Prospero

Origin

Prospero and his daughter Miranda flee Milan to an island that was once owned by a witch. He makes himself the ruler of the island making the two inhabitants his slaves.

Creation

Prospero was created by William Shakespeare for his final play The Tempest. It is said that he is based on several people such as John Dee, King James, God, and even Shakespeare himself.

Character Evolution

Prospero is always portrayed as an old man who is trying to protect his daughter from man's world. In Julie Taymor's 2010 film version of The Tempest, Prospero is a woman named Prospera, played by Helen Mirren.

Major Story Arcs

Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, who (with his young daughter, Miranda) was put to sea on "a rotten carcass of a butt [boat]" to die by his usurping brother, Antonio, twelve years before the play begins. Prospero and Miranda survived, and found exile on a small island. He has learned sorcery from books secretly given to him (referred to as his "Art" in the play), and uses it while on the island to protect Miranda and control the other characters. On the island, he becomes master of the monster Caliban (the son of Sycorax, a malevolent witch), and Ariel, an elemental who has become enslaved by Prospero after he is freed from his prison inside a tree. However, at the end of the play, Prospero intends to drown his book and renounce magic. In the view of the audience, this may have been required to make the ending unambiguously happy, as magic smacked too much of diabolical works; he will drown his books for the same reason that Doctor Faust, in an earlier play by Christopher Marlowe, promised in vain to burn his books.

Other Versions

Sandman

In the last issue of the Sandman series, Dream gives Shakespeare the inspiration to write about The Tempest basing Dream on Prospero.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

A wizard and exiled Duke of Milan who led the 1680s League, alongside his familiars Caliban and Ariel. It is also stated, in Black Dossier, that Prospero is also John Suttle (Subtle from The Alchemist by Ben Jonson), and that Doll Common is Miranda's mother.

Fables

Prospero is a member of the magical group known as the 13th Floor Witches. He is seen agreeing with Mr. Grandours that haste is a "mundy quality". It is unknown how the relation between Prospero and Maddy is, as he used her son as a slave for years. However, this would fall under the Fabletown Compact which pardons any crimes done before signing.