Character guide

Prospero

major

Also known as Prospero Well, Prospero Dull thing, Prospero Fairly, Prospero Mark

Prospero was Duke of Milan until his brother Antonio, entrusted with governing while Prospero pursued his secret studies, took the dukedom and set him adrift with the infant Miranda. Twelve years later, he has become a master of the liberal arts whose art can command the sea and its spirits, yet he is still the man who confesses he neglected worldly power for private study. In the play's opening movement, he raises the tempest, explains his past to Miranda, and begins arranging the island's encounters with a control that is both paternal and unsettling.

Ariel

major

Also known as Exit Ariel, Reenter Ariel, Ariel Hark, Delicate Ariel, Ariel Ay

Ariel was freed from the torment of the witch Sycorax by Prospero, but the rescue came with a term of service, and the spirit now carries out every task from shipwreck to enchantment with inventive, elemental flair. The tension is plain: Ariel serves without grudge or grumbling yet repeatedly reminds Prospero of the promised liberty, and Prospero's sharp reminder of past torments shows how easily gratitude can be turned into leverage. Ariel's invisible interventions drive the island's middle action, shaping what every other character sees, hears, and believes.

Caliban

major

Also known as Setebos, Caliban O Setebos, Caliban Ay, the beast Caliban, Caliban The dropsy, Caliban Lo, Caliban Yea, Caliban Within, Caliban Prithee

Caliban claims the island as his inheritance from his mother Sycorax and insists Prospero took it from him by sorcery, a grievance sharpened by his daily labor and Prospero's contempt. He is at once brutal and eloquent, capable of describing the isle's noises and sweet airs with a sensitivity that complicates any easy dismissal of him as mere monster. When he falls in with Stephano and Trinculo, his plot to seize Prospero's books and kill him becomes the play's most dangerous counter-current, exposing how much of the island's order rests on magic and fear.

Miranda

major

Also known as Miranda More, Miranda Alack, Miranda O, Miranda Sir, Miranda Heavens

Miranda has lived since age three in a cell with Prospero, knowing nothing of courts or dukedoms until he finally tells her who she is. Her compassion is immediate and unguarded, and when she sees Ferdinand she declares her love with a plainness that cuts through the island's deceptions: she would rather be his servant than lose him. Her willingness to offer herself without bashful cunning makes her the emotional center of the play's middle movement, and her father watches the match with approval he will not yet fully show.

Ferdinand

major

Also known as Ferdinand Ay, Ferdinand Admired Miranda, O Ferdinand, Ferdinand Sir, Young Ferdinand

Ferdinand believes his father Alonso has drowned and finds himself alone on an island where a strange old man and a beautiful daughter are his only company. Prospero accuses him of spying and sets him to carry logs, a humiliation the prince accepts with surprising grace because Miranda's presence transforms the labor into devotion. His willingness to endure bondage for love, and the speed with which he and Miranda pledge themselves to each other, give the play its romantic engine and test whether Prospero's designs will permit genuine happiness.

Antonio

supporting

Also known as Antonio Fie, Antonio The cockerel, Antonio Widow, Antonio O, Antonio Temperance, Antonio⁠

Antonio governs Milan in Prospero's absence and, by Prospero's account, remakes the state's officers and favorites until he is the ivy sucking the life from his brother's princely trunk. He shows no remorse on the island; instead he needles Sebastian toward killing Alonso so that Sebastian can be king of Naples, revealing a courtier's appetite for power that survives shipwreck. His presence among the stranded nobles keeps the play's political danger alive and gives Prospero's forgiveness a target that is anything but abstract.

Sebastian

supporting

Also known as Sebastian One, Sebastian Ay, Sebastian Sir, Sebastian Claribel, Sebastian Whiles, Sebastian Ha, Sebastian God

Sebastian is the King of Naples's younger brother, stranded with the court party on Prospero's island and quick to trade grief for gallows humor. He spars with Antonio in asides that turn Gonzalo's every comfort into a punchline, but the same wit curdles into conspiracy when the two men weigh a murder that would make Sebastian king. His sneering patience with other people's hope makes him the play's most unsettling audience member, always watching for the moment weakness offers an opening.

Alonso

supporting

Also known as Alonso Old lord, Alonso Good boatswain, Alonso Prithee

Alonso arrives on the island as a father hollowed out by loss, having just married his daughter Claribel to the King of Tunis before the sea took his son. He tries to command the boatswain during the tempest and is told the sea cares nothing for the name of king, a rebuke that shadows his grief. His despair makes him vulnerable to Antonio and Sebastian's whispered plots, and his slow search for Ferdinand keeps the court party moving through the middle of the play.

Gonzalo

supporting

Also known as Gonzalo Nay, Gonzalo Dolour, Gonzalo Sir, Gonzalo Faith, Gonzalo Good, Gonzalo Heavens

Gonzalo is the loyal courtier who smuggled Prospero and Miranda out of Milan with provisions and books, and he spends the island scenes trying to comfort Alonso with talk of fresh garments and sweet air. Sebastian and Antonio make him their running joke, wagering on his speeches and calling him a spendthrift of his tongue, yet his stubborn optimism is the moral counterweight to their cynicism. His long fantasy of a commonwealth without labor or riches gives the play its clearest picture of what a good society might look like.

Stephano

supporting

Also known as Stephano Trinculo, Enter Stephano, Stephano Ay, Stephano Prithee, Stephano Moon, Stephano Moon - calf, Stephano Monster, O king Stephano, Stephano Mum

Stephano stumbles out of the wreckage clutching sack and quickly becomes the center of the play's low comedy, trading songs with Trinculo and accepting Caliban's worship as his due. He dreams aloud of a kingdom where he'll have his music for nothing, and his bloody thoughts grow bolder with every drink even as his plans stay absurdly small. His alliance with Caliban and Trinculo turns rebellion into farce, letting Shakespeare show how tyrants are made from vanity and liquor as much as from ambition.

Trinculo

supporting

Also known as Trinculo Stephano, very Trinculo, Trinculo Monster

Trinculo is the court's fool, washed ashore alone and delighted to find a monster he can exhibit for profit back in England. He falls in with Stephano's makeshift kingdom, flattering him as 'O king Stephano' while pocketing whatever finery the plot turns up, and his mockery of Caliban exposes the casual cruelty beneath the comedy. His wit keeps the rebellion scenes buoyant, but it also shows how easily cleverness becomes another form of exploitation.

Ceres

minor

Goddess of agriculture, who appears in the masque celebrating Ferdinand and Miranda.

Adrian

minor

Also known as Adrian Carthage, Adrian Tunis, Adrian " Widow Dido "

A lord attending Alonso, who comments on the island's strangeness.

Sycorax

minor

The deceased witch and mother of Caliban, who imprisoned Ariel before Prospero.

Juno

minor

Also known as Juno Honour, Great Juno

Queen of the gods, who blesses the betrothal in the masque scene.

Iris

minor

Goddess of the rainbow, who serves as messenger in the masque.

Boatswain

minor

Also known as Boatswain Heigh

The ship's officer who struggles to save the vessel during the storm.

Francisco

minor

Also known as Francisco Sir

A lord attending Alonso, who reports seeing Ferdinand swimming.

Claribel

minor

Alonso's daughter, married to the King of Tunis, mentioned in conversation.