Ferdinand: The Prince Who Earns What He Gets

Ferdinand is on the ship in Act 1, Scene 1 and believes his father drowned in the storm. He is led by Ariel's music to another part of the island, where he meets Miranda in Act 1, Scene 2. Their falling in love is immediate and, for once in the play, uncomplicated by anyone's manipulation, though Prospero is watching.

Prospero tests it anyway. He accuses Ferdinand of being a spy, takes his sword, and sets him to carrying logs: weeks of heavy labour for a prince. Ferdinand accepts it because of Miranda. He accepts it also because he is fundamentally decent and does not respond to injustice with theatrics.

In Act 3, Scene 1, carrying logs while Miranda watches, he says the work feels like pleasure because of who he does it for. That is not performance. He is alone when he says it. He is not the play's most complex character, but that is partly the point. Not everyone who lands on this island becomes bitter or corrupted. He is the play's proof that some people simply stay good.