In close proximity to the sinking ship lies an island, upon which a man named Prospero lives with his daughter Miranda. Prospero is a mighty sorcerer, and Miranda asks him if he is responsible for creating the terrible storm that caused the ship to become “dashed all to pieces.” Miranda is an extremely gentle and sympathetic young lady, and she feels great pity for all of the people on board who, she believes, met their deaths in the roaring waves.
Prospero comforts Miranda and tells her that no one aboard the ship has been harmed. However, Prospero is responsible for the storm. Yet, before he explains his reason for creating the tempest, he first must tell Miranda (and, hence, all of the audience) about his life before he came to the island where they now live.
Prospero asks his daughter if she remembers anything of her life before they came to the island. Miranda vaguely recalls having servants that attended her, but she cannot remember much else. She was just a toddler when she came to the island, and she has no memory of the events that brought her there.
Prospero then informs his daughter that he was once the Duke of Milan (line 58) and that Miranda was his only child (making her a princess and his heir: Milan was an independent city-state at that time, and the Duke was its supreme authority).
Miranda’s responds to her father’s announcement with the following:
O the heavens!
What foul play had we that we came from hence? Or blessed was’t we did? (59-61)
Miranda is not only asking how they ended up on the island: she is also asking whether their coming to the island was an act of fortune or misfortune. She is asking whether fate had been kind to them or not. The concept of the role of fate upon mankind appears in nearly every Shakespeare play. Shakespeare was clearly a firm believer in the force of Fate, and he was well aware that fate could occasionally bring joy and happiness but that it could also be terribly and unfairly cruel and hostile. Prospero responds that the answer to her question is “both.” Foul play – an act of treachery – caused them to lose their position of honor in Milan, but good fortune brought them to the island.
The word prospero, in the Italian language, means fortunate; and, at times in the play (but not always), the character of Prospero symbolizes the positive side of Fate. Prospero controls the people and the events in the play like a benevolent god or like of force of good.
However, twelve years in the past, Prospero did not have power over his fate. He tells Miranda that he has a brother named Antonio (the current Duke of Milan who was on board the sinking ship) whom he had loved and trusted. Because Prospero was more concerned with study and the pursuit of knowledge than he was in administering his dukedom, he had put Antonio in charge of governing Milan. Antonio, though, became drunk with power and plotted against Prospero. Antonio is not unlike the protagonist of Macbeth: both men succumbed to the force of ambition (line 105) and committed acts of treachery. Macbeth killed his own king, and Antonio arranged for his brother to die upon the sea.
Fortunately, Antonio had put Gonzalo from Naples in charge of carrying out his plans; and, although Gonzalo did put Prospero and his infant daughter Miranda in a small boat and set it off to float aimlessly in the ocean, Gonzalo also put food, water, clothing, and books into the boat so that Prospero and his child might possibly survive. Gonzalo is essentially a good man. Although he did not dare rebel against the power of an aristocrat, he did all he could in his power to help Prospero and Miranda.
Prospero also explains that Miranda has been blessed or fortunate because on the island, with her father as her teacher, Miranda has been able to receive a far better education than she ever would have received in Milan (173-74). In the city even the aristocratic students have instructors that are not diligent enough and also have, as Prospero explains, too many vain or idle hours that are wasted. Of course, Prospero – and Shakespeare – is further implying that a proper education must follow a carefully selected curriculum that the tutors in the city might neglect. This is a minor example of social criticism. Shakespeare is indirectly commenting upon the weakness of the educational system in England (not Italy).
At this point in the play (after line 170), Prospero stands up and puts on his cloak. The simple action symbolizes a transformation in his character, from father to sorcerer. Also at this time Prospero will stop talking about the past and will start talking about the present.