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Analysis of The Tempest by Shakespeare

Analysis of "The Tempest" by Shakespeare

Often without realizing it people judge other people by how they look and not who they are. In the play The Tempest by William Shakespeare many of the characters poorly judged one another due to their appearance. Miranda’s first sighting of Ferdinand, Caliban’s mistaken identity as a monster, and Prospero’s pretending Miranda is marrying for love, and pretending he doesn’t want the marriage are all examples of how people are manipulated by their perceptions.

Often when people are attracted to the opposite sex a lot of it has to do with first impressions, which ultimately leads their appearance. When Miranda first spies Ferdinand her initial reaction was that he was the love of her life.

“ There’s nothing ill can dwell in such a temple:

If the ill spirit have so fair a house,

Good things will strive to dwell with’t”.

(1,ii, 457)



Miranda assumes that Ferdinand is the one, love of her life, which she expresses, in the above quote. She believes that there is nothing wrong with him and he is the ideal person for her. Throughout the play Miranda never actually gets the chance to know him, all she was basing it on is his looks, and that is the third person she had actually seen since she had been on the island. Considering Ferdinand is Prince, if Miranda married him they would all be able to go home which resulted as another motive other than his looks for the marriage. Although nothing bad happened between the two of them it was obvious that the relationship was based purely on each other’s appearance of one another. Miranda was manipulated by her own perception of Ferdinand into getting married.

Caliban’s appearance is one that most would think is unordinary, which has resulted in his mistaken identity of being a monster. While Caliban was wondering around the island cursing Prospero and blaming him for all the hardship he suffers he sees Trinculo, believing that he is one of Prospero’s spirits, he throws himself to the ground hoping he will be unnoticed. However Trinculo sees him and is unsure of what he sees at first.

“What have we here? A man or a

fish? Dead or alive? A fish: he smells like a fish; a

very ancient and fish-like smell; a kind of, not of the

newest, poor-John. A strange fish! Were I...

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