ends.
  In few, they hurried us aboard a bark,
  Bore us some leagues to sea; where they prepared                   145
  A rotten carcass of a boat, not rigg'd,
  Nor tackle, sail, nor mast; the very rats
  Instinctively have quit it: there they hoist us,
  To cry to the sea that roar'd to us; to sigh
  To the winds, whose pity, sighing back again,                      150
  Did us but loving wrong.
  
  _Mir._                 Alack, what trouble
  Was I then to you!
  
  _Pros._          O, a cherubin
  Thou wast that did preserve me. Thou didst smile,
  Infused with a fortitude from heaven,
  When I have deck'd the sea with drops full salt,                   155
  Under my burthen groan'd; which raised in me
  An undergoing stomach, to bear up
  Against what should ensue.
  
  _Mir._                   How came we ashore?
  
  _Pros._ By Providence divine.
  Some food we had, and some fresh water, that                       160
  A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,
  Out of his charity, who being then appointed
  Master of this design, did give us, with
  Rich garments, linens, stuffs and necessaries,
  Which since have steaded much; so, of his gentleness,              165
  Knowing I loved my books, he furnish'd me
  From mine own library with volumes that
  I prize above my dukedom.
  
  _Mir._                  Would I might
  But ever see that man!
  
  _Pros._              Now I arise:  [_Resumes his mantle._
  Sit still, and hear the last of our sea-sorrow.                    170
  Here in this island we arrived; and here
  Have I, thy schoolmaster, made thee more profit
  Than other princesses can, that have more time
  For vainer hours, and tutors not so careful.
  
  _Mir._ Heavens thank you for't! And now, I pray you, sir,          175
  For still 'tis beating in my mind, your reason
  For raising this sea-storm?
  
  _Pros._                   Know thus far forth.
  By accident most strange, bountiful Fortune,
  Now my dear lady, hath mine enemies
  Brought to this shore; and by my prescience                        180
  I find my zenith doth depend upon
  A most auspicious star, whose influence
  If now I court not, but omit, my fortunes
  Will ever after droop. Here cease more questions:
  Thou art inclined to sleep; 'tis a good dulness,                   185
  And give it way: I know thou canst not choose.
                                          [_Miranda sleeps._
  Come away, servant, come. I am ready now.
  Approach, my Ariel, come.
  
    _Enter _ARIEL_._
  
  _Ari._ All hail, great master! grave sir, hail! I come
  To answer thy best pleasure; be't to fly,                          190
  To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride
  On the curl'd clouds, to thy strong bidding task
  Ariel and all his quality.
  
  _Pros._                  Hast thou, spirit,
  Perform'd to point the tempest that I bade thee?
  
  _Ari._ To every article.                                           195
  I boarded the king's ship; now on the beak,
  Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin,
  I flamed amazement: sometime I'ld divide,
  And burn in many places; on the topmast,
  The yards and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly,                  200
  Then meet and join. Jove's lightnings, the precursors
  O' the dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary
  And sight-outrunning were not: the fire and cracks
  Of sulphurous roaring the most mighty Neptune
  Seem to besiege, and make his bold waves tremble,                  205
  Yea, his dread trident shake.
  
  _Pros._                     My brave spirit!
  Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil
  Would not infect his reason?
  
  _Ari._                     Not a soul
  But felt a fever of the mad, and play'd
  Some tricks of desperation. All but mariners                       210
  Plunged in the foaming brine, and quit the vessel,
  Then all afire with me: the king's son, Ferdinand,
  With hair up-staring,--then like reeds, not hair,--
  Was the first man that leap'd; cried, "Hell is empty,
  And all the devils are here."
  
  _Pros._                 Why, that's my spirit!                     215
  But was not this nigh shore?
  
  _Ari._                    Close by, my master.
  
  _Pros._ But are they, Ariel, safe?
  
  _Ari._                           Not a hair perish'd;
  On their sustaining garments not a blemish,
  But fresher than before: and, as thou badest me,
  In troops I have dispersed them 'bout the isle.                    220
  The king's son have I landed by himself;
  Whom I left cooling of the air with sighs
  In an odd angle of the isle, and sitting,
  His arms in this sad knot.
  
  _Pros._                  Of the king's ship
  The mariners, say how thou hast disposed,                          225
  And all the rest o' the fleet.
  
