**

The Tempest by William Shakespeare: Introduction

William Shakespeare's last play, The Tempest, was first performed in 1611, although it was the opening
play of his collected works of 1623. The play has long dazzled readers and audiences with its intricate
blend of magic, music, humor, intrigue and tenderness.

It charmed Jacobean audiences, played (in substantially altered form) to packed houses from the
Restoration through the eighteenth century, emerged (in its original form) as a focal point in nineteenth-
century European debates about the nature of humanity, and served disparate symbolic roles in
twentieth-century writings on western imperialism and its demise.

The Tempest has been a play for all eras, all continents and many ideologies. Several centuries of
readers, watchers and critics have found Shakespeare's last play as perhaps less the story of the
shipwreck, island refuge, murderous cannibals and happy ending but more of ambiguous central
characters: the detestable Prospero (who, some critics oppose, reflects the playwright himself), the
bestial of noble Caliban, the loyal or resentful Ariel, and the demure or resilient Miranda. Even the play's
narrative context is disputable. Controversy has marked The Tempest almost from the outset through
centuries of changing interpretations by legions of scholars-whether from a Romantic, Christian,
Darwinian, Freudian, allegorical, autobiographical, cultural materialist or post-colonial perspective. The
Tempest has resonated with unusual power and variety.

The Tempest is neither a comedy nor a disintegrating tragedy, but a matured play of Shakespeare. As he
grows matured, he moves beyond the tragedy and wrote some comedy plays along with romance. Since,
it is the last play of Shakespeare, it depicts his long career in the field of theatres. Prospero’s supreme
control over the island and over the spirits of the island symbolizes Shakespeare’s supreme mystery of
the English theatre of his time. Here, the position of Prospero has been regarded as the position of
Shakespeare himself. Prospero, who parallels Shakespeare, manages all the problems and shows
resolution. He creates a tempest through the use of magic, which makes people forget and brings
resolution. The creation of magic is not just ego gratification, but a genuine use. Giving up the power of
magic by Prospero parallels the ending of the Shakespeare dramatic career.

The Tempest is full of supernatural elements and it seems clear that the playwright is not interested in
producing lifelike events. The beautiful presentation of the characters, the moral theme of forgiveness
and the issue of freedom bestowed to Ariel, and the delightful poetry are the charm of this play.

**

The Tempest by William Shakespeare: Summary

A ship is caught in the terrifying storm, tempest in the middle of the sea. There are include Alonso, the
King of Naples; his son Ferdinand; his brother Sebastian; his kind old councilor Gonzalo; and Antonio, the
false Duke of Milan. Prospero, who is the rightful duke of Milan is on the Island and now has become a
great and powerful magician. He has a daughter named Miranda. Prospero has created the tempest to
gather his all enemies in a same place.

Twelve years ago, Prospero was dethroned by his own brother Antonio making conspiracy with the help
of Alonso and Sebastian. Prospero and his infant daughter Miranda were cast away in the sea, but
fortunately they were brought to the island. Since then, they have been living in the island with two
servants: Ariel the airy spirit and the monster, Caliban. Caliban was treated well at first, but when he
tried to rape Miranda, he was treated sternly by Prospero.

Prospero, after causing the tempest, separated Alonso’s son, Prince Ferdinand, from the others. His
father thinks Prince Ferdinand is dead in the storm. He is deeply saddened by this fact and his councilor
Gonzalo comforts him. On the island, Antonio and Sebastian plot to kill the king and his councilor and
take his kingdom. But at the right time, Ariel wakes the king and his councilor. The main purpose of this
plot is to seize the kingship of Alonso by his brother Sebastian.

On the other side of the island, Ferdinand meets Miranda and they both fall in love. Ferdinand too thinks
that he is the only survivor of the storm. Before he gets approval of his love from Prospero, he is
assigned to a difficult toil to pile up a thousand logs before the sun sets. He succeeds in this task and
becomes the lucky one to have Miranda in his life.

Stephano and Trinculo are the other survivors of the wreck. They meet Caliban, and poor Caliban takes
them as God who would free him from the slavery of Prospero. These three people make a plot to kill
Prospero. The three become drunk and because of the mischievous deed of Ariel, Trinculo and Caliban
have a row before the implementation of their plot. Before they can set their scheme against Prospero in
motion, Ariel leads them off with enchanted music, then goes to report the scheme to his master.

