SEBASTIAN: Yet he would be king on’t.
ANTONIO: The latter end of his commonwealth forgets the beginning.
– William Shakespeare
The Tempest, Act 2, Scene 1. As Gonzalo describes how he would colonize the island and build a perfect state without laws and social hierarchy, Sebastian and Antonio continue to ridicule him with sarcastic comments. But they do highlight inconsistencies in Gonzalo’s imagined paradise and the irony in his speech. For example, Alonso says he would have no sovereignty, yet at the same time he would be king. These are important observations in a play which deals with the themes of freedom, power and servitude.