Throughout William Shakespeare's play, "The Tempest," the concept of being civilized is a major focus for the audience. By depicting a hypocritical society, the play suggests that people who believe they are the most civilized are sometimes not. Created by man's definition of civilization, some of the pitfalls in this play are the deceiving actions of Antonio, and Prospero's plot for revenge. The irony in this play is that the uncivilized people are pretending to be civilized, and vice versa. Shakespeare's play teaches the audience that it is easy to be fooled by power, as it is mistaken with the true definition of being civilized. Perhaps, the nature of being civilized is enclosed by a simple act of kindness, similar to Prospero's decision to quit his magic for the sake of sympathy for his enemies. .
Looking at the fine line between those who are civilized and those who are not, some of the characters in this play assume that they are better than others. For instance, Prospero treats Caliban as a slave, while Caliban is a native inhabitant of the island. As Prospero and his daughter, Miranda despise Caliban, Prospero mentions, "But as 'tis, We cannot miss him. He does make our fire, Fetch in our wood, and serves in offices That profit us. "What, ho! Slave! Caliban! Thou earth, thou! Speak!"" (Act 1). This shows that Prospero continuously uses Caliban. And he also insults him, because Caliban does not appear to be civilized like Prospero thinks of himself. Prospero's cruel behavior suggests that those who believe that they are civilized are fraudulent. .
Although Prospero was a former duke, his enslavement of Caliban does not show any signs of his being civil. Sebastian also demonstrates the discourteous behavior when he scoffs at Gonzalo, "Look he's winding up the watch of his wit. By and by it will strike"" (The Tempest Act 2). Sebastian claims to be of a higher rank, but he presents phony habits.
