The problem of forgiveness is considered in the light of an examination of The Tempest. The Tempest illustrates Prospero's struggles to forgive those who betrayed him. The forgiving of an intimate's betrayal is considered as an aspect of working through an antecedent state akin to holding a grudge, blaming, or resenting, or a sense of narcissistic injury due to the betrayal. Working through depends on giving up defenses of withdrawal, omnipotent control, and splitting. These defenses are, in essence, defenses against shame that is felt in fantasy to be unbearable. They are deployed through the workings of signal anxiety (signal shame). For that reason, underlying shame dynamics are central, although manifest shame is not evident in the struggle over forgiveness. Identification of the loving aspects of an object that has been controlled and possessed for a sufficient time, and then has been relinquished and mourned, makes this type of forgiveness possible.
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