The king’s people look for Ferdinand on the island, but fail and being desperate stops to rest. Ariel and
the other airy spirits prepare a great feast for the group, as they are ready to enjoy it, they turn into
harpies and grab it away. All men are terrified, and Ariel tells them that they are being punished for the
wrong deed they did to Prospero twelve years ago.

Meanwhile, as Ferdinand passes his test, Prospero tells him to be faithful to Miranda and remain chaste
until the marriage. Then the good spirits entertain the couple with mosque and Juno blesses the couple
with prosperous life.
Prospero, being decisive to forgive all his enemies, brings Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio before him,
along with Gonzalo and the rest of the King's party and he reveals his identity. Alonso quickly asks his
pardon, though Antonio and Sebastian never really repent. To Alonso's pleasure, Ferdinand returns not
only alive, but engaged to the lovely Miranda as well. Ariel leads in the captain of the ship and the
boatswain to the ship. They have already declared that the ship is totally ruined. But to their surprise,
because of the magic of Ariel, the ship is in good condition. Prospero forgives Caliban, too. He's decided
to give up his magic and return with the others as the rightful Duke of Milan. After commanding Ariel to
speed their trip, Prospero promises the airy spirit the freedom he's wanted for so long.

**

Allegorical Interpretations in The Tempest

William Shakespeare's last play, The Tempest, is rich in symbolism. It has been interpreted in several
ways by critics and reader alike. There are fanciful interpretations attached to the characters of Prospero,
Caliban, Ariel, Miranda and several others. It has been called a complex piece of dramatic art.

One critic considers Prospero as a man of genius, a perfect artist lacking at first in a practical sense for
worldly success. Subsequently, he attains the height of his supernatural powers. Miranda, for him,
represents Art in its infancy. Caliban stands for the lower human passions and appetites whom Prospero
subdues to his service and who he vainly tries to lift to a higher level. Caliban trying to rape Miranda
signifies the lower passions of mankind attempting to violate the purity of Art. Ariel represents the
imaginative genius of poetry liberated from long slavery to evil influences, in this case the wicked witch
Sycorax. The marriage of Ferdinand and Miranda shows Shakespeare's view that success in art is possibly
only through the hard labor amounting to toil.

Another critic opines that in writing this play Shakespeare was answering the great question of the day,
namely, the justification of European usurpation of the backward and uncivilized areas of Earth.
Shakespeare felt a warm interest in the English colonization. Caliban is interpreted as a mere anagram of
cannibal, representing state of barbarism over which Prospero, the European colonizer, establishes his
just sway in order to carry the torch of civilization to the remotest parts of this planet. Gonzalo's
description of an ideal republic in Act II is a satire on the prevailing systems of governance.

The Tempest presents a picture of the glorious victory of the righteous human soul over all things around
it. Prospero represents wise and virtuous manhood, while Caliban is the lowest and Ariel the highest
extreme in the wonderful chain of earthly existence. Prospero represents the middle link - the wise and
good man who is the ruling deity to whom the whole series is subject. Ferdinand stands for passionate
chivalrous devotion of youth, while Miranda represents the yielding simplicity and sweetness of the
unsophisticated girl. The young lovers are the hope of mankind representations of those natural instincts
which, watched and guided by the paternal care of Prospero will bear their rightful harvest of happiness
as well as pleasure.

Next interesting interpretation is that Shakespeare has sought to represent himself through the
protagonist of the play, Prospero; he has given us a self-portrait in the character of Prospero and his
farewell speech at the end of Act V as well as in The Epilogue conveys his desire for giving up his vocation
of a dramatist and retiring to Stratford-upon-Avon after weaving all the dreams through his 37 plays. The
Tempest being the last of his plays, William Shakespeare treats the speech of Prospero as his last will and
testament. The voice of Prospero has been interpreted as being the voice of the playwright himself.
Prospero's supreme control over the island and the spirits symbolizes Shakespeare's supreme mastery of
the English stage during his time. When Prospero renounces his magic, it is Shakespeare during his time.
When Prospero renounces his magic, it is Shakespeare himself bidding a kind of farewell to the dramatic
career.

According to another interpretation, The Tempest deals with a subject which constantly occupied
Shakespeare towards the close of his career, that of reconciliation, pardon and atonement of sins. In this
case, Prospero forgives all his enemies after they have represented of the grievous wrong done to him
twelve years ago in conspiring against him and banishing him from the dukedom of Milan. It is
reconciliation time between Prospero and Alonso with their offspring uniting in holy wedlock at Naples
with all the religious rites and rituals and their grandchildren becoming the joint rulers of Naples and
Milan.

