Is the Paint Dry Yet?

After reading the first two acts of The Tempest, I feel as though I need to watch paint dry for a while. It was a lot to take in, and there are so many characters. So. Many. I had to keep flipping to the beginning of the play to keep them all straight.

I kind of hate everyone in this play. A lot.
People I like: Ariel (can he be considered a person? Is he a he or a she?), Gonzalo (or maybe I feel bad for him), Trinculo and Stephano, and Caliban (once again, I could just feel bad for him).
People I dislike: Prospero (jerk much?), Miranda and Ferdinand (love at first? really?), Antonio and Sebastian (what did Alonso ever do to them?).

The way Prospero treats Ariel really bothers me. I know that Ariel is a spirit and is bound to Prospero because he set him free, but does he really have to be so mean to him? He does whatever Prospero wants him to, so I feel like Prospero should probably treat him a little better. Hence, my dislike of Prospero and my keenness for Ariel. Prospero's treatment of Caliban also fuels my disdain for him. Prospero treats Caliban so poorly even though he does so much for him. I am happy he decided to join Stephano and Trinculo...even though they are both kind of insane (in a good way, maybe?).

I also really hate the way Antonio and Sebastian treat Gonzalo. I know Gonzalo is not the brightest in the play, but I'm kind of endeared by him. My favorite line of his is, "Who in this kind of merry fooling am/nothing to you. So you may continue, and laugh at/nothing still" (2.1.194-6). That reasoning sounds perfect to me; Sebastian and Antonio think nothing of Gonzalo, but he accepts that and doesn't let it bother him. I adore Gonzalo for that.

Miranda and Ferdinand are stupid. That may be a very elementary thing to say, but they are. I think since the whole "love at first sight" thing is so fairytale-ish and not very realistic, I find them to be very annoying. Ferdinand is the third male Miranda has seen, so he must be her soul mate, right? The third time is a charm.

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Hopefully as the play goes on, I will no longer want to watch paint dry and I will like more of the characters. We shall see!