Beginning in the late 1800s, critics saw elements of Shakespeare in the character of Prospero, the sorcerer in the Tempest. Even Coleridge, in his essay on the play, mentioned this connection. Prospero is a sorcerer with a great deal of self-control, and in his magic, scholars see reflections of Shakespeare's genius for conjuring characters and plots. In addition, Prospero gives up his magic arts at the end of the play, which parallels how The...
Beginning in the late 1800s, critics saw elements of Shakespeare in the character of Prospero, the sorcerer in the Tempest. Even Coleridge, in his essay on the play, mentioned this connection. Prospero is a sorcerer with a great deal of self-control, and in his magic, scholars see reflections of Shakespeare's genius for conjuring characters and plots. In addition, Prospero gives up his magic arts at the end of the play, which parallels how The Tempest was one of Shakespeare's last plays. He died about five years after completing it.
Scholars such as Paul Beauregard also believe Prospero's character is a sign of Shakespeare's Catholicism. In the epilogue of The Tempest, Prospero says, "And my ending is despair/ Unless I be reliev'd by prayer." Beauregard sees these lines as a reflection of Shakespeare's belief in prayer to achieve salvation, which was a Catholic idea, not a Protestant one. Protestants believe in faith alone as a way to achieve salvation.
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