The Tempest represents the glorious victory of the righteous human soul over all things around it. It also
represents an allegory about the pursuit of power and the consequences of that pursuit and that any
perversion of the natural order of things in this world brings distress and doom. And that adherence and
obedience to the natural order is essential for man's attainment of the highest good in life. The Tempest,
therefore, yields a multiplicity of meanings and interpretations to generations of critics and readers; the
list can never possibly be exhausted. It is the peak of Shakespeare's creation.

**

Colonialism and Post-Colonialism in The Tempest

Colonialism began much earlier with the discovery of America. It was a big issue during Shakespeare's
time. The opening up of new frontiers and new land being discovered stimulated European information.
Shakespeare's imagination has taken this into account. Exploration of new geographical spaces and
control of those lands by the explorers is basically what we know by colonialism.
Interpreted as white man's burden, colonization was a means of conquering new lands and imposing the
colonizer's culture from on the native people. Prospero's capture of Sycorax's land and his treatment of
the natives of the island have prompted many critics to interpret the play as working out the drama of
colonization. Caliban's protest against Prospero and his resistance to colonial power using the language
taught by the colonizer helps us interpret the play as a postcolonial text.

The Tempest has often been interpreted as a play about colonialism primarily because Prospero comes
to Sycorax's island, subdues her, rules the land and imposes his own culture on the people of the land. In
this interpretation, Prospero is not seen primarily as a kind father of Miranda and kind ruler instead
usurping Caliban's Island from him (Caliban). But putting him under slavery and undermining him as a
monster, we can take Prospero as a representative of the Europeans who usurped the land of native
Americans and enslaved them. He, as a sense of superiority, takes Caliban as half man. Pushing the
native to the side, he places himself at the helm of affairs. He displaces Caliban's mother and treats her
as a beast. He has full control over everything on the island. He makes Caliban work as his servant and
calls him a thing of darkness. Caliban is being dehumanized or treated as subhuman. Like European
fantasizes the other people as a wild man, Prospero, in this play, describes Caliban as deformed, evil
smiling, treacherous, drunkard, violent, savage, and devil worshipping etc. According to Prospero, he is
not even human rather born devil.

Prospero; ''This thing of darkness, I call my own''

This shows the colonizer's attitude of looking down on the colonized people. Caliban is seen as a
despicable entity. The whites looked down on the people of another color. Some are born to dominate
while others are born to be dominated. Caliban is treated as inferior. The colonizer used words like light,
knowledge and wisdom to refer himself while he used terms like darkness, ignorance and elemental to
describe the colonized. This binary opposition shows how Prospero as a colonizer creates essences about
the colonized people. Prospero sees himself as a ruler carrying out the project of civilization mission. The
way light dispels darkness and knowledge dispels ignorance Prospero as a colonizer educates and
civilizes Caliban but without much success. The civilizing mission is always accompanied by the politics of
domination over the colonized. These elements allow us to study the play in the light of colonialism.

In colonial perspective, we see the play through the eyes of colonizers. But if we see the play from post-
colonial perspective, Caliban is emerging against from the very beginning of domination. The hatred
towards the colonizer is very great and strong among the colonized. Prospero manipulates everybody
and every action in the play. Everybody on the island is manipulated by Prospero the way a puppet
master controls his puppets. Caliban as a colonized wants to strike back on the colonizer. Caliban is
disobedient and creates problems for the colonizer. He attempts to rape Miranda and it is a threat posed
to the safety of the colonizer. He tells Prospero that the land that Prospero rules was forcefully taken
away from his mother. Like Caliban's protest, in world history, too protest has begun with the birth of
colonialism itself. He simply says, ''I wish it were done''. Despite this, Caliban again and again claims that
the land is to be inherited on him. It means he seems to be justified in claiming that the island originally
belonged to him.

Caliban: ''I must eat my dinner. This Island is mine, by Sycorax, my mother.''

When Prospero tries to teach the language Caliban always refused to recite. Caliban, therefore, remains
at the end what he was at the beginning. No change occurs in Caliban's nature. Here, Prospero, like
White men is in the illusion that they are working for them (calonized). But such notion is failed because
Caliban does not learn his (Prosper) language, even at the end of the play. The play shows the resistance
of dominance class. Whatever he has learnt, he uses it in cursing Prospero. These attempts by Caliban to
protest and resist the colonizer can support our post-colonial interpretation of the play.

