SHAKESPEARE AND PSYCHOGNOSIS 247 



ness of Gonzalo. In Prospero selfishness is realized in the working for the common 

 good; Antonio is selfish in the unsocial sense. 



Prospero is hostile to Caliban. Caliban's morality is not of the cold selfish type; 

 it is backward morality. He is a devil, a born devil, but he is full of possibilities. 

 Prospero's regret is that the problem of inducing Caliban to seek for grace seems 

 insoluble. 



Prospero knows these types thoroughly and has them potentially in himself; he 

 knows himself and them by reading, experience, and reflection, as well as by natural 

 breadth, power, and sensibility. He knows life in its conventional sense from Milan, 

 and he knows nature equally well. He is able to teach every character in turn to know 

 himself deeply, truly, and feelingly. He controls, with equal authority Caliban, 

 Ferdinand, and Ariel. He is adored and obeyed by Miranda. He eventually com- 

 mands the respect of his bitterest enemies, and even Caliban comes to render him a 

 rather hearty obedience. All these relations are made possible through his insight, 

 knowledge, fair-minded bearing, and great feeling. It is easy to say that Prospero 

 is wise, that he is a magician; but what is the nature of his magic wisdom ? 



That about which Prospero is wise and over which he exerts magical power is 

 life. He is wise in his knowledge of the elements of social life. He is the complete 

 master of the social forces, both as they occur in himself, in his complete, all-round, 

 intensely human, individuality; and also, consequently, as they occur in the society 

 around him, which he identifies with himself, treats as himself, reflects in himself. 

 He is thus the embodiment of the balance of the social forces, an epitome of the selfish 

 and unselfish, sensual and spiritual, shy and aggressive, conventional and natural, 

 romantic and practical types of the race; and because of this, we may suppose, he 

 is at heart under his grave exterior, exceedingly attached to the philosophy of the 

 poet and the dreamer of dreams, expressing his beliefs, not in words, but in things, 

 not in abstractions, but in lifelike illusions; writing, not with ink, but with men 

 and women; and believing and knowing more than philosophy can seriously 

 consider both of the world that is, and of the coming race. His is the science of 

 controlling the forces of social life, and its focus is in controlling youth and marriage. 



