Emma-Mary 1. The Meaning of Names in the Tempest. The names in the Tempest are unique and interesting. While sometimes the meanings

Transcription

1 Emma-Mary 1 emjstudy2012@gmail.com Grade 8 English allinonehomeschool 14 April, 2016 The Meaning of Names in the Tempest The names in the Tempest are unique and interesting. While sometimes the meanings of names don t have much to do with how the characters act or look, I believe that in the Tempest the meaning of the major characters names are connected with what they look like or how they act around others. One such name of a character we can look at first would be Miranda. She is the only daughter of Prospero, who is the antagonist of The Tempest and is engaged to Ferdinand. Her name means wonderful, admirable and worthy of admiration. She is a gentle, compassionate person and though she is very rough with Caliban during the events of the Tempest, she was the one who taught him to speak. She is beautiful and naïve about the world. This quote from the Tempest is a good example of her: Oh, I have suffered /With those that I saw suffer- a brave vessel, / Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her, / Dash'd all to pieces (Shakespeare 1.2.1). Another character is Ferdinand. He is the son of King Alonso and heir to the throne. He falls in love with Miranda and agrees to marry her. His name, Ferdinand, is a variant of the

2 2 name Ferdinando which means brave traveler or adventurer. He is a brave young man who must be some sort of a traveler because he traveled all the way to Africa to see his sister, Claribel, get married to the King of Tunis. He also survived the turbulent storm at the beginning of the play. Here is a quote from the Tempest which is a good example of what he is like: This my mean task /Would be as heavy to me as odious, but /The mistress which I serve quickens what's dead /And makes my labours pleasures. (Shakespeare 3.1.1). Next is Prospero. He is the protagonist of The Tempest. He was the Duke of Milan until his brother Antonio usurped him and he was set adrift in a row boat with books and living supplies given to him by Lord Gonzalo. He blames himself for this as he was too busy studying his books to notice anything happening. He has, with the help of his books, been able to harness the use of magic. His name, Prospero, means wealthy and fortunate. He was very wealthy when he was the Duke and I consider him very fortunate to have been rescued from his brother. He is also fortunate to have Miranda, his beautiful daughter. The next name is Ariel. She is a spirit who is a servant of Prospero. Almost everything Prospero does in the play is performed by Ariel. She was imprisoned in a tree for twelve years when she refused to do the bidding of the witch, Sycorax. When Prospero arrived at the island, he released her from the tree. Ariel means light and sprite. She is a spirit and can travel faster than light. She also has considerable sympathy for humans, which causes Prospero to have mercy on his adversaries at the end of the play.

3 3 One other name is Caliban. He is the son of Sycorax the witch. He is more of a slave than servant to Prospero and states that the island is rightfully his. He had once tried to rape Miranda and after that they were never kind to him. During the play, he plots to kill Prospero with the drunkards Stephano and Trinculo. His name is an anagram of the Spanish word for cannibal. Though he definitely is not a cannibal, he is a brute and... had that in't which good natures /Could not abide to be with; (Shakespeare ). Next is King Alonso. He is the king of Naples, father of Ferdinand and the older brother of Sebastian. He was instrumental in helping Antonio supplant Prospero from his position as Duke of Milan. His name, Alonso, means eager for war and noble-ready. He was quick to help Antonio to get rid of Prospero and reap the benefits but it came to back to haunt him as he was nearly killed by his own brother Sebastian who had been convinced by Antonio to kill him and take the throne because they thought Ferdinand had drowned. These are the names of most of the main characters. However when examining the names of the minor characters, I discovered that meaning of the names did not match the character portrayed. An example of this is the name of the character Antonio. He is the brother of Prospero and was the one who usurped him from his dukedom. His name means highly praiseworthy or beyond praise. Though he might praise himself for what he did, he isn t one you would regard as one who deserves praise. Another name is Sebastian. He is the brother of King Alonso and the uncle of Ferdinand. He attempted to kill Alonso but failed. Sebastian means revered or venerable. He is hardly the type of person you would revere. The last name is

4 4 Gonzalo. He was the lord who helped Prospero escape from his brother and gave him supplies. His name means battle genius. He is more of a comforter and friend than a warrior. I ve found that while the meaning of the names of these main characters matches their appearance or what they re like, it s quite the opposite with the minor characters. The meanings of their names don t match with how they act or look like. Maybe this is because Shakespeare just liked the name instead of using it for its meaning.

5 5 Works Cited BehindtheName.com n.p, Web. March sheknows.com n.p, n.d. Web. March Pressman, Peter. Speak-the-Speech.com n.p, Web. April Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. n.p, n.d.