**

The Tempest as a Renaissance Drama

Renaissance means rebirth, which marks a shift from seeing humans as sinners to a focus on their
potentials and achievements. Humanism was a key part of Renaissance spirit. Quest for knowledge and
power, a spirit of adventure, a quest for exploring new territories, the presence of evil in the politics and
interest in magic are the Renaissance element in The Tempest.

The play’s major focus is on Prospero’s quest for perfection, knowledge and power. He devotes himself
to learning even to the extent of neglecting his duties as a ruler. Use of magic is a weapon through which
he can attain perfection. He attains to the status of God on the island assigning roles to the people,
commanding and punishing them whenever they go wrong. The act of Antonio’s usurpation of power
gives us insights into the evil that was a part of Renaissance politics. The predominance of magic in the
play shows the Renaissance king’s interest is in the magical things. Prospero leaves Milan and happens to
land on a new island. This incident of traveling through the sea, facing shipwreck, coming to a new land
reminds us of the spirit of adventure, of Renaissance times made possible by the invention of the
compass. The quest for geographical discovery of the time is vividly referred to. The long process of
colonization began during the Renaissance period. Prospero goes to Caliban’s island and gives its culture
and rules over it. He seems to have fulfilled the colonizing mission. He is the representative of western
civilization, goes to a wild locale and molds it in the image of his own culture. He takes the land away
from Sycorax to whom it legally belongs.
Antonio’s greed for power, Prospero’s quest for knowledge and perfection as well as his spirit of
adventure from the Renaissance elements of the play. The use of magic as a means for gaining perfection
and the colonization of the island also makes The Tempest a typical Renaissance drama.

**

Significance of Caliban in Shakespeare's The Tempest

Caliban embodies three ideas, first, the supernatural as he is born of the union of a witch and the devil.
Hence, he is deformed. In the first and supernatural character, Caliban serves as a foil to the heavenly
spirit, Ariel. Ariel is primarily "but air", whereas Caliban, at the very outset, is addressed by Prospero a
'thou earth'? Caliban represents not only the earth, but also the other of two heavier elements, i.e.
water, for he is half fish.

The physical appearance of Caliban is vague; all attempts to sketch this strange being have proved futile.
He is able to dig pig-nuts, pluck berries and snare the nimble monkeys, yet Prospero calls him a tortoise.
Again, in one of her speeches, Miranda ranks him with a man when she tells Ferdinand that she has in
her life seen but two men - her old father Prospero and the deformed Caliban. In another, she excludes
him from the category of human beings. Shakespeare must have derived some of the material used for
portraying Caliban from contemporary books of travel narrating strange account of island natives in
various parts of the world. Caliban symbolizes an extraordinary kind of monstrosity and lack of scruples
when he tries to rape Miranda, for which he is banished from Prospero's cell and confined to a rock, and
when he conspires against his master Prospero along with the drunken butler Stephano and the jester
Trinculo. What gives him supernatural qualities is Caliban's heredity and his bodily deformity as well as
the curses he constantly heaps upon Prospero in spite of knowing that he will be severely punished for
this. He is an ungrateful and incorrigible wretch.

Caliban in The Tempest is also an embodiment of slavery on the island that Prospero has usurped.
Caliban rightly resents this fact because the island should have rightfully been his after the death of his
mother, the wicked witch Sycorax. Instead, he is yoked to slavery. As Prospero says, "We'll visit Caliban,
my slave - he does make our fire, fetch in our wood and services in offices that profit us." Again, "He is
that Caliban, whom now I keep in service." As a slave, Caliban hates Prospero, the hard taskmaster; in
fact, he hates "all service". He, therefore, represents slavery and the revolt against slavery in all its forms.
Prospero at one time might have 'petted' Caliban and treated him with great affection, but in the final
analysis, Caliban is his slave and Prospero himself makes no bones about calling him his slave without
feeling embarrassed. Speaking to Stephano, Caliban says that Prospero is a tyrant who inflicts all kinds of
punishment upon him. The relationship between Caliban and Prospero is that of a slave and a slave-
owner. Caliban's reluctance to carry out Prospera's commands shows a slave rebelling against the
authority. Slavery has existed in various forms in several countries from times immemorial. It has since
assumed serious dimensions and created several historic and geographic problems. Negroes are still
treated as second-class citizens in America. Caliban, therefore, represents the oppressed and the
downtrodden class of slaves in an unequal world.
The Tempest, being a play about colonialism, deals with the relation between the colonizer and the
colonized. If Prospero represents the colonizer from the civilized world, Caliban is seen as a savage beast
thus in need of being civilized. He is a victim of colonial rule and exploitation. At the same time he also
represents the force for striking back on the colonizer. Prospero came to the island where Caliban and his
mother Sycorax were dwelling and forcefully took it from them. It is a typical colonial practice. He
represents the world of civilization. The civilizing mission has it that the colonizers were not there to
dominative the natives, but to uplift them by civilizing. It was an attempt to justify colonization. In the
eyes of the colonizer the native inhabitants were always barbarians. This stereotype works in the case of
Caliban too. He is treated as a beast by Prospero and he learns how to use language. He is a colonized
whose existence is the 'other' so much needed to define the 'self of the colonizer. Prospero feels it his
duty to teach and civilize the savage. Caliban is pure nature, not corrupted from the influence of
civilization, After Caliban is taught to use language he is being molded according to the image of the
colonizer but the colonized can never be the equal of the colonizer. He is the darkness that contrasts
sharply with Prospero, who represents light of civilization. On the other hand, Caliban also stands for the
force that strikes back on the colonizer. After he learns how to use language he says that the advantage
of it is that he knows how to curse the colonizer. He uses the weapon given by Prospero to rebuke and
curse him for what he has done to him and his mother. His attempt to rape Miranda can also be
understood along the same line of interpretation. Thus Caliban represents the colonized who at the
same time counters the colonizer with what he has given to the colonized.