  _Ari._                       Safely in harbour
  Is the king's ship; in the deep nook, where once
  Thou call'dst me up at midnight to fetch dew
  From the still-vex'd Bermoothes, there she's hid:
  The mariners all under hatches stow'd;                             230
  Who, with a charm join'd to their suffer'd labour,
  I have left asleep: and for the rest o' the fleet,
  Which I dispersed, they all have met again,
  And are upon the Mediterranean flote,
  Bound sadly home for Naples;                                       235
  Supposing that they saw the king's ship wreck'd,
  And his great person perish.
  
  _Pros._                    Ariel, thy charge
  Exactly is perform'd: but there's more work.
  What is the time o' the day?
  
  _Ari._                     Past the mid season.
  
  _Pros._ At least two glasses. The time 'twixt six and now          240
  Must by us both be spent most preciously.
  
  _Ari._ Is there more toil? Since thou dost give me pains,
  Let me remember thee what thou hast promised,
  Which is not yet perform'd me.
  
  _Pros._                      How now? moody?
  What is't thou canst demand?
  
  _Ari._                     My liberty.                             245
  
  _Pros._ Before the time be out? no more!
  
  _Ari._                                 I prithee,
  Remember I have done thee worthy service;
  Told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings, served
  Without or grudge or grumblings: thou didst promise
  To bate me a full year.
  
  _Pros._               Dost thou forget                             250
  From what a torment I did free thee?
  
  _Ari._                             No.
  
  _Pros._ Thou dost; and think'st it much to tread the ooze
  Of the salt deep,
  To run upon the sharp wind of the north,
  To do me business in the veins o' the earth                        255
  When it is baked with frost.
  
  _Ari._                     I do not, sir.
  
  _Pros._ Thou liest, malignant thing! Hast thou forgot
  The foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envy
  Was grown into a hoop? hast thou forgot her?
  
  _Ari._ No, sir.
  
  _Pros._       Thou hast. Where was she born? speak; tell me.       260
  
  _Ari._ Sir, in Argier.
  
  _Pros._              O, was she so? I must
  Once in a month recount what thou hast been,
  Which thou forget'st. This damn'd witch Sycorax,
  For mischiefs manifold, and sorceries terrible
  To enter human hearing, from Argier,                               265
  Thou know'st, was banish'd: for one thing she did
  They would not take her life. Is not this true?
  
  _Ari._ Ay, sir.
  
  _Pros._ This blue-eyed hag was hither brought with child,
  And here was left by the sailors. Thou, my slave,                  270
  As thou report'st thyself, wast then her servant;
  And, for thou wast a spirit too delicate
  To act her earthy and abhorr'd commands,
  Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee,
  By help of her more potent ministers,                              275
  And in her most unmitigable rage,
  Into a cloven pine; within which rift
  Imprison'd thou didst painfully remain
  A dozen years; within which space she died,
  And left thee there; where thou didst vent thy groans              280
  As fast as mill-wheels strike. Then was this island--
  Save for the son that she did litter here,
  A freckled whelp hag-born--not honour'd with
  A human shape.
  
  _Ari._       Yes, Caliban her son.
  
  _Pros._ Dull thing, I say so; he, that Caliban,                    285
  Whom now I keep in service. Thou best know'st
  What torment I did find thee in; thy groans
  Did make wolves howl, and penetrate the breasts
  Of ever-angry bears: it was a torment
  To lay upon the damn'd, which Sycorax                              290
  Could not again undo: it was mine art,
  When I arrived and heard thee, that made gape
  The pine, and let thee out.
  
  _Ari._                    I thank thee, master.
  
  _Pros._ If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak,
  And peg thee in his knotty entrails, till                          295
  Thou hast howl'd away twelve winters.
  
  _Ari._                              Pardon, master:
  I will be correspondent to command,
  And do my spiriting gently.
  
  _Pros._                   Do so; and after two days
  I will discharge thee.
  
  _Ari._               That's my noble master!
  What shall I do? say what; what shall I do?                        300
  
  _Pros._ Go make thyself like a nymph o' the sea:
  Be subject to no sight but thine and mine; invisible
  To every eyeball else. Go take this shape,
  And hither come in't: go, hence with diligence!
  
      [_Exit Ariel._
  
  Awake, dear heart, awake! thou hast slept well;                    305
  Awake!
  
  _Mir._ The strangeness of your story put
  Heaviness in me.
  
  _Pros._        Shake it off. Come on;
  We'll visit Caliban my slave, who never
  Yields us kind answer.
  
