The Honest Gonzalo

                For this week’s Shakespeare blog I will be discussing The Tempest. The act which I would like to talk about is Act II.i. The character which intrigues me the most in the scene is Gonzalo. Out of all the characters in this scene he is the only one who stays open minded about the situation they are in. Constantly through this scene Gonzalo is attempting to tell the Lords to make the best out of their situation or they will make it worse. An example of this would be when Gonzalo states, “that our garments, being, as they were, drenched in the sea, hold notwithstanding their freshness and glosses, being rather new-dyed than stained with salt water.” I believe this is one line in this scene that truly expresses how Gonzalo is trying his best to make the best out of their situation. While the Lords are blaming others and each other for Ferdinand’s death Gonzalo is saying let’s all calm down and take in the situation we have been placed in and go from there. While Sebastian continues to blame his brother for Ferdinand’s death Gonzalo uses lines like above to change the conversation. He is saying the salt water has not stained their clothes, but yet gave them a glossy new look and that they are as fresh as they were when they first put them on. One reason I really like Gonzalo in this scene is because he seems to speak up against Sebastian. When Sebastian is talking about the lady Gonzalo states, “my lord Sebastian, the truth you speak doth lack some gentleness and time to speak it in: you rub the sore, when you should bring the plaster.” This line makes me really like Gonzalo’s character because it shows that he is not afraid to speak up for what he thinks is right. Sebastian is causing a situation to become worse and Gonzalo speaks up to say with no disrespect but I think you are making a the situation worse that it already is. By speaking up, Gonzalo transitions the hostile moment to a moment where he talks about how he would run the island if he were king. In general, I chose this scene for my blog this week because I believe Gonzalo is an interesting character who should not be looked over. He is a character of control and really helps the hostile situation in this scene. These speeches which Gonzalo gives about the island really helped me paint an image of what it may look like. I liked how Gonzalos character is an honest character.