Does the character Prospero in The Tempest represent Shakespeare himself? The documentary that we watched in class last week brought up this very interesting idea that maybe Prospero is a self-portrait of Shakespeare. Because The Tempest was said to be Shakespeare's last play, it makes sense that the great playwright would leave himself behind in his work. Some of Prospero’s references and lines in the play make this belief seem true. For example, in the final lines of the play, Prospero asks to “set him free” in a round of applause. Interestingly enough, about five years after writing The Tempest, Shakespeare died. This round of applause seemed to be one of Shakespeare’s last. Maybe Prospero was setting him free from his career as a playwright, asking the audience to give Shakespeare himself a round of applause. Or maybe wa this Shakespeare’s own way on leaving acting behind just as Prospero leaves his enchanted island behind? The documentary definitely brought some interesting ideas to the table that have changed my view of The Tempest. I cannot help but to think that Prospero is definitely Shakespeare.
The documentary definitely brought some interesting ideas to the table that have changed my view of The Tempest. I cannot help but to think that Prospero is definitely Shakespeare.
Thinking about Prospero as a character quite interesting when we take into account this possibility that Shakespeare did indeed intend for Prospero to be himself. As Rachel said there is a lot of evidence that points in this direction, including the fact that it is hypothesized that Shakespeare may have even acted in the play himself, it being his last play this was his farewell to the world of acting and playwriting just as Prospero says farewell to his anger, magical powers, and revenge. As Rachel also said it is quite interesting, in the end of the play Prospero turns to the audience for a farewell and this to me, is Shakespeare asking for a final goodbye before he disappears from the theatre scene. There is, in fact, may other links between the character Prospero and his creator Shakespeare. It is interesting to think that this play is about a aging wizard and Shakespeare himself was an aging wizard of literature at the time, and in that they are both growing old for their arts and bidding them farewell. Shakespeare even goes so far as to mention the "great globe itself" both a reference to earth and the globe theatre were most of his plays were performed. Another one of these connections being Shakespeare's own daughter and his worries and precautions with her and a possible pregnancy??? Either way the connections are hard to ignore, however we will never truly know whether or not Prospero was intended to be a representation of Shakespeare himself, as a final farewell act
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