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Prospero's Power and the Masque Celebration

Prospero gives his blessing to Miranda and Ferdinand's wedding after Ferdinand proves his love. However, Prospero threatens harsh consequences if Ferdinand takes Miranda's virginity before the ceremony. Ferdinand agrees to Prospero's terms. To celebrate, Prospero has Ariel and spirits put on a masque for the couple, with Iris, Ceres, and Juno blessing the marriage. However, Prospero abruptly ends the masque after being reminded of Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo's plot against him.

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414 views1 page

Prospero's Power and the Masque Celebration

Prospero gives his blessing to Miranda and Ferdinand's wedding after Ferdinand proves his love. However, Prospero threatens harsh consequences if Ferdinand takes Miranda's virginity before the ceremony. Ferdinand agrees to Prospero's terms. To celebrate, Prospero has Ariel and spirits put on a masque for the couple, with Iris, Ceres, and Juno blessing the marriage. However, Prospero abruptly ends the masque after being reminded of Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo's plot against him.

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Valicia
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Analysis of Act 4 Scene 1

The wedding of Miranda and Ferdinand draws near as Prospero has now given his blessing, as he
has stood up well to his tests of love. He threatens harsh consequences, however, if Ferdinand takes
Miranda's virginity before an official wedding ceremony takes place. Ferdinand pledges to obey
Prospero's wishes. Ferdinand acquires freedom and his love because he conceded to his loss of power
and did not rebel or become embittered. Prospero and Ferdinand’s discussion about Miranda’s virtue
illuminates the vastness of Miranda and her future husband’s difference in knowledge of the world. This
discussion is a blunt reminder that change is inevitable and that Miranda will soon give herself, in an
entirely new way, to a man besides her father. After the discussion of sexuality, Prospero introduces the
masque. He orders Ariel to gather his band of spirits to put on a celebratory masque, or performance,
for the new couple. The masque begins when Iris, the Greek goddess of the rainbow, calls Ceres, the
harvest goddess, to come and join her in celebrating the marriage. Juno, wife of Zeus and queen of the
gods, appears next. Juno bestows her blessing on the couple, wishing them wealth and honor, while
Ceres blesses them with wishes of prosperity. When Ceres wonders to Iris where Venus and Cupid, the
deities of love and sex, are, she says that she hopes not to see them because their lustful powers. Iris
assures Ceres that Venus and Cupid are nowhere in sight. Venus and Cupid had hoped to foil the purity
of the impending union. Ceres, Juno, and Iris have kept the gods of lust at bay. In the process, Prospero
displays his full power, so amazing and humbling Ferdinand that the boy is now in awe of his father-in-
law.

Suddenly, Prospero recalls Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo's conspiracy to kill him. He calls an
abrupt end to the festivities and the spirits vanish. Ferdinand is unsettled by Prospero's change in
demeanor
At this moment, its as if Prospero got so caught up in his "art" that he lost track of real life (which is also
what led to Prospero's fall in Milan). Prospero summons Ariel, who reports that he has led the drunken
conspirators on a torturous walk through briar patches and a stinking swamp. He describes their plot to
steal Prospero's cloak and books before killing him. Prospero’s remark about Caliban echoes Miranda's
observation that certain races are naturally indecent and inferior. This rationale was a common
justification for colonization and slavery.

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