Prospero

Prospero (/ˈprɒspəroʊ/ PROS-pər-oh) is a fictional character and the protagonist of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, whose usurping brother, Antonio, had put him (with his three-year-old daughter, Miranda) to sea on a 'rotten carcass' of a boat to die, twelve years before the play begins. Prospero and Miranda had survived and found exile on a small island. He has learned sorcery from books, and uses it while on the island to protect Miranda and control the other characters. Before the play has begun, Prospero frees the spirit Ariel from entrapment within 'a cloven pine', about which Prospero states: