The Frisbee Effect

Kimo Gray
1.08.09
Hamilton Salsich
English 9


In Act 1, Scene 2 of The Tempest, there is a theme of “What goes around, comes around,” through the conflict between Prospero, and his brother, Antonio. It has always been said that good will come to those who wait, and Prospero has been waiting 12 years with his daughter on an uncharted Island. His life has been filled with nothing but bad luck: his brother overthrew his dukedom, his daughter thinks no more of him as a worthless fool, and he is physically trapped on this island of his. This all started when Antonio took on the responsibilities Prospero gave him so devotedly, that finally “To credit his own lie, he did believe, He was indeed the duke.” But though Prospero may have been trapped in body, he was in no way trapped in mind. Before and over the course of his exile, he has become a scholar of magic, so much so that before he was cast out of his dukedom, “[As his]state grew stranger, being transported And rapt in secret studies.” Though Prospero may have found strength in that horrid island he and his daughter were forced to call home, he still had no way to utilize it or to ensure their freedom. Finally, it was by pure chance that the paths of Prospero, the rightful duke, and Alonso, the power-hungry brother crossed by means of a ship. Recognizing Alonso’s presence on the ship, Prospero uses his magic to shipwreck the ship and to bring the passengers to shore. The theory of Karma states that for all the good energy you put out in life, the more good you’ll get back, similarly with evil. Prospero’s been on a losing streak, but now he has the chance to confront Antonio, “He whom next thyself of all the world I loved,” and to finally complete that time-old pattern of wrongdoing and making right.