  _Mir._               'Tis a villain, sir,
  I do not love to look on.
  
  _Pros._                 But, as 'tis,                              310
  We cannot miss him: he does make our fire,
  Fetch in our wood, and serves in offices
  That profit us. What, ho! slave! Caliban!
  Thou earth, thou! speak.
  
  _Cal._ [_within_] There's wood enough within.
  
  _Pros._ Come forth, I say! there's other business for thee:        315
  Come, thou tortoise! when?
  
    _Re-enter ARIEL like a water-nymph._
  
  Fine apparition! My quaint Ariel,
  Hark in thine ear.
  
  _Ari._           My lord, it shall be done.    [_Exit._
  
  _Pros._ Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself
  Upon thy wicked dam, come forth!                                   320
  
    _Enter CALIBAN._
  
  _Cal._ As wicked dew as e'er my mother brush'd
  With raven's feather from unwholesome fen
  Drop on you both! a south-west blow on ye
  And blister you all o'er!
  
  _Pros._ For this, be sure, to-night thou shalt have cramps,        325
  Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up; urchins
  Shall, for that vast of night that they may work,
  All exercise on thee; thou shalt be pinch'd
  As thick as honeycomb, each pinch more stinging
  Than bees that made 'em.
  
  _Cal._                 I must eat my dinner.                       330
  This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother,
  Which thou takest from me. When thou camest first,
  Thou strokedst me, and madest much of me; wouldst give me
  Water with berries in't; and teach me how
  To name the bigger light, and how the less,                        335
  That burn by day and night: and then I loved thee,
  And show'd thee all the qualities o' th' isle,
  The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and fertile:
  Curs'd be I that did so! All the charms
  Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you!                    340
  For I am all the subjects that you have,
  Which first was mine own king: and here you sty me
  In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me
  The rest o' th' island.
  
  _Pros._               Thou most lying slave,
  Whom stripes may move, not kindness! I have used thee,             345
  Filth as thou art, with human care; and lodged thee
  In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate
  The honour of my child.
  
  _Cal._ O ho, O ho! would 't had been done!
  Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled else                          350
  This isle with Calibans.
  
  _Pros._                Abhorred slave,
  Which any print of goodness wilt not take,
  Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee,
  Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour
  One thing or other: when thou didst not, savage,                   355
  Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like
  A thing most brutish, I endow'd thy purposes
  With words that made them known. But thy vile race,
  Though thou didst learn, had that in't which good natures
  Could not abide to be with; therefore wast thou                    360
  Deservedly confined into this rock,
  Who hadst deserved more than a prison.
  
  _Cal._ You taught me language; and my profit on't
  Is, I know how to curse. The red plague rid you
  For learning me your language!
  
  _Pros._                      Hag-seed, hence!                      365
  Fetch us in fuel; and be quick, thou'rt best,
  To answer other business. Shrug'st thou, malice?
  If thou neglect'st, or dost unwillingly
  What I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps,
  Fill all thy bones with aches, make thee roar,                     370
  That beasts shall tremble at thy din.
  
  _Cal._                              No, pray thee.
  [_Aside_] I must obey: his art is of such power,
  It would control my dam's god, Setebos,
  And make a vassal of him.
  
  _Pros._                 So, slave; hence!    [_Exit Caliban._
  
    _Re-enter ARIEL, invisible, playing and singing; FERDINAND
    following._
  
  _ARIEL'S song._
  
      Come unto these yellow sands,                                  375
          And then take hands:
      Courtsied when you have and kiss'd
          The wild waves whist:
      Foot it featly here and there;
      And, sweet sprites, the burthen bear.                          380
  
   _Burthen_ [_dispersedly_]. Hark, hark!
                             Bow-wow.
          The watch-dogs bark:
                              Bow-wow.
  
  _Ari._  Hark, hark! I hear
          The strain of strutting chanticleer                        385
          Cry, Cock-a-diddle-dow.
  
  _Fer._ Where should this music be? i' th' air or th' earth?
  It sounds no more: and, sure, it waits upon
  Some god o' th' island. Sitting on a bank,
  Weeping again the king my father's wreck,                          390
  This music crept by me upon the waters,
  Allaying both their fury and my passion
  With its sweet air: thence I have follow'd it.
  Or it hath drawn me rather. But 'tis gone.
  No, it begins again.                                               395
  
  _ARIEL sings._
  
      Full fathom five thy father lies;
          Of his bones are coral made;
      Those are pearls that were his eyes:
          Nothing of him that doth fade,
      But doth suffer a sea-change                                   400
      Into something rich and strange.
      Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
  
                      _Burthen:_ Ding-dong.
  