The monster, the slave, the colonized - are the three parts played by the deformed Caliban in The
Tempest. He is the embodiment of the supernatural, the social and the political ideas of the day.

**

Magic in Shakespeare's The Tempest

Magic was a matter of importance in the sixteenth century involving life and death to practitioners and
victims. The burning of witches and the publication of many books on the subject, including one even by
James I, bears witness to its place in public thought. Consequently the very full use of it in The Tempest
would have a much greater effect on the audience than can be felt today.

There were two different types of it, a maleficent one represented by witches and wizards, who sold
their souls to the devil in popular belief and who were governed by him to work evil on victims. The
other was beneficent, derived from studies in the occult and used generally for discovery of new forces
and investigation the occult and used generally for discovery of new forces and investigation into the
laws of physics and other scientific research. Examples of both types are in the play, where they form a
contrast, that of the witch Sycorax, very sketchily developed, and that of Prospero, very fully developed.
Sycorax was allied with the devil, who gave her power over the air with its invisibility and swiftness of
motion, but her evil work resulted in her banishment and death. Prospero invoked only his own mental
intelligence to win greater powers. Before he was sufficiently learned his lack of wisdom indirectly led to
banishment, but afterwards he had full control over the air and greater prowess. He used them only for
good, his own restoration to the throne, the welfare of his daughter, the repentance of Alonso, and
punishment for the disobedient.

The attributes of magic used by Prospero are the robe, the wand, and his books on the subject. He never
appears invisible himself, but he repeatedly puts on or off his magic robe, according to whether he has
work to do as a magician or an ordinary man. Little mention is made of his wand; he disarms Ferdinand
in Act I, Sc. II, and will bury it "fathoms deep" when he adjures magic at the close of the play. His books
are his chief power, and these he buries deeper "than did over plummet sound". His robe represents his
dominion over mortals, his wand the instrument of power, and the books of his supernatural knowledge.

The spirits summoned by Ariel may be classified as those of fire, air, earth, and water. Fire is evoked in
lightning and the forms taken by Ariel in flames on the poles and rigging of the ship, and the will-o-the-
wisps used to torment Caliban. Water spirits appear in the Naiads and elves of the brooks and streams
who are in attendance in the masque of Act IV to "bestow upon the eyes of this young couple some
vanity of mine art", said by Prospero to Ariel, Act IV, Sc. I, 23. The spirits of the air are of the highest type
and include Ariel and the divinities he summons, Ceres, Iris, Juno, and the nymphs. They thunder, Music,
Noises, sounds, and sweet airs with which the island abounds, says Caliban. The spirits of earth are the
goblins, the dogs and hounds used to plague Caliban and his associates.

Another type of the magic used by Prospero, either by himself or with the aid of Ariel, is in materialistic
performances, more spectacular than most of the others, such as the production and disappearance of
the banquet, the line of glittering garments, the arrival and dance of the Reapers, and the magic circle in
which the courtiers were held charmed.

**

Dramatic Art in Shakespeare's The Tempest

The Tempest is Shakespeare's last play; however it is regarded as one of the mature and successful plays
of all time. His play contains many salient features which brings the height of success in his late career.
One of the most appreciated features of his play, The Tempest, is spectacular. Chief interest in the play is
probably the series of unusual occurrences that challenge attention one after the other.

