“Sebastian and Antonio Analysis” Original

Based on how Sebastian and Antonio treat Gonzalo while he tries to cheer up the king, the reader can conclude that they are cynical and make jokes of everything whenever possible. With every remark Gonzalo says, they repeat back with a joking or snide remark. They try to beat Gonzalo’s bright words down constantly, such as when Gonzalo speaks of how bright the grass is and Antonio spouts “He misses not much.” (II.i.759), so as to say that Gonzalo does not mind losing all that he once had.

 

 

“Sebastian and Antonio Analysis” Revised

Based on the actions of Sebastian and Antonio throughout the story, it is easy to deduce that they are static characters with the main purpose of being the antagonists of the play. Antonio, being the brother of Prospero and being the main person behind the devilish scheme against Prospero, is the main evil character of the play. As Prospero said while describing Antonio to Miranda right before he tells her about Antonio kicking him out of the kingdom, “Mark his condition and the event; then tell me/If this might be a brother”, saying he was unloving and terrible toward Prospero in terms of getting his rule (I.ii.220). Antonio is also guilty of convincing Sebastian to kill his brother, Alonso, so he can claim the throne; when Gonzalo and Alonso were asleep, Antonio was busy telling Sebastian to kill his brother, saying “Here lies your brother,/No better than the earth he lies upon,/If he were that which now he's like, that's dead” (II.i.1018). Sebastian, as another antagonist, agrees with Antonio, saying “Thy case, dear friend, /Shall be my precedent; as thou got'st Milan,/I'll come by Naples. Draw thy sword: one stroke/Shall free thee from the tribute which thou payest;” (II.i.1029). Along with plotting to kill the king and his counselour, the two are cynical jokesters; for the first part where they’re introduced, they’re shown to be ridiculing Gonzalo for being optimistic. One such example is when Sebastian jokingly answers a literal answer to Gonzalo’s question, then when Gonzalo takes it seriously, says “You have taken it wiselier than I meant you should” (II.i.727). Another example of this joking and cynical nature is shown in Antonio, when he says Gonzalo “misses not much” when he talks of how green the grass is and how wonderful the island is (II.i.759). In saying that they’re static characters, it means that they do not change from this cynical, evil and joking manner from the beginning of the play to the end; this is correct, with an example of Sebastian continuing to joke about the situation is when he makes a snide remark about Caliban and the others, saying “Ha, ha!/What things are these, my lord Antonio?/Will money buy 'em?”, even though they had just been found by Prospero (V.i.2236). Antonio is never shown to improve either, as he is given little to no dialogue in the final act and is not shown often in the other acts, minus trying to get Sebastian to kill his brother. Overall, as two main protagonists of the play, they do their job well, and together are static and flat characters that never develop or learn from their mistakes, like Alonso and Prospero.