The Best King

In Act II of The Tempest by William Shakespeare, different possible power holders emerge on the island, when the noblemen of Milan are stranded on the island. Three that stand up the most out of this group, are Gonzolo, Sebastian, and Stephano. As to who would be the ideal king, that would be Gonzalo. Gonzolo is idealistic. His utopian society is one in which no one works, everyone respects and loves nature, which in turn gives them everything they need. In this way, in Gonzolo's imagined, idealistic society, no one wants for power, and everyone is equal. Ambition, an archetype explored in nearly every literary work, is an inherent quality in every man and woman- which takes form through a will to succeed, corrupted through a selfish want for attention and fame. If Gonzalo's world was possible- which Gonzalo, being so wise, knows it is not- Gonzolo would definitely be the best king. The explanation of this society seems pointless to Antonio and Sebastian, but it seems to be a subtle jab at the bad points of Sebastain and Antonio, and perhaps in Shakespeare's point of view, a highlighting of the bad qualities of all corrupt and ambitious rulers.

In regards to Stephano, seeing him as a king would be laughable. Stephano seems to pride himself on being 'the smart one' out of himself and Trinculo, but he is really not very smart at all. Rather than being a cold, calculating ruler such as Sebastian would be, Stephano strikes one as a more Louis XIV type of ruler, who indulges himself with no real regard to his position or his people. Louis XIV's stupidity and over indulgence in the end, unfortunately for him, cost him his life, and the sanity of the whole country, which descended into an anarchy until Napoleon Bonaparte rose up from its depths and took control. Unfortunately, through history, it seems that many examples of a king like Stephano can be seen. In almost every case, they did not hold proper power for too long, or if they did hold power for long, their countries slowly descended into ruin, like Louis XIV's France.

Kind kings in the real world, have not had it so good either. In China, Qin held power until the day he died, while other leaders, during for example the Han Dynasty, were overthrown. It is notable that the country is now named after Qin, the man who was cruel to its people. In this way, if Gonzalo was king, his kindness would make him easy pickings for men like Sebastian, who hungered for power. So, unfortunately, it seems that in the real world, Sebastian would be the most realistic king. His disregard for others would get him onto the throne, and his cold, calculating nature would keep him there Governing by fear is many times very effective, as seen before with Emperor Qin and others, and if Sebastian had fear on his side, he could do whatever he wanted.

So, though the best king may be Gonzalo, a king like that would be a fallacy in the real world. The best rulers always seem to be people who are wise enough to realize that they cannot handle the responsibility of leading a people to the best of their ability. This quality is demonstrated by Gonzalo.