Bullies Abound In The Tempest

          There are two main sets of bullies in The Tempest.  First, there is the crew that harasses Gonzalo including Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio.  They poke fun at the old man Gonzalo and his positive outlook on life and positive outlook on their situation on the island.  Gonzalo describes, "Here is everything beneficial to life" (29).  The others aren't having it, however.  They think that they are in a hopeless and dismal situation and reprimand Gonzalo for his ideas.  Antonio and Sebastian send a barrage of criticism about the island describing it as a dump and putting Gonzalo down for thinking the island a lush place.  Gonzalo continues his arguement for the island describing how he would rule over it with amazing righteousness.  The others write him off as a confused old fool.  While reading this section, one can't help but feeling sad for Gonzalo as he seems to have so much goodness in his heart that is simply beat down by the bullies that surround him.
          The second set of bullies is Stephano and Trinculo.  They focus their bullying efforts on Caliban.  They manipulate Caliban who is in a desperate situation into treating them as lords.  They then force Caliban to escort them to Prospero's lair so they can steal clothes and other items.  The issue is, Caliban was on his epic revenge trip to kill Prospero who made Caliban the way he was.  Caliban thought that Stephano and Trinculo were on his side, but he quickly realizes they fooled him.  Stephano and Trinculo selfishily try to make Caliban help them in their theft, which ultimately costs Caliban his opportunity to enact revenge upon Prospero as he is driven from the cave.
          In creating these bully characters, Shakespeare is commenting on some of the ugly aspects of human nature.  He is displaying some people's propensity to be selfish and controlling.  He is also commenting on the dog eat dog nature of the world and how those who are bullied struggle to get ahead.