Miranda: The Only Person on the Island Who Has Not Been Betrayed Yet

Miranda knows almost nothing about the world outside Prospero's island. She has her father's version of every event: why they are there, who took their place, what other people are like. Her response to Ferdinand in Act 1, Scene 2 is entirely her own: unguarded, direct, and completely without social calculation. She has never met a young man her own age.

She proposes to Ferdinand herself in Act 3, Scene 1, while he is carrying logs as Prospero's punishment: 'I am your wife, if you will marry me; if not, I'll die your maid.' She has no model for how courtship is supposed to work, so she invents her own: clear and honest. Prospero watches the whole scene from hiding, which gives it a layer of surveillance she does not know about.

'O brave new world, that has such people in't!' in Act 5 is often quoted as naive idealism. Prospero's response, ''Tis new to thee,' is the gentle deflation the play offers. She has not met these people. He has. Her wonder is genuine; his wariness is earned.