Speech analysis

My spells are now broken,

I have no magical powers, only my own

Which are weak.  You guys can imprison me on this island,

Or you can release me to Naples.  Please don’t

Imprison me here

With your magic spells.  Release me

So I can return to being Duke

With your help.  Your applause

Will fill wind within my sails.  Without applause,

I have failed to entertain you.

I have no spirits to enslave now,

And I don’t have any spells to cast,

I’ll be depressed,

Unless I’m relieved by prayer,

Which wins over God himself

And forgives all sins.

Just as you’d want to be forgiven,

Forgive me and set me free.

This is quite an interesting speech given by the wizard Prospero at the end of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.  It is the epilogue to end the play, so it sort of wraps the whole story up.  Prospero notes that his powers are gone now that he has broken his staff and decided to return to Milan.  This means that he finally gained some closure with Antonio and is ready too ‘bury the hatchet’.  He has also revealed earlier to Miranda his daughter where she comes from and even allowed her to be with a man.  This symbolizes that Prospero knows that it is time to move on, he can’t stay bitter on that lonely island forever, imprisoning his daughter and himself.  It should also be noted that Prospero breaks the fourth wall which is common in the ending monologues of Shakespearian plays (Midsummer Night’s Dream for example with Puck breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience directly).  Why Shakespeare does this?  One can only make educated guesses as to the purpose.  Mine would be that Shakespeare does this to give things a nice little bow atop the present, a few sprinkles upon the cupcake, there isn’t a real need for it, but it ties things together nicely and makes it seem more complete.