SHAKESPEARE AND PSYCHOGNOSIS 7 1 



the magic banquet and the shapes, he cannot doubt the evidence of his senses and 

 accepts them as facts quite as fully as Gonzalo. Alonso is profoundly moved by 

 the exhortation of Ariel, but Sebastian's aggressive boldness enables him to say: 



" But one fiend at a time, 

 I'll fight their legions o'er." 

 Antonio adds, " I'll be thy second." He is the cleverest and w^orst of the " three 

 men of sin." 



In the ninth scene Antonio is with the others in the magic circle. From his 

 entrance to the end he speaks only once, when roused to something of his old sar- 

 castic humor he answers the question of Sebastian regarding the purchasability 

 of the monster Caliban and his friends, 



" Very like; one of them 

 Is a plain fish, and, no doubt, marketable." ' 

 In Scene 2 of Act i Prospero had given Miranda a long account of the manner in 

 which Antonio had robbed him of his birthright. He says that Antonio used foul 

 play, that he was perfidious, that he treated his brother's simple faith as simphcity 

 and violated the trust reposed in him, that his selfish ambition grew till he believed 

 himself rightful Duke, and that he banished father and daughter with treachery 

 and cruelty. (This was the occasion upon which Gonzalo had done all that his 

 position allowed to save the rightful Duke..) 

 In the ninth scene Prospero confronts Antonio, 



" Flesh and blood, 

 You, brother mine, that entertained ambition, 

 Expelled remorse and nature. . . 



I do forgive thee; 

 Unnatural though thou art!" 

 Later, when he has doffed his magic robe, as rightful Duke of Milan, he says, — 

 " For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brother 

 Would even infect my mouth. I do forgive 

 Thy rankest fault; all of them; and require 

 My dukedom of thee, which, perforce, I know. 

 Thou must restore." ^ 

 In this scene we see the moral prostration of Antonio, who has no single word of 

 defence or paUiation, nor even the rude ignorance of Sebastian to give him courage. 

 The chief actions recorded of Antonio are his usurpation and his conspiracy 

 against the lives of Alonso and Gonzalo. His words are marked by insolence, 

 sneering, flattery, duplicity, craft, and shrewd wit. But his actions and speeches 

 show vigilance, energy, and adroitness, and a clear conception of the value of facts 



' Cf . Renan's Caliban, where the monster stands for the venal rabble. 



2 In his magic robe Prospero is purely philosophic in judgment. When without it, he takes his role in a 

 less detached spirit. This remark applies to other scenes as well. 



