A comparison of The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale Literature Essay

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A comparison of The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale
The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale share some similarities in the way they treat the division that was created between the characters. In both plays, the division between the main characters is characterized by feelings of betrayal and jealousy. In The Tempest, the rightful Duke of Milan, Prospero, was deposed by his brother Antonio because Antonio was jealous of him. Prospero, in pursuit of the study of liberal arts, leaves his “jealous brother Antonio” in charge of his dukedom (Bain, p.9). He never for a second considers that his brother would betray him. However, Antonio, with the help of the King of Naples, Alonso, overthrows Prospero and leaves him and his daughter for dead in an open and unstable boat (Bain, p.10). This act leaves Prospero feeling betrayed by his brother and he plots against his enemies for years. In act I scene II, Prospero dooms the ship of his enemies with the help of Ariel, his airy spirit, but ensures that all of them survive and are scattered on the island. Similarly, in The Winter’s Tale, King Leontes of Sicilia is overcome by jealousy when he sees how his wife, Hermione, interacts with his old friend, King Polixenes of Bohemia. King Polixenes is in Sicilia visiting King Leontes and out of excitement, Leontes instructs his wife to make sure that his friend stays in Sicilia much longer than he had planned (Furness, p.19). However, things take a horrible turn when Leontes, out of jealousy, suspects that Polixenes and Hermione are having an affair. He feels betrayed by both his friend and his wife. That forms the beginning of the division between...