Miranda (Shakespeare)

Miranda
John William Waterhouse (1849-1917), Miranda—The Tempest. 1916.
Creator	William Shakespeare
Play	The Tempest
Date	c. 1611
Family	Prospero (father) Prince Ferdinand (husband) Antonio (uncle) Alonso, King of Naples (father-in-law)
Quote	"O brave new world, That has such people in it!"

Miranda (mi-RAN-də) is one of the principal characters of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. She is the only female character to appear on stage during the course of the play and is one of only three women mentioned.

Miranda is the daughter of Prospero, one of the main characters of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. She was banished to the Island along with her father at the age of three, and in the subsequent twelve years has lived with her father and their slave, Caliban, as her only company. She is openly compassionate and unaware of the evils of the world that surrounds her, learning of her father's fate only as the play begins.

There is some speculation that Miranda, along with her husband, Ferdinand, may be intended to represent Elizabeth Stuart and her new spouse, Elector Frederick V, as The Tempest was originally performed for the court of Elizabeth's father, King James, in celebration of the marriage.

The Tempest's second scene begins with Miranda , begging her father to spare the lives of the men at sea. She's fully aware of the powers Prospero possesses and begs him to cease the storm. In an act of bravery she challenges her father's wisdom, arguing that: "Had I been any god of power, I would / Have sunk the sea within the earth or ere / It should the good ship so have swallow'd and / The souls within her." As the scene progresses it is revealed to her that she is, in fact, the Princess of Milan.

When Ariel, Prospero's servant, appears, Miranda is placed into a magically induced sleep. She awakens when Caliban is summoned and it is quickly shown that the two have a contentious relationship, most probably due to Caliban's failed attempt to "violate her honor" she refers to him as "a villain, sir, I do not love to look on." (I, ii).