Back to: The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Prospero agrees that he had punished Ferdinand too hard. He gives him permission for the relationship with Miranda and assures him that her virtues exceed all his expectations.
Prospero asks him to observe chastity before marriage otherwise too much lust without any control will dwindle their marriage. He then asks Ariel to put on a show to give Ferdinand & Miranda a hint of his power. As a celebration to their union, a magical masque is spelled by Prospero.
Iris, virgin goddess of the rainbow, comes first and blesses them of all-natural bounties. Ceres, the goddess of agriculture speaks next and celebrates the nature of true love and blesses the lovers.
Juno, the wife of Jupiter and patroness of women in general and marriage in particular, honors them with prosperity and long continuance. It overwhelms Ferdinand in general. He wonders about their nature to which Prospero answers that the whole vision is his creation.
Nymphs called Naiads, river nymphs, enter at the call of Iris to help them celebrate the occasion. They start dancing, later joined by reapers. During this celebration, Prospero suddenly remembers of the threat to his life planned by Caliban. He reacts suddenly and stops the whole event.
Ferdinand and Miranda get surprised with this sudden change in his temperament. Prospero says that his old mind is tired and he needs some time to walk alone and it will still his mind.
They leave and Ariel enters. Prospero asks him about everything which has happened since then. Prospero feels bad that even after all his attempt to civilize Caliban, he has remained an ungrateful savage. He gets too angry and decides to plague the ones plotting against him with his magical power.
On the other side, Caliban comes with Stephano and Trinculo as per their plan to kill Prospero in his place. They keep talking rubbish while approaching Prospero’s place. Caliban has lured Stephano into the idea of kingship and they’ve been addressing him as the king.
They come across all the cheap glittery stuff like clothes on their way as arranged by Ariel magically. They look at it and get attracted and it reveals their stupidity.
Prospero casts his magic at this moment and his spirits enter the scene as hounds and start hunting these three. Prospero curses with all his magic and asks Ariel to carry it on and hunt them thoroughly to the end.
