Comparative Essay Example: The Tempest and The Prince

Beginning with the Italian Renaissance, political transformations began to shape Europe. By creating strong central governments and shifting the focus to humanity, Machiavelli consequently utilizes The Prince to portray his version of an ideal monarchy. Meanwhile, The Tempest serves as a farewell to Shakespeare based on his retirement from the theater. Based on this, both texts have a profound influence on individuals, especially with their popularity. In The Prince and The Tempest, Antonio and Machiavellian princes abuse their power to overthrow someone. However, they differ in how they effectively maintain power and in the way that Prospero uses multiple types of power while Machiavellian princes utilize political power.

As powerful authorities in both The Tempest and The Prince gradually gain power, they abuse this newfound freedom through their immoral actions. During Prospero’s explanation of their history to Miranda, he includes his past as duke and how Antonio became “Duke out o’ th’ substitution” (Shakespeare 1.2.123). When Prospero grants Antonio a sample of freedom to govern the kingdom as he temporarily focuses on his studies, Antonio abuses this authority by overthrowing Prospero. While he acquires this power through greed and force, Antonio’s actions lead to further political instability as Prospero desires to reconquer the kingdom from his brother. Antonio goes “too far” in his corrupt plan by kidnapping Prospero and Miranda (Shakespeare 1.2.175), signifying his immorality and abuse of power. Similar to Antonio’s previous plan, he once again abuses his power by envisioning a “crown/ dropping upon thy head” (Shakespeare 2.1.230). He creates another immoral plan by plotting the murder of Alonso; however, this allows Sebastian to acquire more power as he takes over as the King of Naples. Since Antonio creates the idea and persuades Sebastian, Antonio indirectly abuses his power by providing him with tempting thoughts. Sebastian’s plan to overthrow Alonso parallels Antonio overthrowing Prospero as both include brotherly feuds to gain more authority. Similar to the way that Prospero bestows Antonio the power to govern for a short period of time, Cesare Borgia puts Remirro de Orco in charge of Romagna to solve its problems. With this, he pacifies and unites Romagna through violence, causing citizens to hate Borgia. This leads to Remirro’s extravagant execution, where Cesare Borgia abuses his power by cutting him in half and placing him in the square for everyone to see (Machiavelli 29-30). Using this example, Machiavelli believes that it is necessary to instill a set amount of violence to maintain a peaceful society; however, both Borgia and Remirro go beyond what is acceptable to instill fear in their subjects. In a different case, during the banquet that Agathocles prepares for the senators, he schemes a plan to have them “killed by his soldiers” (Machiavelli 34-35). Through unnecessary violence, he upsets orderly republican governments solely to become prince. His immorality shines through his murderous actions as he kills people without reason, making him an inadequate prince.

While powerful figures in both The Prince and The Tempest abuse their power by overthrowing people of higher authority, they vary in their execution of power. After Prospero explains to Miranda how Antonio overthrew him as duke, Prospero makes Miranda fall asleep and “puts on his cloak” (Shakespeare 1.2). By subduing Miranda to sleep, Prospero exerts his magical powers to control her. His magical cloak signifies the start of his magic and how he will continue to exploit his magical powers on others. As Trinculo, Stephano, and Caliban plan to murder Prospero, they become distracted by the “wardrobe” that Prospero sets out for them (Shakespeare 4.1.248-249). With this, Prospero uses the power of deception by creating a trap for his enemies in order to cease his own murder plan. Not only does Prospero have power, but the garments also have power, as it is able to distract them from their goal. Because of this, his enemies are now under his control. Meanwhile, according to Machiavelli, “it is safer to be feared than loved” when a prince is in charge (Machiavelli 66). Based on Machiavelli’s characterization of how prince’s should use their political power, it is necessary to instill fear in the subjects in order to make them dread punishment. By doing this, it allows the prince to be in greater control and rule more successfully. This contrasts with Prospero’s power, due to the fact that Machiavelli mainly provides guidance on how princes should use their power, while Prospero actually executes his power.

While Prospero and Machiavellian princes differ in their use of power, Prospero effectively maintains his magical powers over the course of the book. Immediately from the start of the play, Prospero ensures that he establishes his magical powers by wearing his “magic garment” (Shakespeare 1.2.29). Prospero continues to maintain his use of magic when he is “on the top invisible” in order to observe the banquet created by the spirits (Shakespeare 3.3). As Prospero is at the top of the hierarchy, it allows him to tower over others (both directly and indirectly), representing his power. Not only does he use his magical powers to make himself invisible, but he also provokes the allusion of a banquet in order to remind the people who tried to plan his murder how desperate they are for power through murder. Even during the last act of the play, Prospero wears his “magic robes” (Shakespeare 5.1) showing a regularity in wearing his “magic” clothing. The first and last act parallel each other, due to the fact both address his magic. With the consistency in clothing, it relates to a consistency in power as well, as Prospero keeps his magical powers over the majority of the play. Even though Prospero changes to his “ducal robes” towards the end, he still maintains his power and status (Shakespeare 5.1). Based on his change in clothing, it indicates a change from primarily magical power to political power as he regains control of his dukedom. By doing this, Prospero wants Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban to see him as the Duke of Milan when they come out of their spell. Ultimately, since he now has political power, he increases in control and agency, while also effectively maintaining his power.

As Prospero effectively maintains his magical powers by wearing certain clothing, Machiavellian princes maintain their political power through intervention. Princes that acquire a state through his heredity should be able to maintain it unless there is an “extraordinary” or “excessive force” (Machiavelli 7). As citizens are familiar with the family ruling the state and their implemented institutions, peace will remain as long as they keep this relatively unchanged. Consequently, when peace is kept, this makes it easier for authorities to remain in control with their power. In order to ensure that a prince maintains power over his state, the safest options are directly intervening “to live there in person” and ensuring there is “no disparity of customs” (Machiavelli 9-10). By following this, the prince would immediately be aware of when there is a problem in the state, allowing him to solve it rather quickly. As a result, it maintains stability in the state, while also enabling citizens to notice his presence in the territory. Not only is it important for princes to keep the same laws in hereditary principalities, but also in mixed principalities as it is much tougher to govern. By preserving constancy, it permits citizens to gain trust in him since he doesn’t affect their lives, while also keeping his power. In addition to this, Machiavelli highlights the maintenance of power in a state that is governed by “one prince and his servants” (Machiavelli 17). Machiavelli admits that initially it may be hard to acquire the state as you need to overthrow the absolute ruler who has all the power of the territory; however, maintaining this power is simple. Under these circumstances, the new prince who is now in control doesn’t have anyone above him in the “hierarchy” that he needs to worry about, allowing him to keep his power over the subjects. 

The varying types of power that Prospero and Machiavellian princes use along with how they each effectively maintain power highlight the differences between rulers in The Prince and The Tempest. Despite these differences, both Antonio and Machiavellian rulers abuse their power by overthrowing someone to get in control. While Prospero is mainly armed with magic over the course of the play, it parallels rulers being armed with armies as both provide protection for the authority figure. By analyzing the power dynamics in these characters, it allows the reader to truly understand their place in the hierarchy of society.