Anna Holt
English 9
Mr. Salsich
8 January 2009

Betrayal
A Discussion of a Theme in Shakespeare’s The Tempest

As the wise and powerful Prospero speaks to his young daughter about matters of his past, feelings of betrayal linger in his voice. More than anything, the former king feels deceived. His current state is both undesirable and enraging, however I think that hidden beneath a yearning for revenge, Prospero feels nothing but sorrow. His brother, “whom next to [himself]of all the world [Prospero] loved,” took his trust and tore it apart, a knife tearing through a defenseless sheet. Later in the passage, as Prospero continues to describe the story of his former reign, Shakespeare inserts metaphors and parallelism to stress just how much he entrusted to Antonio. He uses an effective bend of verbs, stating that he let Antonio, “perfect how to grant suits, how to deny them, who to advance and who to trash.” He uses a metaphor when he tells is daughter that the whole kingdom looked for a “tune pleased his ear,” saying that Antonio was made a hero in the castle and that everyone wished to satisfy his wants. What Prospero is implying in this passage is that he is hurt. More than wanting his kingdom back in his possession, more than yearning for his friends, more than wishing for the delights of society, Prospero aches for the brotherhood that once existed between Antonio and him. Years after the day of Antonio’s betrayal, Prospero still feels the pain inflicted by the event. He wonders how one that he cared for so deeply could be so heartless, so insincere, so blatantly oblivious to the feelings of brotherly love.