One of the main themes in "The Tempest" is the
consequences of the uses and abuses of power. Prospero has accumulated and lost a great
deal of power in his life. For this reason, and because his brother is also
power-hungry, Prospero and his daughter Miranda have been banished to an island.
Prospero's only remaining power is controlling the weather and the other inhabitants of
the island: his daughter, his faery servant Ariel, and the monstrous Caliban. As the
play progresses, Shakespeare depicts Prospero as increasingly weary of using his powers;
he wants now only to make certain that his daughter has a future. He contrives a
shipwreck and stages a meeting between Miranda and a suitable husband. After all turns
out the way he planned, he yields his power to the future and returns
home.
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