tempmagic Prosperos Magic in Shakespeares The Tempest...

Prosperos Magic in The Tempest In Shakespeares The Tempest, Prosperos magic is the means that Prospero teaches his lessons to the plays various characters. Whether or not those lessons were learned or not is irrelevant. The main issue is that Prosperos character is indeed a complex one, and one that deserves much attention. Two essays that look at the complexity of Prospero and his magic are Stephen Mikos Tempest, and Barbara Mowats Prospero, Agrippa, and Hocus Pocus. Both of these essays, in dealing with Prospero and his magic reveal things about Prospero that only enhance the mystery of his character. Mowats article deals more with the nature of Prosperos magic, and the type of character that it makes him.†¦show more content†¦There is more to his character, however, as is seen by the other two positions offered by Mowat. The second that she offers is that the magic that Prospero controls only allows him control of the physical world. Since he cannot directly influence the thoughts and beliefs of others, he is limited to mostly trickery, albeit impressive trickery. He has the power to conjure spirits, control the weather and raise the dead, but for all this earthly power, he cannot change the basic tenets of men. He has to use his powers to attempt to make the characters of the play change themselves. This sometimes works, and sometimes does not. This interpretation of Prospero is in contrast with the last tenet. Prospero appears at the beginning, according to his own words, to be only interested in gains beyond the world, yet his magic is limited to only things in the world (assuming that spirits are also physical in nature, and not outside the realm of reality.) This means that he is restricted to using earthly means to attain a goal above earthly gains. He is a strangely hypocritical person here. H e rejects the world in pursuit of his studies, yet he is restricted by that same earthly limitation. This adds to the dimension of his character. Perhaps he is not as simplistic as he seems. This allows him the possibility of having conflicting goals within the play, as he seems to have. Mowats third tenet is what rounds out Prospero: the