  _Ari._ Hark! now I hear them,--Ding-dong, bell.
  
  _Fer._ The ditty does remember my drown'd father.                  405
  This is no mortal business, nor no sound
  That the earth owes:--I hear it now above me.
  
  _Pros._ The fringed curtains of thine eye advance,
  And say what thou seest yond.
  
  _Mir._                      What is't? a spirit?
  Lord, how it looks about! Believe me, sir,                         410
  It carries a brave form. But 'tis a spirit.
  
  _Pros._ No, wench; it eats and sleeps and hath such senses
  As we have, such. This gallant which thou seest
  Was in the wreck; and, but he's something stain'd
  With grief, that's beauty's canker, thou mightst call him          415
  A goodly person: he hath lost his fellows,
  And strays about to find 'em.
  
  _Mir._                      I might call him
  A thing divine; for nothing natural
  I ever saw so noble.
  
  _Pros._ [_Aside_] It goes on, I see,
  As my soul prompts it. Spirit, fine spirit! I'll free thee         420
  Within two days for this.
  
  _Fer._                  Most sure, the goddess
  On whom these airs attend! Vouchsafe my prayer
  May know if you remain upon this island;
  And that you will some good instruction give
  How I may bear me here: my prime request,                          425
  Which I do last pronounce, is, O you wonder!
  If you be maid or no?
  
  _Mir._              No wonder, sir;
  But certainly a maid.
  
  _Fer._              My language! heavens!
  I am the best of them that speak this speech,
  Were I but where 'tis spoken.
  
  _Pros._                     How? the best?                         430
  What wert thou, if the King of Naples heard thee?
  
  _Fer._ A single thing, as I am now, that wonders
  To hear thee speak of Naples. He does hear me;
  And that he does I weep: myself am Naples,
  Who with mine eyes, never since at ebb, beheld                     435
  The king my father wreck'd.
  
  _Mir._                    Alack, for mercy!
  
  _Fer._ Yes, faith, and all his lords; the Duke of Milan
  And his brave son being twain.
  
  _Pros._                      [_Aside_] The Duke of Milan
  And his more braver daughter could control thee,
  If now 'twere fit to do't. At the first sight                      440
  They have changed eyes. Delicate Ariel,
  I'll set thee free for this. [_To Fer._] A word, good sir;
  I fear you have done yourself some wrong: a word.
  
  _Mir._ Why speaks my father so ungently? This
  Is the third man that e'er I saw; the first                        445
  That e'er I sigh'd for: pity move my father
  To be inclined my way!
  
  _Fer._               O, if a virgin,
  And your affection not gone forth, I'll make you
  The queen of Naples.
  
  _Pros._            Soft, sir! one word more.
  [_Aside_] They are both in either's powers:
          but this swift business                                    450
  I must uneasy make, lest too light winning
  Make the prize light. [_To Fer._] One word more; I charge thee
  That thou attend me: thou dost here usurp
  The name thou owest not; and hast put thyself
  Upon this island as a spy, to win it                               455
  From me, the lord on't.
  
  _Fer._                No, as I am a man.
  
  _Mir._ There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple:
  If the ill spirit have so fair a house,
  Good things will strive to dwell with't.
  
  _Pros._                                Follow me.
  Speak not you for him; he's a traitor. Come;                       460
  I'll manacle thy neck and feet together:
  Sea-water shalt thou drink; thy food shall be
  The fresh-brook muscles, wither'd roots, and husks
  Wherein the acorn cradled. Follow.
  
  _Fer._                           No;
  I will resist such entertainment till                              465
  Mine enemy has more power.
              [_Draws, and is charmed from moving._
  
  _Mir._                O dear father,
  Make not too rash a trial of him, for
  He's gentle, and not fearful.
  
  _Pros._                     What! I say,
  My foot my tutor? Put thy sword up, traitor;
  Who makest a show, but darest not strike, thy conscience           470
  Is so possess'd with guilt: come from thy ward;
  For I can here disarm thee with this stick
  And make thy weapon drop.
  
  _Mir._                  Beseech you, father.
  
  _Pros._ Hence! hang not on my garments.
  
  _Mir._                                Sir, have pity;
  I'll be his surety.
  
