Youth and age in the tempest?

[alesha89]

I'm doing 'The Tempest' at school at the moment. I quite like it. I don't think it's Shakespeare's best play, but it's good once you get into it. We have to make notes on all the various themes and one of the themes is 'youth and age'. I've been thinking about it and I realised that the older characters like Prospero and Gonzalo seem to be the wisest, which shows wisdom comes with age. Also, Alonso seems to regret his actions now, which shows that sometimes you behave foolishly when you are younger, and it's only with hindsight that you can realise the extent of the damage your actions caused. I was just wondering if anyone else had any thoughts? Thanks :)

[ophelia2602]

when you say alonso do u mean antonio? i think maybe that was what prospero was hoping, but antonio doesn't seem pertinent... he never actually admits fault or shows regret, in fact quite the opposite - his last line in the play is a sarcastic jab at caliban, and throughout the play he is encouraging sebastian to kill king alonso, which implies that although prospero has forgives him in the end he doesnt really accept or need it; this could mean that antonio isn't worthy of prospero's forgiveness... so i guess that age is important in the tempest, but maybe in showing that regardless of age characters like antonio never change!