Naming some of them, we have the play of wind and fire in the shipwreck, the foiled attempt of
Ferdinand to fight a duel, the gestures, behavior, and jests of the courtiers, the thwarted murder of
Alonso, Ferdinand, Miranda, and the wood pile, the bottle of liquor and the drunkards, the appearance
and disappearance of the banquet, the harpy, goddesses, nymphs, and reapers, the line of garments,
and the arrival one after the other of the groups of characters towards the close. Dress plays a large part
in variety, rich and elaborate with the court, chaste and white of spirits, the wildness of the drunkards
and grotesque with Caliban.

Another characteristic of this play is that it consists of supernatural elements. The structure and action of
the play depend almost on the use of the supernatural. It includes spirits of air, earth, fire and water. A
distinction is made between the evil of witchcraft and the good of magic at its best. Strange sounds of
the island dominate the play, thunder and roaring at the wreck, thunder and lightning accompanying
evil, and soft, solemn, or sweet music attending the good. The courtiers are put to sleep and awakened
with songs. The banquet, goddesses, spirits, reapers, dogs, and garments appear from nowhere and
mysteriously vanish. The mystery of the unknown pervades in nearly every scene.

Humor is next most significant feature of The Tempest. Humor may be found in situations, speech,
gestures, and actions. The humor of this play lies almost altogether in the actions, speech and gestures
of the quarreling courtiers and drunken rascals. The court jester, who normally should supply wit and
humor, is too drunk and quarrelsome to exercise his inventive skill. Incidents such as the dogs chasing
the rascals and the quarrel of Trinculo and Caliban depend for their humor on the skill of the performers
of the play on the stage.

Though The Tempest does not fully support the element of romance, it has some features of being
having elements of romance. The world of the play lies in the imagination; a condition in which good
finally prevails and evil is suitably punished or abolished. The love story is that of a courteous, correct
young man, so naïve at the outset that he reveals his experiences in love to a maiden who has never
seen a young man before; and their love at first sight reaches maturity at once. The strange sounds of
the island, the genial atmosphere and vegetation, the mysterious appearing at every happening and the
control of all by Ariel creates a romantic surrounding.

The use of contrast tends to bring out personality and heighten interest by placing opposites side by
side. It occurs in scenes, characters, dress, and action. The terror of the storm and wreck is set off by the
quiet conversation of Prospero and Miranda. The mourning of Alonso is followed by the drunken scene
of Stephano and Caliban. Caliban, the earthy creature is at the other extreme of airy Ariel. Gonzalo
stands out in strong relief from Sebastian and Antonio, and Ferdinand with his court experience comes
face to face with Miranda's ingenuousness. The reapers in their work-a-day dress are ridiculous in their
dancing with the nymphs in gossamer robes. Contrasting pairs are found in Prospero and his brother
coupled with Alonso and his brother; the plot of Sebastian and Antonio is reflected in that of Stephano
and Caliban.
We find little use of this device to hold the interest of the audience because of the shortness of time and
rapidity of action. Prospero tells us in advance of his intentions regarding his daughter and Ferdinand.
The audience knows that Ariel will forestall the plots of the conspirators. There is a certain amount of
suspense in the effect of the betrothal upon Alonso and the punishment and rewards to be meted out to
those concerned.

Dramatic Situations is created in this play which is another major characteristic. These are occasions
when the attention of the audience becomes tense in expectation. They are allied with suspense, but the
latter continues until the solutions are reached, while the former is momentary. We find it in a sharp
exchange of sallies between Gonzalo and the Boatswain, in the threatened duel between Ferdinand and
Prospero, in the drawn swords of Antonio and Sebastian, in the disappearance of the banquet just as the
courtiers are moving towards it, in Prospero's listening unseen at the meeting of the lovers, and in the
introduction of Miranda to Alonso.

The situation of dramatic irony occurs when the audiences know of conditions unknown to the
characters on the stage, or when some of the characters know and the others do not. This irony is used
much more frequently in tragedies and historical plays than in comedies and masques. In The Tempest it
runs quietly through the play in our knowing of the work of Ariel while the players do not. Specific
examples of its occurrence are found in Prospero's listening in at the lovers, in the courtiers when in the
magic circle as Prospero exposes their characters, and in Ariel's interference in the plots against Alonso
and Prospero.

