Discuss Shakespeare's treatment of the theme of usurpation in The Tempest. Or, The Tempest deals with the theme of sin, penitence and redemption. Discuss

Discuss Shakespeare's treatment of the theme of usurpation in The Tempest.

Or,

The Tempest deals with the theme of sin, penitence and redemption. Discuss

The Tempest deals with a number of themes, woven into the action of the play. Of these themes, the ideas of usurpation, atonement and reconciliation, of purification through suffering seem to be central.

 The story of the play, which begins before the play opens, tells us that Prospero is the Duke of Milan and his dukedom is usurped by his brother, Antonio, with the connivance of Alonso, King of Naples.  This is the evil act that begins the chain of events in the play. In the course of the play, Alonso suffers the loss of his son, Ferdinand, and in his grief he recalls his sin against Prospero (of course under Ariel's direction), repents of it, and is, in the end reconciled with Prospero. He has atoned for the evil he has done. The reconciliation is cemented by the marriage of Ferdinand to Prospero's daughter Miranda.
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The reconciliation or the purification theme is complementary to the theme of usurpation. Shakespeare believes in the moral order of the universe and perhaps for this belief he has given scopes for the sinners to atone for their misdeeds and thus purify their souls. The  ship's passengers, who are wrecked on Prospero's island, are divided at the plays beginning into several groups; each goes through a Purgatorial trial of some kind. In each case the reaction is different. Alonso and the court party set off in search of Ferdinand, whom they believe to have drowned. They are confronted by an illusory banquet (symbolizing the pleasures of senses and greed) which vanishes when they approach it. Alonso, Sebastian and Antonio are denounced as men of sin" by Ariel and are driven into a frenzy of madness.

Gonzalo, "the honest old counsellor", is unaffected by trial or suffering but Alonso is deeply affected. Believing his son's death to be a PUnishment, he confesses his guilt and seeks to atone for it. He is Purified through trial and reconciled with Prospero at the play's end through the marriage of Ferdinand and Miranda. Antonio and Sebastian, the impenitent sinners are punished by Ariel with a lingring perdition". Ferdinand who is innocent falls in love with Miranda under Ariel's guidance. ile also has to undergo trial and suffering in the form of servitude to Prospero in order to win his freedom and Miranda for his wife. Stephano, the drunken butler and Trinculo the clown, who being directed by Caliban, plot to overthrow Pmspero, are punished, first by submerging them in a pond and then by being haunted by Prospero's dogs. Thus various characters of the shipwrecked group suffer variously.

To sum up, the theme of usurpation and reconciliation after suffering and penitence is a common pattern of Shakespeare's last plays including The Tempest. It is usually given expression in the form of love of the members of a younger generation, who in their innocence, somehow cancel the strife and betrayal their elders.
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