Scarlet's Essay

Scarlet Caruso
An Essay on The Tempest
English 9
Mr. Salsich
15 January 2009



TS: In Shakespeare’s The Tempest Prospero, a wizard that was once a duke, explains to his daughter why they are on the abandoned island. SD: Prospero got so caught up in his studying that he did not realize what was happening around him. CM: “In dignity, and for the liberal arts” Prospero worked hard to learn but was too busy to notice his dukedom slowly being stolen from him. CM: It seems that when you are trying to learn you do not notice much else around you. SD: Prospero being, “all dedicated to closeness and the betttering of [his] mind” quickly lost sight of his duties. CM: With the duke focused on studying, Prospero’s brother, Antonio, made the people of the dukedom learn to love him instead. CM: This goes to show how easy it is to do something behind another’s back when they are distracted. SD: Lastly, when Prospero was so focused on getting an education, he did not really see his true brother. CM: Prospero thought that he could trust “in [his] false brother”. CM: When you are putting a large responsilbity on someone’s shoulders, you should focus on them and make sure they are not doing anything wrong. CS: Consequently, Prospero and his daughter would not be on that island if Prospero had only been focused on the more important issue at the time.