Themes within The Tempest

The Tempest tells a fairly straightforward story about wrongful removal from the throne by his brother Alonzo, and Prospero's quest to try and get back to his rightful position and bring justice, however the theme of justice is somewhat blurred due to Prospero's actions. Prospero presents himself a a victim of an injustice, thoug his idea of justice is somewhat hypocritical due to the fact that the whole plot is driven by the fact that Prospero is angry that he has been removed from power, yet he feels no way about enslaving both Ariel and Caliban in order to meet his own needs. Prospero's sense of justice often seems very one sided throughout the play as most of the events that happen within the play seem to benefit him and his desire for power one way or another. Due to that fact that there is no higher power within the play to challenge Prospero's perception of events, the play is quite morally ambiguous. As the play progresses, it is worth noting that the he begins to mirror the the actions of the author of the play as he seemingly uses magic and trickery to create the story around him as when even the story seemingly comes to a halt, a scene ensues between him and Ariel, who often does something to the other members of the play to continue the story. By using magic tricks and special effects that resemble effects of a theatre performance, he begins to convince the characters of the play and the audience of his case, as things begin to resolve themselves and he ends up forgiving all involved within the play and relinquishing his magic powers at the end of the play, much like an author who no longer holds control over his characters once the story ends and the book shuts.

The island itself is an interesting theme within the play as well it seems to allure whoever takes refuge within it with the idea of infinite possibility. When Prospero lands there, he sees it as a place to school his daughter and ends up taking control of the island. Calibans mother Sycorax, also began to work her magic there after her exile from Algeria. Caliban who became Prospero's slave had began to think of himself a king of the island and Gonzalo imagines a Utopian society on he island. The idea of ruling the island is what drove alot of Stefano and Trinculo's story as they planned to kill Prospero to take control of the island. All these characters seem to view this place as a symbol of freedom and unrealized potential.

Nearly every scene in the play seems to portray a relationship between a person that possesses power and a person who is subject to that power. The play explores the master servant dynamic quite harshly in cases in which the relationship dynamic is threatened or disrupted, as by the rebellion of a servant or the incompetence of a master. For instance, in the opening scene, the "servant" (the Boatswain) is rude and angry towards his "masters" (the noblemen), whose incompetence threatens to lead a shipwreck in the storm, from then on, the master servant relationships like these dominate the play: Prospero and Caliban, Prospero and Ariel, Alonso and is Nobles,  the Nobles and Gonzalo, Stephano-Trinculo , and Caliban and so on, The play explores the different social dynamics of power relationships from a few different angles, such as the generally positive relationship between Prospero and Ariel and the generally negative relationship between Prospero and Caliban and the treachery in Alonso's relationship to his nobles.