The Tempest Theme of Compassion and Forgiveness

"The rarer action is / In virtue than in vengeance" (5.1.2).  This is Prospero's startling revelation after years of living in exile and plotting his return to Italy.  The Tempest's emphasis on mercy and forgiveness are hallmarks of Shakespeare's "romances," four plays (The Tempest, Pericles, The Winter's Tale, and Cymbeline) written late in the playwright's career.  Prospero's capacity to forgive those who have betrayed him, Miranda's empathy, Ariel's mercy, and Gonzalo's thoughtfulness dramatize the triumph of the human spirit.

Quote #1

MIRANDA
O, I have suffered
With those that I saw suffer: a brave vessel, 
Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her,
Dash'd all to pieces. O, the cry did knock
Against my very heart. Poor souls, they perish'd.
Had I been any god of power, I would
Have sunk the sea within the earth or ere
It should the good ship so have swallow'd and
The fraughting souls within her. (1.2.1-13)

Quote #2

PROSPERO
If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak
And peg thee in his knotty entrails till
Thou hast howl'd away twelve winters. (1.2.349-351)

Quote #3

CALIBAN
As wicked dew as e'er my mother brush'd
With raven's feather from unwholesome fen
Drop on you both! a south-west blow on ye
And blister you all o'er!
PROSPERO
For this, be sure, to-night thou shalt have cramps, 
Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up; urchins
Shall, for that vast of night that they may work,
All exercise on thee; thou shalt be pinch'd
As thick as honeycomb, each pinch more stinging
Than bees that made 'em. (1.2.385-394)

Quote #4

PROSPERO
Thou most lying slave,
Whom stripes may move, not kindness! I have used thee,
Filth as thou art, with human care, and lodged thee
In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate
The honour of my child. (1.2.412-418)

Quote #5

SEBASTIAN
Sir, you may thank yourself for this great loss, 
That would not bless our Europe with your daughter,
But rather lose her to an African;
Where she at least is banish'd from your eye,
Who hath cause to wet the grief on't. (2.1.2131-135)

Quote #6

CALIBAN
Beat him enough: after a little time
I'll beat him too. (3.2.92-93)

Quote #7

HARPY
For that's my business to you—that you three
From Milan did supplant good Prospero;
Exposed unto the sea, which hath requit it,
Him and his innocent child: for which foul deed 
The powers, delaying, not forgetting, have
Incensed the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures,
Against your peace. Thee of thy son, Alonso,
They have bereft; and do pronounce by me:
Lingering perdition, worse than any death 
Can be at once, shall step by step attend
You and your ways; whose wraths to guard you from—
Which here, in this most desolate isle, else falls
Upon your heads—is nothing but heart-sorrow
And a clear life ensuing. (3.3.87-101)

Quote #8

PROSPERO
At this hour
Lie at my mercy all mine enemies: 
Shortly shall all my labours end, and thou
Shalt have the air at freedom: for a little
Follow, and do me service. (4.1.2291-295)

Quote #9

ARIEL
The king,
His brother and yours, abide all three distracted
And the remainder mourning over them, 
Brimful of sorrow and dismay; but chiefly
Him that you term'd, sir, 'The good old lord Gonzalo;'
His tears run down his beard, like winter's drops
From eaves of reeds. Your charm so strongly works 'em
That if you now beheld them, your affections 
Would become tender.
PROSPERO
Dost thou think so, spirit?
ARIEL
Mine would, sir, were I human.
PROSPERO
And mine shall.
Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling 
Of their afflictions, and shall not myself,
One of their kind, that relish all as sharply,
Passion as they, be kindlier moved than thou art? (5.1.14-31)

Quote #10

PROSPERO
But you, my brace of lords, were I so minded,
I here could pluck his highness' frown upon you
And justify you traitors: at this time 
I will tell no tales.
SEBASTIAN
[Aside] The devil speaks in him. (5.1.142-147)

Quote #11

PROSPERO
No.
For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brother
Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive 
Thy rankest fault; all of them; and require
My dukedom of thee, which perforce, I know,
Thou must restore. (5.1.149-150)