  _Pros._           Silence! one word more                           475
  Shall make me chide thee, if not hate thee. What!
  An advocate for an impostor! hush!
  Thou think'st there is no more such shapes as he,
  Having seen but him and Caliban: foolish wench!
  To the most of men this is a Caliban,                              480
  And they to him are angels.
  
  _Mir._                    My affections
  Are, then, most humble; I have no ambition
  To see a goodlier man.
  
  _Pros._              Come on; obey:
  Thy nerves are in their infancy again,
  And have no vigour in them.
  
  _Fer._             So they are:                                    485
  My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up.
  My father's loss, the weakness which I feel,
  The wreck of all my friends, nor this man's threats,
  To whom I am subdued, are but light to me,
  Might I but through my prison once a day                           490
  Behold this maid: all corners else o' th' earth
  Let liberty make use of; space enough
  Have I in such a prison.
  
  _Pros._ [_Aside_]      It works. [_To Fer._] Come on.
  Thou hast done well, fine Ariel! [_To Fer._] Follow me.
  [_To Ari._] Hark what thou else shalt do me.
  
  _Mir._                                     Be of comfort;          495
  My father's of a better nature, sir,
  Than he appears by speech: this is unwonted
  Which now came from him.
  
  _Pros._                Thou shalt be as free
  As mountain winds: but then exactly do
  All points of my command.
  
  _Ari._                  To the syllable.                           500
  
  _Pros._ Come, follow. Speak not for him.    [_Exeunt._
  
  
    Notes: I, 2.
  
