Ferdinand

Play

The Tempest

Summary

The son of the King of Naples who is separated from his father in the shipwreck and led by Ariel's music to Miranda. He immediately falls in love with her and willingly accepts Prospero's imposed labor — bearing logs — as a test of his worthiness. His chivalric submission to the trial without complaint, and his tender devotion to Miranda, make him the ideal romantic hero of the play's comic plot, though he is also, frankly, a somewhat slight character beside the play's central figures.

Notable Quotations

"I am your wife, if you will marry me; / If not, I'll die your maid: to be your fellow / You may deny me; but I'll be your servant, / Whether you will or no." *(Miranda to Ferdinand, III.i)*

"The mistress which I serve quickens what's dead, / And makes my labours pleasures." *(III.i)*

Cross-references

• The Tempest — the play
• Romances (Late Plays)
• character_miranda — his beloved
• character_prospero — who tests and eventually blesses him
• character_alonso — his father