"Bear with my weakness. MyAold brain is troubled./ Be not disturbed with my infirmity./ If you be pleased, retire into my cell/ And there repose. a turn or two I'll walk/ To still my beating mind."
Summary
Scene i
The scene opens with Prospero apologizing to Ferdinand for treating him poorly. Prospero then releases Ferdinand from his servitude, and lets him marry Miranda. However he warns Ferdinand that if he engages in any sexual activity, he will ensure that he will suffer pain beyond pain. Ferdinand and Miranda move aside, and Prospero calls Ariel to report what he's done. Ariel tells him that he's led Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban through thorns and marsh. Satisfied, Prospero sends Ariel away.Prospero goes up to Ferdinand and Miranda, and commences the wedding ceremony, warning them not to interrupt. The rainbow goddess, Iris, descends from the sky. She proclaims that the harvest goddess must provide a plentiful bounty to the newlyweds. As Juno, the queen of the gods slowly descends from the heavens, Ceres expresses how she is concerned that Venus, the goddess of love, and her son Cupid might be accompanying Juno. Iris consoles her, saying that although Cupid wanted to manipulate Miranda and Ferdinand into breaking their vestal* vows, their ploy failed, so the two lovers are safe. Juno [finally] arrives, and she and Ceres start singing blessings to Miranda and Ferdinand. Ferdinand fantasizes about living on the island forever, but Prospero reveals that the three goddesses are but spirits he summoned to serve his whim. As they spoke, Juno and Ceres sent Iris to summon nymphs and fieldworkers to join in celebrating the union of the two lovers.
Suddenly, Prospero remembers Caliban's intense desire to murder him. Startled, he sends all the spirits he summoned away. Ferdinand and Miranda notice his distress, but Prospero goes to the newlywed couple and tries to calm them down. He convinces them to leave, and the second they're gone Prospero calls Ariel to do his bidding. He tells him to turn invisible, and distract the three with fancy clothes.
Trinculo, Stephano, and Caliban arrive covered in mud, and the former two are distracted by the clothes while Caliban becomes infuriated at them for getting distracted from their goal of killing Prospero. While Trinculo and Stephano tell Caliban to calm down, Prospero, Ariel, and hunter and hunting dog spirits appear from the bush, and chase the three away. Prospero curses them to torture as they run, and promises Ariel that he will free him shortly.
Analysis
During the ceremony, Ceres and Iris discuss of Cupid and Mars, who wish to prevent the marriage by tricking Miranda and Ferdinand into having sexual relations before the marriage. However Shakespeare used this quick allusion to the Roman gods to foreshadow how Stephano's, Trinculo's, and Caliban's plan to take Miranda and spoil the marriage. Furthermore, Shakespeare uses the reference to the goddess Ceres to illustrate the amicability what is to come: all will be peaceful, and all will be bountiful.
Also, Stephano and friends have come to represent the outcasts of society. They are constantly disillusioned by something, and are easily manipulated by some sort of higher caste. From the very beginning of the play, they give their best efforts towards a goal, yet because of bickering inside the group or manipulation from outside, they remain at the bottom, hoping for metaphorical scraps.
*Vestal refers to the Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome, who took a vow of chastity to maintain their devotion to studying the goddess of the hearth, Vesta.
Nick
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