In Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, the cast of characters are squeezed into some archetypal roles. Prospero is our noble hero, Miranda is the beautiful maiden, Antonio is the closest thing we have to a villain. It’s our temptation as readers to categorize these characters as roles and not as people, perhaps out of convenience . However, Shakespeare gave his creations the gift of humor, a tool that allows us to see the subtle details …showed first 75 words of 968 total…

…showed last 75 words of 968 total…itself in their wackiness. Shakespeare’s humor shows us that they are not just drunks, but angry , disgruntled drunks. Shakespeare uses his gift for humor and goofiness to reveal new facets of his characters. By making his players laugh and be stupid, we get to see them as actual , complex people with thoughts and vulnerabilities and weird agendas. He uses humor as the tool nessecary to make humans out of words, as opposed to roles.