    3: _stinking_] _flaming_ Singer conj. _kindling_ S. Verges conj.
    4: _cheek_] _heat_ Collier MS. _crack_ Staunton conj.
    7: _creature_] _creatures_ Theobald.
    13: _fraughting_] Ff. _fraighted_ Pope. _fraighting_ Theobald.
      _freighting_ Steevens.
    15: Mir. _O, woe the day!_ Pros. _No harm._] Mir. _O woe the day!
      no harm?_ Johnson conj.
    19: _I am more better_] _I'm more or better_ Pope.
    24: [Lays ... mantle] Pope.
    28: _provision_] F1. _compassion_ F2 F3 F4. _prevision_ Hunter conj.
    29: _soul_] _soul lost_ Rowe. _foyle_ Theobald. _soil_ Johnson conj.
      _loss_ Capell. _foul_ Wright conj.
    31: _betid_] F1. _betide_ F2 F3 F4.
    35: _a_] F1. _the_ F2 F3 F4.
    38: _thou_] om. Pope.
    41: _Out_] _Full_ Pope (after Dryden). _Quite_ Collier MS.
    44: _with_] _in_ Pope (after Dryden).
    53: _Twelve year ... year_] _Tis twelve years ... years_ Pope.
    58, 59: _and his only heir And princess_] _and his only heir
      A princess_ Pope. _thou his only heir And princess_ Steevens.
      _and though his only heir A princess_] Johnson conj.
    63: _holp_] _help'd_ Pope.
    _O, my heart_] _My heart_ Pope.
    78: _me_] om. F3 F4.
    80: _whom ... whom_] F2 F3 F4. _who ... who_ F1.
    81: _trash_] _plash_ Hanmer.
    82, 83: _'em ... 'em_] _them ... them_ Capell.
    84: _i' the state_] _i'th state_ F1. _e'th state_ F2.
      _o'th state_ F3 F4. om. Pope.
    88: _O, good sir ... mark me._] _Good sir ... mark me then._ Pope.
      _O yes, good sir ... mark me._ Capell.
    Mir. _O, ... do._ Pros. _I ... me_] _I ... me._ Mir. _O ... do._
      Steevens.
    89: _dedicated_] _dedicate_ Steevens (Ritson conj.).
    91: _so_] F1. om. F2 F3 F4.
    97: _lorded_] _loaded_ Collier MS.
    99: _exact, like_] _exact. Like_ Ff.
    100: _having into truth ... of it_] _loving an untruth, and telling
      't oft_ Hanmer. _having unto truth ... oft_ Warburton. _having to
      untruth ... of it_ Collier MS. _having sinn'd to truth ... oft_
      Musgrave conj.
    _telling_] _quelling_ S. Verges conj.
    101: _Made ... memory_] _Makes ... memory_ Hanmer. _Makes ...
      memory too_ Musgrave conj.
    103: _indeed the duke_] _the duke_ Steevens. _indeed duke_ S. Walker
      conj.
    _out o' the_] _from_ Pope.
    105: _his_] _is_ F2.
    105, 106: _ambition growing_] _ambition Growing_ Steevens.
    106: _hear?_] _hear, child?_ Hanmer.
    109: _Milan_] _Millanie_ F1 (Capell's copy).
    112: _wi' the_] Capell. _with_ Ff. _wi' th'_ Rowe. _with the_
      Steevens.
    116: _most_] F1. _much_ F2 F3 F4.
    119: _but_] _not_ Pope.
    120: _Good ... sons_] Theobald suggested that these words should be
      given to Prospero. Hanmer prints them so.
    122: _hearkens_] _hears_ Pope. _hearks_ Theobald.
    129: _Fated_] _Mated_ Dryden's version.
    _purpose_] _practise_ Collier MS.
    131: _ministers_] _minister_ Rowe.
    133: _out_] _on't_ Steevens conj.
    135: _to 't_] om. Steevens (Farmer conj.).
    138: _Wherefore_] _Why_ Pope.
    141: _me_] om. Pope.
    146: _boat_] Rowe (after Dryden). _butt_ F1 F2 F3. _but_ F4.
      _busse_ Black conj.
    147: _sail_] F1. _nor sail_ F2 F3 F4.
    148: _have_] _had_ Rowe (after Dryden).
    150: _the winds_] _winds_ Pope.
    155: _deck'd_] _brack'd_ Hanmer. _mock'd_ Warburton. _fleck'd_
      Johnson conj. _degg'd_ anon. ap. Reed conj.
    162: _who_] om. Pope. _he_ Steevens conj.
    169: _Now I arise_] Continued to Miranda. Blackstone conj.
    [Resumes his mantle] om. Ff. [Put on robe again. Collier MS.
    173: _princesses_] _princesse_ F1 F2 F3. _princess_ F4.
      _princes_ Rowe. _princess'_ Dyce (S. Walker conj.). See note (III).
    186: [M. sleeps] Theobald.
    189: SCENE III. Pope.
    190: _be't_] F1. _be it_ F2 F3 F4.
    193: _quality_] _qualities_ Pope (after Dryden).
    198: _sometime_] F1. _sometimes_ F2 F3 F4.
    200: _bowsprit_] _bore-sprit_ Ff. _bolt-sprit_ Rowe.
