The Tempest: Act II

"As thou got'st Milan, / I'll come by Naples...One stroke / Shall free thee from the tribute which thou payest, / And I the King shall love thee."

Summary

  Scene i

    We are now introduced to King Alonso and his entourage: Gonzalo, Francisco, and Adrian, the kind ones; and Sebastian and Antonio, the brothers of royalty and the jokers of the crowd. Alonso is convinced that his son, Ferdinand, was killed by the storm. Francisco, Adrian, and Gonzalo attempt to cheer up Alonso, but Sebastian and Antonio are there at every turn to mock their attempts. Suddenly Ariel appears, and puts everyone but Sebastian and and Antonio (note: before Alonso falls asleep, Sebastian tells him that he will protect him). Antonio then suggest to Sebastian that he should kill his brother Alonso while he sleeps. Since his sister is now married to the King of Tunis, Sebastian is the next in line to the throne. The two draw their swords, but since Prospero has other plans, Ariel wakes up Gonzalo, who wakes up the rest of the crew. Quick on their feet, Antonio and Sebastian say that they have their swords drawn because they heard a beast out in the woods. Everyone else then draws their swords, and vacates the area.

  Scene ii

    Caliban is carrying a large load of wood as a storm comes in. He laments over the mistreatment and hatred he receives from Prospero, when he hears something coming. Thinking it to be one of Prospero's spirits, Caliban hides under his own cloak. Trinculo, an Englishman that was aboard Alonso's ship. Trinculo sees Caliban as a pile of something, either fish or a dead body, but needing shelter from the storm, he crawls under Caliban's cloak [which is pretty ridiculous to be honest]. Then Trinculo's drunkard friend, Stephano, stumbles onto the scene. He sees Trinculo and Caliban under the same cloak, and thinks them to be a four-legged monster. Caliban continues to lament about the misery which Prospero constantly inflicts upon him (since he thinks Stephano is another one of Prospero's spirits), but Trinculo tries to convey his identity to Stephano, which further confuses him and makes him think he's encountered a two-headed four-legged beast. After some repetition, Stephano realizes that he's encountered his friend Trinculo and a stranger named Caliban. Caliban sees an opportunity to escape from his slavery to Prospero, and begs to work for Trinculo and Stephano instead. Stephano accepts, and Caliban drinks from Stephano's wine bottle to seal his fealty to him. All parties leave the scene in glee.

Analysis

     Prospero described Antonio as a traitorous tyrant, yet when we see him for ourselves, we see why the people loved him: he's charismatic and well-learned. So we again begin to question the validity of Prospero's proclamations;was he a dove or a hawk? Was he loved, or was he feared like he is on the island? Was he betrayed, or overthrown? More importantly, what traits of him from the past will come forth and present themselves in the present? At the beginning of the play, Prospero painted himself to be an innocent man who has been wronged. However we quickly saw that he is not what he wants others to see him as. His mysterious and antagonistic character reveals why Caliban despises his master and why he wishes to betray him.
    The motives for betrayal are what set aside the innocent and the greedy. Caliban ditched his master because he was being treated as if he were more worthless than dirt, but Sebastian tried to one-up his master for his own personal game. However, it wasn't even of his own initiative; Antonio was the one who convinced him, because, as Sebastian said, he would stop making him pay tribute to Naples for helping him ascend to Dukehood in Milan. So perhaps Antonio and Prospero are both greedy individuals of different degrees: Prospero works on a smaller, more personal scale, whereas Antonio works on a more political scale. This would would explain their behaviors pre-Tempest.

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Thanks for reading,
                     Nick