Revenge and forgiveness

A wrong that creates the desire for revenge

In The Tempest, Shakespeare asks whether gaining power over an enemy should lead to punishment or forgiveness. These are not simply opposites: Prospero makes his enemies suffer before choosing to pardon them. The ending therefore raises a further question: does forgiveness genuinely repair relationships?

The opening storm places Alonso, King of Naples, and his companions in apparent danger. In Act 1 Scene 2, we discover that Prospero ordered Ariel to create it. Twelve years earlier, Prospero’s brother Antonio seized his dukedom of Milan with Alonso’s help. Prospero and his young daughter Miranda were put out to sea in an unseaworthy boat. Gonzalo supplied necessities and books that helped them survive.

This history makes Prospero’s anger understandable: he has lost political authority and been betrayed by someone he loved. The storm reverses the balance of power, putting those responsible within his reach. Yet Prospero also ensures that nobody dies. His concern for their safety supports the interpretation that his purpose may always have been restoration and reform rather than murderous revenge.

Miranda’s compassion supplies an early contrast to her father’s control. Watching the apparent wreck, she tells him, “O, I have suffered / With those that I saw suffer” (Act 1 Scene 2). Shakespeare introduces sympathy at the beginning of the play, long before Prospero openly chooses mercy.

Caliban’s revenge mirrors Prospero’s grievance

Caliban also believes that he has been dispossessed. In Act 1 Scene 2, he claims ownership of the island and recalls his earlier affection for Prospero. Prospero, however, explains Caliban’s confinement through his attempted sexual assault on Miranda. Their competing accounts prevent a simple division into innocent victim and cruel enemy.

In Act 3 Scene 2, Caliban recruits Stephano to kill Prospero. Asking him to “Revenge it on him”, Caliban presents the murder as retaliation for losing his island. He proposes violently attacking Prospero while he sleeps and seizing the books that give him power. Like Prospero, Caliban sees himself as a wronged ruler seeking redress. This parallel revenge plot shows how resentment can create further violence.

Caliban hopes to escape one master but offers to serve another: revenge does not necessarily bring the freedom he wants. Meanwhile, Antonio’s attempt to help Sebastian murder Alonso in Act 2 Scene 1 is driven by political ambition rather than revenge. His willingness to repeat betrayal shows that he has not repented of his earlier treatment of Prospero.

The harpy demands repentance, not just fear

In Act 3 Scene 3, Ariel appears as a harpy, makes a banquet disappear and accuses Alonso, Antonio and Sebastian of their crimes against Prospero. Prospero watches the performance from above. The audience therefore sees both the apparently supernatural judgement and the human being directing it.

Ariel declares that their escape from further punishment requires “nothing but heart-sorrow / And a clear life ensuing” (Act 3 Scene 3). “Heart-sorrow” means sincere remorse; a “clear life” means morally changed conduct afterwards. Together, they distinguish repentance from simply being frightened or wanting suffering to stop. The religious language of sin and punishment makes their wrongdoing a moral issue, not merely a political dispute. It connects pardon with the Christian expectation that sinners should acknowledge their faults and reform.

Alonso responds, “O, it is monstrous, monstrous:” (Act 3 Scene 3). The repetition conveys overwhelming horror. He imagines the sea, wind and thunder announcing his offence and believes Ferdinand’s apparent death is punishment for it. His guilt becomes so destructive that he wants to drown beside his son. This is an awakening conscience, but it also reveals the danger of Prospero’s methods: remorse is being produced through extreme distress.

Antonio and Sebastian respond differently, proposing to fight the spirits rather than admitting their wrongs. Shakespeare contrasts recognition of guilt with continued resistance.

Prospero declares that “mine enemies are all knit up / In their distractions” (Act 3 Scene 3). The metaphor “knit up” makes their mental confusion sound like a binding that traps them. He celebrates his control while leaving them distressed. A generous interpretation sees this as a painful attempt to reform them; a more critical interpretation sees revenge already being enjoyed under the appearance of justice.

Ariel makes compassion the turning point

In Act 4 Scene 1, Prospero responds angrily to Caliban’s murder plot: “I will plague them all, / Even to roaring.” His threat turns resentment into deliberate physical punishment. He orders spirits to hunt and torment Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo, then announces that they lie “at my mercy all mine enemies”. Here, “mercy” initially describes their dependence on his power, rather than compassion he has actually shown. Shakespeare places this statement at the end of Act 4, immediately before the final act’s decision about how that power should be used.

In Act 5 Scene 1, Ariel describes the prisoners’ distress, especially Gonzalo’s tears, and suggests that Prospero would feel tenderness if he saw them. Ariel adds, “Mine would, sir, were I human.” The brief sentence challenges Prospero: if a spirit can imagine compassion, surely a human should feel it towards other humans.

Prospero’s immediate answer, “And mine shall,” can mark a decisive change. He then chooses reason against his anger, declaring that “the rarer action is / In virtue than in vengeance” (Act 5 Scene 1). The opposition between “virtue” and “vengeance”, reinforced by their alliteration, presents restraint as the more exceptional achievement. The enjambment carries the statement across the verse line, delaying the explanation of what the “rarer action” is. Real moral strength lies in controlling himself, not merely controlling others.

