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| Master of puppets and pulling the strings! Notice the doomy hands looming over the land in the sky. |
Power - The possession of control or command over others.
Authority - The right to control, command, or determine.
I think that of all the characters in The Tempest, Prospero undeniably has the most power. His authority, however, is almost nonexistent to most except perhaps Caliban. He has become deposed of his authority by Antonio, but Antonio doesn't exactly have the most power in the play. Antonio may still inhabit Prospero's old throne and he may command an entire kingdom, but he does not have the powers of control others indefinitely. He can command someone to do something, but he is not in full control of their actions, no matter how much he tries to do so. Prospero, however, has found the power to fully control one's actions through his wizadry but he does not necessarily have the right to do so. This leads me to question: Are power and authority the same thing?
If power can be obtained by any one, no matter what right they have to use it, and authority can be obtained by a select few, I think that power and authority are different things. Propsero does not need to be the duke of Milan in order to possess the skills he has in wizadry. He could have gone to one of the lowest of the hierarchial pyramid of social class and still have obtained the powers he has. Antonio had to fight his way to the top of the hierarchial pyramid in order to obtain the power he has, but his powers are limited to what he can do by himself. He may maintain authority over every one else in the land, but his powers are limited to what he possesses in his arsenal. If he does not have any powers beyond his legal powers, then he is powerless against someone as powerful as Prospero. Therefore, what does it mean to have authority?
Having authority means that you are allowed to use your power in politcal terms. For example, even if a terrorist such as Kony has a powerful army that he can use to make others do what he wants, he still does not have a politically given power to do so. Does he need the authority to do so? Not at all, as he can still possess whatever he pleases with his menacing and sinister army. If he did have authority by being a president of a country, he wouldn't need to do most of his actions by force as much because people would recognize that he has a politically given right to command others. However, people can still protest and disobey his commands, so, authority does not exactly come with an equal amount of power.
So, what is the role of power in the first act of The Tempest? Propsero uses his power for his own benefits. He is a selfish person and he plans a grand scheme in order to benefit himself. He couldn't do most of his scheme without a great amount of power, though. So, he uses his warlock powers to force his plan to work. He has so much power that he could even control Antonio and regain his powers in an instant. However, he uses his powers with a considerable amount of reserve and saves it for when he thinks that he needs it. Without the powers that he has, he would be unable to make his scheme go exactly according to plan and his plot would most likely fail, as would the rest of the story's plot. This suggests that Prospero is indeed a control freak.
In conlcusion, I think that power is greater than authority. Antonio could be the king of the world but still not be the king of power, as Propsero is.