Fate is the intervention of some force over which human beings have no control. It is called Providence
and Destiny in the play, but is by no means a characteristic of the play. But it was fate that directed
Prospero's "rotten butt" to the island that brought Antonio and the Neapolitan court together in a ship
near the island. Again, it separated the passengers from the crew after the wreck and then brought them
in separate groups to land, each believing the other lost.

Nemesis is the Greek goddess of retributive justice, "an eye for an eye" who inflicts suitable punishment
for the sinner. Caliban's beastliness is punished by animal pains; Antonio loses the power he seized; the
drunken state of the villains leads them into thorns and filth; and Trinculo's quarrelsome nature earns
him a beating. Good deeds also bring rewards Gonzalo's loyalty, Prospero's serious studies, and Alonso's
repentance result in their final happiness.
Very few lines of the play have become popular quotations. The best known one is found in Prospero's
speech to Ferdinand after the dance of the reapers in Act Iv, "we are such stuff as dreams are made on,
and our little life is rounded with a sleep". Ariel's last song, "Where the bee sucks, there suck I', is
another well-known line.

There are only two philosophers in the play, Prospero and Gonzalo. Prospero believes that life is a brief
interval between the sleep of the unknown past and that of the future, that life is good, that its chief
enjoyment is found in books and study, that good will finally overcome evil, and that sin must be
punished. Gonzalo believes in loyalty and optimism, in making the best of a bad situation, and in the
enjoyment of life, "an acre of barren ground better than a thousand furlongs of sea".

**

Forgiveness and Freedom as Moral Lesson in The Tempest

Forgiveness and freedom are the keynotes of the play. Prospero, the Duke of Milan, has been grievously
wronged by his brother Antonio who was entrusted with the administration of his dukedom. Antonio
conspired with Alonso, the King of Naples to dispossess Prospero. In return, Antonio bartered away the
independence and sovereignty of Milan and agreed to pay an annual tribute to the King of Naples.

Prospero was banished from Milan along with his infant daughter Miranda; they were put on a ship in
the middle of the night and left to the dangers of the sea and the sky. It was only through the
compassion and kindness of the old courtier Gonzalo that they survived all these years on this
uninhabited island. Gonzalo had very thoughtfully put all of Prospero’s books, which he says he values
more than his dukedom, as well as provisions on the ship. Prospero came ashore on this island where he
has brought up and educated Miranda. At the same time, he devoted himself to the study of the
supernatural and came to rule the island previously ruled by Caliban's mother, the wicked witch Sycorax.
He freed Ariel from his torment of having been imprisoned in a cloven oak tree and made him his
supernatural aid along with other spirits of the air. He engineers a fierce storm on the sea while King
Alonso is returning after celebrating the marriage of his daughter Claribel to the King of Tunis. The ship
carrying the king and his entourage is wrecked and the king's men are scattered all over the island till
Prospero chooses to bring them together. By that time, they are all distracted and bewildered at the
supernatural happenings surrounding them; they are deeply affected. All his enemies are now at one
place and at his mercy. It is Ariel, who is not a human being but a mere spirit that tells Prospero how
moved he is at their plight. Prospero's forgiveness is solemn, judicial and has in it something abstract and
impersonal. He cannot wrong his own higher nature, he cannot wrong the noble reason by cherishing so
unworthy a passion as the desire of revenge. He forgives his wicked brother as well as Alonso, who has
been driven to penitence by the supposed loss of his son. He also forgives Sebastian as well as the
drunken trio of Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo for conspiring against him on the condition that they
should restore the stolen trumpery and trim his cell handsomely. Even the deformed Caliban is suitably
penitent. He now curses himself for having mistaken the drunken butler Stephano for his savior.
Prospero, the pardoner, implores pardon. Shakespeare was aware that no life is ever lived which does
not need to receive as well as to render forgiveness. He appeals to the audience that, as he has
pardoned his deceivers, let the audience now pardon him and in their indulgence set him free. Thus, the
whole conduct of Prospero is a homily on the moral truth that it is far nobler to forgive than to take
revenge. The happiness of life is to be attained by nobler forgiveness than cruel vengeance.

Freedom is also at the core of the-issues raised by The Tempest. Freedom is the very breath of life to
Ariel, the spirit of the air. He is grateful to Prospero - for having freed him from his torment in the cloven
pine-tree where the wicked witch Sycorax had confined him till Prospero released him. He pines for
eternal liberty and keeps on reminding Prospero of his promise. And Prospero assures him that he would
set him free once his purpose is fulfilled. Ariel rubs under restraint and Prospero has to constantly repeat
his promise of freedom. Ariel serves his master and carries out his commands "without a grudge or
grumbling"; he takes pride in the performance of labor that is repugnant to him for the sake of the
promise of freedom that Prospero holds. Prospero's praises flatter him. And at the end of his play when
all his labors are done to the entire satisfaction of his lord and master Prospero, he attains his freedom.

