The Tempest the Play by William Shakespeare Essay -- Tempest William S

The Tempest the Play by William ShakespeareRulers in general face many problems, as is the nature of havingpower and authority. However rulers analogous Prospero face even muchdifficulties, as Prospero has the ultimate power of magic and cancontrol and manipulate people and their actions, more so than a congenital ruler.The first difficulty presented is an issue, which is dealt withthroughout the play the idea of how much or how little to intervene?From the beginning of the play we are told of how and why Prospero isusurped from his dukedom, I so neglecting worldly ends, alldedicated/ To closeness, and the bettering of my mind/ With thatwhich, but by being so retired, Oer-prized all popular rate, in myfalse brother. Namely because he did not get involved in running thelanded estate and possibly felt that his job was not to intervene but to bea figure-head for the country and leave the country to run itself, alaissez faire attitude to ruling. This short speech by Prosperoraises the idea that perhaps we should remember that being a rulerinvolves twain rights and responsibilities Prospero wanted the formerbut not the latter.The idea of intervention and responsibility is presented in Act 2,Scene 1, where Prospero intervenes telling Ariel to wake Gonzalobefore Antonio and Sebastian draw their swords and bolt down him. Thisissue, is particularly difficult for a ruler such as Prospero as hehas the power to manipulate the situation to suit him self, raisingmoral as well as personal predicaments?This raises yet another problem faced by rulers, specifically Gonzaloof how much trust you can give your subjects or more appropriatelythose who are next in line to the throne? This idea of trust was... ... construct alcohol. Caliban gives his only power, knowledge ofthe island, as a pledge to his new masters. His take to is that byexchanging masters, he will be able to better his life. This continuesthe idea of trust and the problems faced by those rulers such asProsper o who have slaves who have an inherit need to be incarceratedby a ruler, but unfortunately by any ruler at all and are consequentlynot faithful.In conclusion, Act 2 reveals the difficulties faced by rulers such asProspero, through cleverly interwoven narrative meander which aredeveloped gradually throughout the play. This is especially true ofthe themes of trust and the fixed natures of characters, which bothpose a problem for those in power. Prospero of course has the addeddilemma of possessing supernatural powers which brings with itadditional problems when placed in the role a ruler.