In the play, a plot is created to murder Alonso, and a plot is created to murder Prospero. Compare and contrast these two plots. What is the importance of rank and social status in judging these two plots? What do the people in both of the groups that created the plots have in common?
The plot created to murder Alonso is one that requires some convincing. Antonio has to convince Sebastian that this is what he wants. The plot created to murder Prospero is much the same in that Caliban must persuade Stephano that this is a good decision that will benefit the both of them. In both of these plots, the persuaded and attempting murderer will move up in rank and social status. The difference between them in my opinion though, is that Caliban has more of a necessity to be ridded of Prospero than Antonio does of Alonso. Caliban frequently complains about being mistreated and being under the authority of “tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning hath cheated me out of the island.” Caliban wants Prospero’s death in order to put an end to his suffering. Antonio, on the other hand, seems to want Alonso’s death out of greed and purely for “advancement” of social status.
Both of these plots are an attempt to seize power; Sebastian intends to have Alonso’s Naples while Stephano wants Prospero’s island. Both of these figures are egged on by persons (Sebastian by Antonio and Stephano by Trinculo and Caliban) who have motives of their own. Antonio seems to want a better political position between Naples and Milan while Trinculo wants employment and Caliban wants revenge. Both parties of plotters seem to develop the mindset that the coup in which they intend to partake has already occurred without problem. Caliban almost immediately begins to consider Stephano his new lord, a God even while Sebastian is already planning to end the tribute from Milan to Naples. Stephano’s coup seems to be practical and survival oriented. He receives Caliban’s promise to show him the sources of food and water on the island. Believing themselves lost of king and country they intend to make a new home on this island. For Sebastian and Antonio, however, the island is simply a stage for their attempt to seize power that has little authority in their present location. Their coup is fueled politically and in terms of the noble world of intrigue with which they are most familiar.
Stephano and Trinculo are low on the social hierarchy. Their plot to murder Prospero is an idea that they could only hope to execute on a deserted island. These are not the sort of men who would be able to dream of a kingship in Europe. I don’t believe they would agree to take action if they knew their king was alive on the island.
Antonio and Sebastian, on the other hand, are already part of the ruling class. Antonio usurped the throne from his brother and sees no reason why Sebastian could not do the same. While the shipwreck and the island are convenient, this plot could take place in Naples almost as easily. This plot is more active treachery than the drunken scheme of Caliban et al.
Both parties seem to feel entitled to rule, as though it was earned by their previous and unjust submission to each ruler. Patrick’s point about them acting as though the coup has been successful before it has even begun is interesting. Each seems to have put the reality of murder out of mind, while each imagines the glory of his new gotten realm.
As Patrick and Kristen have said, both plans to murder Alonso and Prospero were ones that needed a lot of persuasion. Antonio is trying to convince Sebastian to kill Alonso, by telling him how much power he will have and giving him guidance through this process. Little does Sebastian know, Antonio owes Alonso and by killing him it would also kill his debt to Alonso and it would give Sebastian debt to Antonio. Therefore Antonio is really doing all of this out of self empowering reasons. The struggle for power in the whole story is constant. Every person is trying to get at least one inch above the other and they will do whatever it takes to get there. Although Sebastian needs a push to be on board with plotting the murder of Alonso, he does end up agreeing to the murder through the convincing of Antonio.
With the plotting of the murder of Prospero the stakes are much different. The idea of gaining power is prevalent however, in the case of Caliban- he wants this murder to occur so that he can be freed from a slave life under Prospero. He begs Stephano because he deeply desires to get out of the life that he is stuck in. It takes a lot of persuasion to win Stephano over, but the idea of having the power of the land is very key.
Both of the plotting to murder cases are based on an ideal of power, however they are also both based on a personal need (Antonio-to be out of debt to Alonso and Caliban-to be out of slavery to Prospero) and agenda.
It is made clear by Shakespeare that the social hierarchy of the day was an important concern to his audience. Both major groups in this play have a distinct social order, and within them, the lower status men attempt to take out the upper crust. Antonio wants to rid Alonso from his throne in order to allow his fellow cohort, Sebastian to take over. As has been stated in the comments above, money and power are the two major reasons why these men plot to murder their king. The temptation of achieving a higher social status outweighs moral obligation. The parallels between this group’s murder plot, and that of the murder of Prospero (a ‘native’ to the island) include a desire for a life of more power and opportunity. Caliban, a ‘monster’ to the island and treated like a slave, convinces Stephano and Trinculo that they should kill Prospero and take over ruling the island. This way, these men who have low status in Europe can have control over some land and Caliban will have his freedom.
Something that has not yet been stated about these two plots is the role of women. One of the first things that Antonio and Sebastian speak to one another about, in an aside in Act 2 Scene 1, is the fact that Alonso’s daughter would not marry either of them due to her obedience to her father’s wishes for her not to marry them. This immediately put a bad taste in their mouth’s concerning their king. If their status would have been higher in the first place they would have had a greater chance of marrying into the royal family. Miranda, Prospero’s daughter, is raped by Caliban because he (Caliban) wants to repopulate the island with his own kin. This act caused Prospero to treat Caliban even more harshly, which served to drive Caliban’s desire to murder Prospero even more.
I think what Sam said about the murders both involving the lower class taking out the upper class is correct. But I noticed that because of these two circumstances and four people involved we identify the collective group of people they represent rather than saying “in these particular cases” it is the lower class battling the upper class, as opposed to saying that “this person from the lower class wants to murder this person from the upper class”. It’s interesting. I guess it is said this way because of the common theme that Shakespeare plays around with regarding social hierarchy/division. There is the same sort of class division in Romeo And Juliet. Consequently, the lower class and upper class relations are about more than just these two people. I just thought it was notable that we all jump to identifying the whole lower and upper classes because of the small amount of people involved in the events that transpired.
As others have stated before, these plots are all about class and the distinctions between them. Prospero is a deposed Duke who currently has domain over the island, he has no real power now over any populated kingdom. Yet, we see Caliban try to create a plot to murder and overtake him with Stephano and Trinculo, none of these men could ever hope to rule in Europe yet here, in this new world island they can become rulers and have power. It is important to note that even though Prospero is exile he is still higher than the three trying to overtake him, thus creating a class gap that they try to breach with their plot. With the plot to murder the king, it can be seen in a very similar way, we have two people who are lower than the king, Antonio and Sebastian, who could not rule due to their current place in society, even though it is higher up relatively. All of those who are trying to take power, whether it be from Alonso or Prospero all feel as if they are owed some measure of power, as if they are held back by the current social system. This perhaps helped much of the audience relate to the characters in the play as the social order at the time was very similar.