There are twelve main literary archetypes derived from Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung's findings. The Wizard is one of the twelve:
A Wizard is that character that offers a solution to any problem. This character can harness powers, make magic and amaze people as well as have people fear them. And with that kind of power would come arrogance and irreverence, too. Prospero from Shakespeare's play The Tempest is an example of such a character.
This is an exchange between Prospero and Ariel, the spirit who serves Prospero:
PROSPERO ... Thou best know'st What torment I did find thee in; thy groans Did make wolves howl and penetrate the breasts Of ever angry bears: it was a torment To lay upon the damn'd, which Sycorax Could not again undo: it was mine art, When I arrived and heard thee, that made gape The pine and let thee out. ARIEL I thank thee, master. PROSPERO If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak And peg thee in his knotty entrails till Thou hast howl'd away twelve winters. ARIEL Pardon, master; I will be correspondent to command And do my spiriting gently. PROSPERO Do so, and after two days I will discharge thee. ARIEL That's my noble master! What shall I do? say what; what shall I do? PROSPERO Go make thyself like a nymph o' the sea: be subject To no sight but thine and mine, invisible To every eyeball else. Go take this shape And hither come in't: go, hence with diligence!
[I.ii.340-361]
Prospero is arrogant and irreverent and an appropriate representation of colonials in the play The Tempest. He harnesses powers, enslaves locals and makes magic, all for his personal benefits.
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