Prospero's Coercive Forgiveness

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Act 5 of The Tempest consists in large part of Prospero forgiving his trespassers, but is his act of forgiveness an act of generosity, as we often think of forgiveness? This essay argues that Prospero's forgiveness is actually a response to the repentance and restitution performed (sincerely or not) by Prospero's trespassers, actions that Prospero elicits using punishment. Prospero accuses Caliban of wrongdoing, Caliban refuses to repent, and Prospero punishes him. Prospero (through Ariel) punishes Alonso and accuses him of wrongdoing, he repents, and Prospero forgives him. Prospero accuses Antonio of wrongdoing, Antonio does not repent or refuse to repent, and Prospero forgives him even as he threatens to ruin him politically. After surveying 16th-century Protestant texts, this essay argues that Shakespeare's audience would have been familiar with the notion that forgiveness can follow punishment, repentance, and restitution. Such forgiveness may seem inherently authoritarian, but forgiveness that does not address wrongdoing would seem to disregard justice and risk failing to render each according to their due. In other words, it can be coercive and unjust to use punishment to elicit repentance and restitution, but without repentance and restitution, forgiveness may simply preserve unjust circumstances. Moreover, penitent wrongdoers may willingly assent when a victim or arbiter names a wrong and its consequences. The Tempest therefore provides occasion for reflection on the practice and purpose of forgiveness by staging scenes of forgiveness that fall between coersion and justice.