The opening and closing scenes of The Tempest by ShakespeareThe opening and closing scenes of The Tempest by William Shakespeare are crucial to the meaning of the room as a whole. Through the deconstruction of the justice system in the tumultuous opening scene and its ultimately superior reconstruction in the final scene, Shakespeare is able to better develop and display the character traits inherent in the lead roles. Shakespeare immediately throws the audience into a court that is not unified and strictly divided by political conflict, as the courts of his day were. In The Tempest, the court is from the start in a feeling of disorder with the shipwreck and its tumultuous and frightening sounds and images. The courtly conventions of politics and class are in great conflict, and the entire court is forced, by reality or magic, from the courtly order to the enchanted island, in which the characters operate according to a different order where idealism is a reality. For these characters, the island represents an escape from the political and material concerns of the mainland, allowing a period of inner meditation outside of the roles prescribed for them in the royal household. This inner meditation throughout the rest of the play ends in the final scene, where Prospero brings all the characters together in a magic circle. This is where all of their revelations happen and the characters are enhanced by the island. This change in the last scene is easily noticed by the audience, allowing for additional characterization through the differences between the opening and final scenes. One of the most complex changes in the play takes place within Prospero himself. Considering his motivations for "destroying" the ship and bringing the characters to the island, we cannot escape the feeling that Prospero is very resentful of the treatment he received in Milan. and is never far from wanting to demand a severe sanction. revenge; after all, he has the power to do significant harm to the parties who have treated him so poorly. We learn more about Prospero's character when he has a sudden insight early in the final act, when he decides that revenge is not the most appropriate response..