The ironic Prospero
Prospero's character is fashioned by irony. Irony is what Prospero employs in the ending when he suddenly decides not to worry so much about his own personal treatment, and to focus on the fact that his family is about to be restored to a royal status by his daughter's marriage to her new boyfriend. In the end, he goes so far as to marry them himself, although the bridegroom is his nemesis's son.
The irony of order and chaos
This film adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest preserves the play's clear depiction of this irony, the ironic compatibility of chaos and order. Although Prospero comes from Italian royalty (a sign of his relationship to order, because he was part of the legal system in Italy), he is also beset by his animal instincts, portrayed in the sprite, Ariel, which is comprised of four separate entities, showing that even the chaotic portion of his character is still orderly, according to nature.
The irony of witchcraft
This movie does something exceptional. It shows Prospero in a fit of writing, which kind of suggests that perhaps the play is a depiction of its author's relationship to community. This invokes Shakespeare in the role of a wizard, because Prospero is clearly an artist wizard. That means that the play is ironic in its depiction of wizardry and magic, because magic would be a symbol of language and words. The point of this irony would be that the real magic is the play's ability to change someone's understanding of life.
The irony of isolation and community
Although this island is the fortress of Prospero's solitude, he finally gets a wish granted by fate through his magic. Although he intends to punish the people he crash-lands onto his island, he finds himself locked in this irony: He is now stranded, but he isn't alone anymore. His whole community is represented, but he is still in exile alone on an island. This clearly points to the play's focus on loneliness and existential isolation, which, ironically, community doesn't always alleviate. For Prospero, he often feels lonelier and lonelier the more he tries to make people understand him.
The irony of love
This novel is a comedy, because it ends with a wedding, and also because the story has ironic inversions in the story line. For instance, this story is predicated on an act of hatred, Prospero seeking vengeance on those who were responsible for his fall from royalty and his current exile. However, the story ends with him marrying his own daughter to his enemy's son. This ironic victory of love speaks for itself rather clearly. This is not unlike Caliban's request to for applause, a candid invitation to love.