    201: _lightnings_] Theobald. _lightning_ Ff.
    202: _o' the_] _of_ Pope.
    _thunder-claps_] _thunder-clap_ Johnson.
    205: _Seem_] _Seem'd_ Theobald.
    206: _dread_] F1. _dead_ F2 F3 F4.
    _My brave_] _My brave, brave_ Theobald. _That's my brave_ Hanmer.
    209: _mad_] _mind_ Pope (after Dryden).
    211, 212: _vessel, ... son_] _vessell; Then all a fire with me
      the King's sonne_ Ff.
    218: _sustaining_] _sea-stained_ Edwards conj. _unstaining_ or
      _sea-staining_ Spedding conj.
    229: _Bermoothes_] _Bermudas_ Theobald.
    231: _Who_] _Whom_ Hanmer.
    234: _are_] _all_ Collier MS.
    _upon_] _on_ Pope.
    239-240: Ari. _Past the mid season._ Pros. _At least two glasses_]
      Ari. _Past the mid season at least two glasses._ Warburton.
      Pros. _... Past the mid season?_ Ari. _At least two glasses_
      Johnson conj.
    244: _How now? moody?_] _How now, moody!_ Dyce (so Dryden, ed. 1808).
    245: _What_] F1. _Which_ F2 F3 F4.
    248: _made thee_] Ff. _made_ Pope.
    249: _didst_] F3 F4. _did_ F1 F2.
    264: _and sorceries_] _sorceries too_ Hanmer.
    267: _Is not this true?_] _Is this not true?_ Pope.
    271: _wast then_] Rowe (after Dryden). _was then_ Ff.
    273: _earthy_] _earthly_ Pope.
    282: _son_] F1. _sunne_ F2. _sun_ F3 F4.
    _she_] Rowe (after Dryden). _he_ Ff.
    298: See note (IV).
    301: _like_] F1. _like to_ F2 F3 F4.
    302: _Be subject to_] _be subject To_ Malone.
    _but thine and mine_] _but mine_ Pope.
    304: _in't_] _in it_ Pope.
    _go, hence_] _goe: hence_ Ff. _go hence_ Pope. _hence_ Hanmer.
    307: _Heaviness_] _Strange heaviness_ Edd. conj.
    312: _serves in offices_] F1. _serves offices_ F2 F3 F4.
      _serveth offices_ Collier MS.
    316: _Come, thou tortoise! when?_] om. Pope.
    _Come_] _Come forth_ Steevens.]
    320: _come forth!_] _come forth, thou tortoise!_ Pope.
    321: SCENE IV. Pope.
    332: _camest_] Rowe. _cam'st_ Ff. _cam'st here_ Ritson conj.
    333: _madest_] Rowe (after Dryden). _made_ Ff.
    339: _Curs'd be I that_] F1. _Curs'd be I that I_ F2 F3 F4.
      _cursed be I that_ Steevens.
    342: _Which_] _Who_ Pope, and at line 351.
    346: _thee_] om. F4.
    349: _would 't_] Ff. _I wou'd it_ Pope.
    351: Pros.] Theobald (after Dryden). Mira. Ff.
    352: _wilt_] F1. _will_ F2 F3 F4.
    355, 356: _didst not ... Know_] _couldst not ... Shew_ Hanmer.
    356: _wouldst_] _didst_ Hanmer.
    361, 362: _Deservedly ... deserved_] _Justly ... who hadst Deserv'd_
      S. Walker conj. _Confin'd ... deserv'd_ id. conj.
    362: _Who ... prison_] om. Pope (after Dryden).
    366: _thou'rt_] F1 F2 F3. _thou art_ F4. _thou wer't_ Rowe.
    375: SCENE V. Pope.
    following.] Malone.
    378: _The wild waves whist_] Printed as a parenthesis by Steevens.
      See note (V).
    380: _the burthen bear_] Pope. _bear the burthen_ Ff.
    381-383: Steevens gives _Hark, hark! The watch-dogs bark_ to Ariel.
    387: _i' th' air or th' earth?_] _in air or earth?_ Pope.
    390: _again_] _against_ Rowe (after Dryden).
    407: _owes_] _owns_ Pope (after Dryden), but leaves _ow'st_ 454.
    408: SCENE VI. Pope.
    419: _It goes on, I see,_] _It goes, I see_ Capell. _It goes on_
      Steevens.
    420: _fine spirit!_] om. Hanmer.
    427: _maid_] F3. _mayd_ F1 F2. _made_ F4.
    443: See note (VI).
    444: _ungently_] F1. _urgently_ F2 F3 F4.
    451: _lest_] F4. _least_ F1 F2 F3.
    452: _One_] _Sir, one_ Pope.
      _I charge thee_] _I charge thee_ [to Ariel. Pope.
    460: Pros. prefixed again to this line in Ff.
    468: _and_] _tho'_ Hanmer.
    469: _foot_] _fool_ S. Walker conj. _child_ Dryden's version.
    470: _makest_] _mak'st_ F1. _makes_ F2 F3 F4.
    471: _so_] F1. om. F2 F3 F4. _all_ Pope.
    478: _is_] _are_ Rowe.
    488: _nor_] _and_ Rowe (after Dryden). _or_ Capell.
    489: _are_] _were_ Malone conj.
  
