DHSHX

The Tempest Acts 4 and 5

Write a response to the questions about the play's resolutions. Use direct quotations from the play and discuss the implications of specific words and phrases; use the prompts below to guide your thinking, and then develop an argument about the play that your analyses of specific passages will support. [For specific page-length guidelines, ask your professor for more information].  
 
In Acts 4 and 5 of The Tempest, Prospero exposes all plots against authority figures and brings resolution to each character involved in such plots. Consider Prospero’s remarks regarding Caliban in Act 4, particularly compared to Ariel and with respect to his speech invoking the nature vs. nurture debate. What do those remarks suggest about Caliban and Prospero’s attitude towards him?
 
Now consider what happens in Act 5. What do you notice about Prospero’s methods for resolving the other plots against him and others, from the original plot to oust him from his dukedom to the later plots to assassinate Alonso and himself? How does Prospero’s treatment of the other plotters compare or contrast with his attitude towards Caliban?

What is Caliban's status at the end of the play? Do Caliban’s final comments affirm or challenge Prospero’s comments about Caliban’s fixed nature in 4.1?
 

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