Two interpretations are worth weighing. Ariel may transform Prospero’s purpose by making him confront suffering as shared human experience. Alternatively, Ariel may help him complete a merciful plan already suggested by the carefully harmless storm and the harpy’s offer of redemption. The sequence makes Ariel’s intervention important either way: Prospero now explicitly commits himself to release rather than further punishment.

Structurally, the opening storm gives Prospero control over his enemies, while the final act shows him relinquishing revenge when that control is greatest. Forgiveness becomes a choice made from strength, not an admission that he cannot punish them.

Forgiveness does not reconcile everyone equally

Prospero explains his decision through “they being penitent, / The sole drift of my purpose doth extend / Not a frown further” (Act 5 Scene 1). He claims that, because they are repentant, his intention goes no further than the suffering already inflicted. Yet the ending tests this claim by showing different responses to pardon.

Alonso gives up Prospero’s dukedom and asks forgiveness before discovering that Ferdinand is alive. This ordering matters: his apology is not simply gratitude for getting his son back. When he later realises that Miranda will become his daughter-in-law, he recognises that he must also ask her forgiveness. Prospero replies, “Let us not burthen our remembrance with / A heaviness that's gone” (Act 5 Scene 1). The metaphor of a burden suggests that forgiveness allows both men to put down the weight of the past. Their children’s marriage promises a new family and political relationship.

Antonio’s case is more troubling. Prospero tells him, “I do forgive thee, / Unnatural though thou art” (Act 5 Scene 1). At this point Antonio and the other nobles are still charmed, with their understanding only gradually returning: Antonio cannot yet answer. The speech allows the audience to hear Prospero’s decision before the brothers can confront each other fully. “Unnatural” condemns Antonio’s betrayal of the bond between brothers even as pardon is offered.

Once the nobles have recovered their senses, Prospero again forgives Antonio, while addressing him as “most wicked sir, whom to call brother / Would even infect my mouth” (Act 5 Scene 1). The imagery of infection conveys continuing disgust. Forgiveness has not erased the injury or restored affection.

Antonio gives no spoken answer to this later pardon and makes no apology. His subsequent remark about Caliban being marketable continues his contemptuous attitude. Prospero also retains leverage: in an aside to Antonio and Sebastian, he says he could expose their plot against Alonso, but chooses not to. The private warning qualifies the public welcome. The scene can therefore be read as moral generosity towards an undeserving enemy, or as a practical political settlement rather than full reconciliation.

Caliban promises to “be wise hereafter / And seek for grace” (Act 5 Scene 1), after Prospero makes pardon conditional on tidying the cell. His words suggest reform, particularly his recognition that Stephano was a foolish choice of master. However, his continuing fear of punishment and subordinate position complicate the harmony. The ending brings an opportunity for pardon, not equal friendship between everyone.

The audience must also practise mercy

In the Epilogue, spoken by Prospero, the powerful controller becomes a petitioner. Having pardoned others, he asks the audience to release him through its “good hands”, suggesting applause, and through prayer.

His closing appeal, “As you from crimes would pardon'd be, / Let your indulgence set me free,” connects human forgiveness with the hope of receiving pardon oneself. It echoes the Lord’s Prayer’s connection between asking God for forgiveness and forgiving others. The audience is invited to practise the mercy it has just watched Prospero extend.

The rhyming couplet makes this reciprocal appeal the play’s final thought. Direct address also changes the audience’s role: spectators who have judged Prospero must now decide whether to grant him release.

Shakespeare ends not with proof that every enemy has changed, but with a request to extend mercy. A justified overall reading is that forgiveness interrupts revenge and makes a shared future possible, while reconciliation remains uneven and trust cannot simply be commanded.

Turning evidence into a part (b) argument

Edexcel’s Shakespeare question separates two skills. Part (a) assesses language, form and structure in the printed extract: context earns no marks there. Part (b) assesses an argument about the play elsewhere, supported by references and relevant context, rather than analysis of language, form and structure.

For part (b), connect what Prospero chooses with what that choice achieves. The contrast between Alonso and Antonio allows an essay to move beyond saying that the ending is either happy or unhappy.

Worked paragraph — part (b), on whether forgiveness produces reconciliation: Shakespeare presents forgiveness as a way to end conflict, but not as a guarantee that every wrongdoer will repent. In Act 3 Scene 3, Ariel demands “heart-sorrow” and a changed life from Prospero’s enemies. Alonso later fulfils this demand by asking pardon and restoring Milan before he knows that Ferdinand has survived. Antonio, however, makes no apology even after recovering his senses and receiving Prospero’s renewed offer of forgiveness. The Christian connection between repentance and pardon therefore makes Antonio’s case particularly troubling. Prospero chooses mercy despite the absence of spoken remorse, allowing political peace without establishing renewed trust between the brothers. The ending achieves reconciliation with Alonso more convincingly than with Antonio.

The paragraph uses short quotations and precise references as evidence for a judgement across the play. Its context explains why repentance matters to forgiveness, rather than becoming a separate account of religion.

Central distinction

Forgiveness can stop revenge without producing repentance or restoring trust. Alonso repents; Antonio offers no spoken apology.

Trace the development

• Beginning — Act 1 Scene 2: Antonio’s betrayal explains Prospero’s grievance. The storm brings his enemies into his power, but he protects their lives.
• Middle — Act 3 Scene 2: Caliban asks Stephano to “Revenge it on him”; his murder plot parallels Prospero’s grievance.