The Tempest

by

William Shakespeare

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Miranda Character Analysis

Read our modern English translation.
Prospero's daughter, the rightful princess of Milan. Miranda knows nothing of her past until Prospero fills her in during the second scene of the play. Miranda is a compassionate, dutiful daughter, and her only harsh words in the play are directed at Caliban, who tried to rape her at one time. Completely isolated from other people except her father, Miranda is amazed when she sees other humans, and immediately falls in love with Ferdinand, even though he is only the third man she can remember meeting in her life.

Miranda Quotes in The Tempest

The The Tempest quotes below are all either spoken by Miranda or refer to Miranda. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Loss and Restoration Theme Icon
).
Act 1, scene 2 Quotes
O, I have suffered
With those that I saw suffer! A brave vessel,
Who had no doubt some noble creature in her,
Dashed all to pieces.
Related Characters: Miranda (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Tempest
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 1.2.5-8
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, scene 1 Quotes
There be some sports are painful, and their labour
Delight in them sets off. Some kinds of baseness
Are nobly undergone; and most poor matters
Point to rich ends. This my mean task would be
As heavy to me as odious, but
The mistress which I serve quickens what's dead,
And makes my labours pleasures.
Related Characters: Ferdinand (speaker), Miranda
Page Number: 3.1.1-7
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 5, scene 1 Quotes
...O brave new world
That has such people in't!
Related Characters: Miranda (speaker)
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 5.1.217-218
Explanation and Analysis:
...O rejoice
Beyond a common joy, and set it down
With gold on lasting pillars: in one voyage
Did Claribel her husband find at Tunis,
And Ferdinand her brother found a wife
Where he himself was lost; Prospero, his dukedom
In a poor isle, and all of us ourselves,
When no man was his own.
Related Characters: Gonzalo (speaker), Prospero, Miranda, Ferdinand
Related Symbols: The Tempest
Page Number: 5.1.247-254
Explanation and Analysis:
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Miranda Character Timeline in The Tempest

The timeline below shows where the character Miranda appears in The Tempest. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, scene 2
Power Theme Icon
Magic, Illusion, and Prospero as Playwright Theme Icon
Miranda and Prospero watch the tempest from the shore of an island. Miranda pities the seafarers,... (full context)
Loss and Restoration Theme Icon
Power Theme Icon
Magic, Illusion, and Prospero as Playwright Theme Icon
...reassures her that no harm has been done and says that it's time to tell Miranda about her past. He takes off his cloak, saying, "Lie there my art" (1.2.24-25). Prospero... (full context)
Loss and Restoration Theme Icon
Magic, Illusion, and Prospero as Playwright Theme Icon
Alonso and Antonio arranged for soldiers to kidnap Prospero and Miranda in the middle of the night. The soldiers hurried them aboard a fine ship, and... (full context)
Loss and Restoration Theme Icon
Power Theme Icon
Magic, Illusion, and Prospero as Playwright Theme Icon
Miranda says that she would like to meet Gonzalo someday. She then asks Prospero why he... (full context)
Loss and Restoration Theme Icon
Power Theme Icon
Colonization Theme Icon
Prospero awakens Miranda and, calling for his "poisonous slave," (1.2.325) summons, Caliban, the malformed son of Sycorax. Caliban... (full context)
Loss and Restoration Theme Icon
Power Theme Icon
Colonization Theme Icon
Miranda angrily scolds Caliban, recalling how she tried to lift him out of savagery by teaching... (full context)
Loss and Restoration Theme Icon
Power Theme Icon
Magic, Illusion, and Prospero as Playwright Theme Icon
...five thy father lies. / Of his bones are coral made" (1.2.396–397). Unseen, Prospero and Miranda watch Ferdinand approach. Miranda declares Ferdinand handsome. Ferdinand soon notices Miranda and, struck by her... (full context)
Loss and Restoration Theme Icon
Power Theme Icon
However, to test the depth of Ferdinand's love for Miranda, Prospero speaks sharply to Ferdinand and takes him into captivity as a servant. Miranda begs... (full context)
Act 3, scene 1
Loss and Restoration Theme Icon
Power Theme Icon
...and put to work by Prospero, he delivers a soliloquy in which he says that Miranda's love, the cause for which he labors, eases the difficulty of the task. (full context)
Power Theme Icon
Magic, Illusion, and Prospero as Playwright Theme Icon
Miranda enters. Prospero follows behind, unseen. Miranda urges Ferdinand not to work so hard and offers... (full context)
Act 3, scene 2
Power Theme Icon
Magic, Illusion, and Prospero as Playwright Theme Icon
...seize Prospero's books, which are the source of his power. He entices Stephano by promising Miranda as a prize once the deed is done. Ariel listens in and makes plans to... (full context)
Act 3, scene 3
Loss and Restoration Theme Icon
Power Theme Icon
Magic, Illusion, and Prospero as Playwright Theme Icon
...agent of Fate, Ariel condemns Alonso, Antonio, and Sebastian for overthrowing and exiling Prospero and Miranda. He says that the tempest was nature's tool for exacting revenge on Alonso by taking... (full context)
Act 4, scene 1
Loss and Restoration Theme Icon
Power Theme Icon
Prospero gives Ferdinand his blessing to marry Miranda, saying that Ferdinand has stood up well to Prospero's tests of his love. He threatens... (full context)
Act 5, scene 1
Loss and Restoration Theme Icon
Power Theme Icon
...death of Ferdinand. Prospero responds that he, too, has "lost" a child. Alonso assumes that Miranda has also died. Prospero invites Alonso to look into his cell, however, and reveals Ferdinand... (full context)
Loss and Restoration Theme Icon
Power Theme Icon
...on the island. In the morning, he says, they will all return to Naples, where Miranda and Ferdinand will be married. From there, Prospero says, he will return to Milan "where... (full context)