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Summary and Analysis Act III: Scene 1
Summary
Ferdinand enters carrying a log, which he claims would be an odious task except that
he carries it to serve Miranda
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Miranda enters and, when Ferdinand will not rest, offers to take up his chore so that she
might force him to rest, but Ferdinand refuses
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Ferdinand, for his part,
has known other beautiful women, but he admits to having never known one as perfect
as Miranda
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Now, she would want no other man except for Ferdinand
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When Ferdinand avows that he would gladly serve her, Miranda
asks if he loves her
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She tells
Ferdinand that she is unworthy of him but will marry him if he wants her
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Prospero has been listening, unseen
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Analysis
This scene leaves no doubt that Prospero is the absolute ruler of his small island
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Although he is a prince,
Ferdinand must bow to the same authority that Caliban, a slave, observes
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She is not supposed to speak to Ferdinand
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As part
of Prospero's power, he must pretend to oppose the romance between Miranda and
Ferdinand; however, the audience knows that Prospero is not opposed to such a union,
and in fact, he had hoped that they would love one another
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In part, Prospero is playing the role that any father must play when his daughter has a
suitor
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Miranda is an obedient daughter, as proved by her dismay when she
forgets herself and reveals her name to Ferdinand
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Miranda has no experience with people
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She has no experience with men, other than her father
and Caliban
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Their love scene is sweet
and tender, and without artifice
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Miranda is more vulnerable than most young
women, and she needs a strong father to protect her
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But his watchful observances also recall the godlike control that he has
exercised over every other individual being and every action that has occurred on the
island
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Wedged just
before and just after, this romantic interlude reminds Shakespeare's audience of the
contrast between the pure and tender love of Ferdinand and Miranda and the
debauchery of Caliban, Stefano, and Trinculo
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This happy labor
contrasts to the cursing that opened the previous scene, when Caliban also carried
logs
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There is gentle humor and genuine heartfelt feelings, and there
are none of the artificial trappings of conventional courtship
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Their
encounter adds something important that had been missing — authentic nobility of
manner
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Both young lovers behave in a
responsible manner that was missing from their fathers' lives
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The plotting and betrayal of the fathers is atoned for by their children
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