The character of Prospero in The Tempest Prospero's presence is continually felt in The Tempest, even in those scenes in which he does not appear personally. He is the manipulator of the action of the play and occupies the center of the scene very markedly, especially if one compares his position with that of the central characters of, for example, most of Shakespeare's historical plays. For in these later plays, England itself becomes the hero: the English crown, in its resistance to civil war and factionalism, and so there is usually no character of the same stature as Prospero. In Latin, the name Prospero would mean, "I hope so." What a member of English Renaissance society would generally have hoped for would have been salvation, in terms of Christian theology. Another meaning of his name would be "prosperity", implying that whatever he attempts will prosper. There is certainly a connotation of hope in its name. Prospero is a purified intellect. He is a "white" wizard; practice theurgy, not gota. (Curry 137). By practicing white rather than black magic we mean that Prospero's magic is always aimed at good ends and that he seeks only the good. At the end of the play Prospero seems to somewhat abdicate his role as the embodiment of pure intellect, as he returns to Milan to resume his role as the active chief magistrate, or duke. The question then arises: Is Prospero a status renegade? has throughout the work: the status of pure intellect? To find an answer we must resort to the concept advanced earlier in this study: that everyone on the enchanted island, including even the man-monster Caliban, learns and is educated... middle of paper... memorials. (1877):787-800. Rpt. Scott. 304-307.Hartman, Geoffrey H. Save text: Literature/Derrida/Philosophy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1981. Other, Sir Thomas. "Utopia." The Longman anthology of British literature. Vol 1. Ed. David Damrosch. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., 1999. 637-706.Platt, Peter. "Shakespeare and rhetorical culture". A companion to Shakespeare. Ed. David Scott Kastan. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers Ltd., 1999. 277-296. Sacks, David Harris. "Political culture". A companion to Shakespeare. Ed. David Scott Kastan. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers Ltd., 1999. 100-116.Shakespeare, William. The Storm. Ed. Rex Gibson. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995. Snider, Denton J. “A Review of The Tempest.” Shakespearean drama as a commentary: the comedies. (1890). Rpt. Scott. 320-324.