  
  
  
  
  
feat_summary_name: act i, Scene 2
target: Prospero and his daughter Miranda are the focus of this scene, and from Miranda's first speech it becomes clear that the storm in the previous scene was somehow caused and controlled by Prospero. Miranda is concerned that good men were lost in the wreck, but Prospero assures her that it all went to plan, and no men were harmed. Prospero explains his motivations for causing the storm by telling her his history with the nobles aboard the ship; he reveals to Miranda that Antonio is his brother, and that he was once the rightful Duke of Milan, a position Antonio now holds. Antonio usurped Prospero's estate and wealth while Prospero became increasingly "rapt in secret studies" and oblivious to his brother's machinations; and in order to take Prospero's title as well, Antonio arranged to have his brother Prospero and Prospero's daughter Miranda killed secretly. But Prospero is widely known to be a good man, so those charged with his death decide not to kill him, Instead, Prospero and Miranda were set adrift on the open sea in a decayed vessel, and were able to survive off the supplies that the honest councilor Gonzalo arranged for them to have; thus, they landed on the island where they now live. After Prospero's tale, Ariel, a magical spirit, appears; it becomes clear that she is in Prospero's service, and caused the storm, at Prospero's bidding. King Alonso and company are now "dispersed'bout the isle," and Ariel has made the incident look like a shipwreck. Ariel also expresses her wish to be freed by Prospero, although he rescued her from the nasty witch Sycorax. Caliban, who was Syncorax's son, also makes an appearance; Miranda expresses her strong dislike for him, and he has been reduced to no more than Prospero's slave. Ferdinand, Alonso's son, meets Miranda, and falls immediately in love with her; this appears to be of Ariel's doing, and part of the carefully-laid plan that she must carry out to win her freedom from Prospero.
feat_summary_analysis: The play begins with a pair of contrasting scenes; one showing men who are helpless against the storm they believe to be nature's wrath, and one showing the storm itself to be merely the work of an illusionist, trying to reclaim his place through his magic. In the first scene, the boatswain suggests that men, despite their power, are still subject to nature; "what cares these roarers for the name of king," he asks, when the king's ship is being pummeled by the storm. The boatswain's statement makes sense in the context of that scene; however, it becomes ironic in the second scene, when Miranda and Prospero reveal that it was Prospero himself who caused the storm. Antonio and Sebastian's behavior also reveals the brutish, unkind characteristics that mark them throughout the play; Antonio's depiction in this scene gives credence to Prospero's traitorous depiction of his brother that comes out when he tells Miranda about the wrongs perpetrated against him. The first impression of Gonzalo is not quite as correct as those of Antonio and Sebastian; he abets their affront of the boatswain, and shows little of the honesty or kindness which he exhibits later in the play, or for which Prospero remembers him. Also, Antonio and Sebastian's diffidence toward the boatswain on account of their status is the first demonstration in the play of social hierarchy, which becomes an important theme. Characters within the work, like Antonio, Sebastian, and even Prospero, depend upon the perpetuation of this hierarchy to give them their power, and only become leaders when those beneath them in station submit to them. Caliban is well aware that Prospero's position depends on Caliban's obeisance, as he says to Prospero, "I am all the subjects that you have"; though it is Prospero's "art" and power, rather than a landed title, that makes Caliban, the natural owner of the island, subordinate. The nature of power is repeatedly in question in this first act; Prospero believes Antonio's power to be marred by its underhanded acquisition, while Prospero believes his own power to be valid and just because he acquired it through his own knowledge and effort. Prospero reasserts his authority over Ariel, claiming that his pains to free her indenture her to him; and over Caliban too, because the charge of attempted rape takes away his credibility, as far as Prospero and Miranda are concerned. However, Prospero's power is not as justly attained as he would like to believe; he keeps Ariel in unwilling bondage, as Sycorax did, and keeps control of Caliban through threats of his power. Prospero debates throughout the work that his power, which he achieved through oppression, is more legitimate than Antonio's, which he achieved through theft; and it is this value judgment that allows Prospero to cast himself as the victim, and Antonio as the villain, though this case might not be correct. If Prospero has a mirror in any of the characters, it is Sycorax, whom Prospero repeatedly condemns as a witch. Their histories are remarkably similar; both were banished from their native countries, fled to the island for a new life, and gained control over the spirits on the island. Despite Prospero's dislike for Sycorax , they are also similar in their failings; they share the same anger, both demand servitude from those who are unwilling, and keep others in control though constant threats. Prospero and Sycorax have the same magical abilities through their mutual claim of Ariel, and share the ability to perform feats of magic through the servitude of Ariel. Prospero's long speech in scene 2 shows several of the contradictions inherent in Prospero's appearance and nature. Prospero can be empathetic and calm, as shown when he gracefully allays Miranda's fears for the safety of the men; but, he is also angry and vengeful, when he speaks of his past and his brother's alleged treachery. He calls his brother "perfidious," "false," and casts his brother as a villain when telling his history to his daughter. Paradoxically, Prospero also admits that it was his "being so retired" from his duties that "awaked an evil nature" in his brother, and his "trust did beget of a falsehood". Prospero himself causes events, like the shipwreck, without which the play could not exist; in these powers of manipulation, he performs the functions of the author from within the work. Some essayists have gone as far as to claim that Prospero is a mirror of Shakespeare as a writer because of how he fulfills the author function, though there seems to be little supporting evidence for this claim. As of the end of Act One, Prospero is the only character who is fully fleshed out. The characters of Antonio and Sebastian have been sketched out; and Ariel, Caliban, and Miranda appear, though their interactions with Prospero do more to further Prospero's characterization than their own. However, in Prospero, more than any other character, key themes come into play, and Act One begins the development of this exceedingly crucial character