Caliban, the dull, deformed and evil son of Sycorax, the illegitimate son of the devil, regards service as
drudgery. He resents Prospero and curses him of having deprived him of his rightful inheritance of the
island after the death of his mother, Sycorax. Even though he is severely punished for his curses, Caliban
is not penitent; he continues cursing Prospero all through because he truly believes: "This island is mine,
by Sycorax, my mother, which thou teeth it from me". He sees saviors in the drunken butler Stephano
and the jester Trinculo. His desire for freedom from Prospero's slavery forces him to conspire with them
to overthrow Prospero. He sings the song of freedom, but soon realizes his mistake for mistaking "this
drunkard for a god and worshipping this dull fool". He realizes that beneficent servitude under Prospero
is preferable to the freedom promised to him by Stephano.

Ferdinand would not endure such "wooden slavery" in his own country, but he is reconciled to his lot for
he is serving Miranda, his lady love. It makes his work lighter. He finds true freedom in service and does
not complain against it. Miranda, too, in her instinctive goodness, offers to undertake the work of
carrying heavy logs of wood for his sake. Her love for the handsome prince prompts her to offer
voluntary bondage to Ferdinand. Both Ferdinand and Miranda, yoked to each other's slavery and
bondage, gain their freedom when united in true love. The only exception to such a conduct is Sebastian.
Alonso's brother, who smarts under bondage, seeking to rid himself of it by plotting with Antonio and
murdering his brother in sleep - the same as Antonio had done to his brother twelve years ago in
dispossessing him of his dukedom of Milan. Regeneration comes to all the characters in the play, except
perhaps Sebastian, at the end.

**
Study of Power in Shakespeare's The Tempest

The pursuit of power and the exercise of power is one of the leading themes of William Shakespeare's
last play, The Tempest. The theme is all-pervasive in this well-knit play. Before the play starts, Antonio,
Prospero's brother who was put in charge of administration by Prospero, usurped power and conspired
to banish Prospero from Milan. Here, he incites Alonso's brother, Sebastian, to kill the sleeping king and
become the ruler of Naples.

Alonso's daughter is married in far-off Tunis and his son is obviously drowned in the storm raised on the
sea through Prospero's magic. He should, therefore, have no fears of conscience in putting the king to
the sword, as also the old lord Gonzalo, if he is to fulfill his dormant ambition.

On another level, Caliban is so grateful to the drunken butler Stephano for the glorious gift of liquor that
he acknowledges him as his master and pledges to be his loyal subject only if he were to murder
Prospero. Caliban lures him further by marriage to the beautiful Miranda. Stephano and Trinculo fall for
the bait and are humiliated. Their plan is foiled much in the same manner as the plan of Antonio and
Sebastian to seize the kingdom of Naples by doing away with Alonso.

Prospero still rules the dukedom of Milan that he lost to the conspiracies of his treacherous brother,
twelve years ago when he was banished along with his infant daughter Miranda. When he arrived on this
uninhabited island, he seized power by dispossessing Caliban of his rightful inheritance - a fact that
Caliban strongly resents. He curses Prospero and conspires against him with Stephano and Trinculo to
murder Prospero so that he is saved the torment inflicted upon him by Prospero's spirits. He is willing to
exchange his, slavery under Prospero to Stephano.

The other side of the power equation in The Tempest is the quest of spiritual or supernatural. In this
sense, Prospero and Ariel are the two all-creatures in the play. In his quest of spiritual or supernatural
power, Prospero had neglected his worldly duties in Milan and deputed his brother Antonio to look after
the day-to-day affairs of his dukedom - only to be banished from Milan along with his infant daughter
Miranda. But Prospero pursued his study of magic on the uninhabited island with the help of the books
that Gonzalo had provided him with on the boat that brought him to the island. Here he freed Ariel from
his torment as he was imprisoned in a cloven oak tree by the wicked witch Sycorax and turned Sycorax's
son, the deformed Caliban into his slave. This is spiritual or supernatural power leading to temporal
power.

Ariel, along with his spirits of the air, helps Prospero in rising a fierce storm on the sea, thus bringing all
his enemies at one place and at his mercy. It is through this spiritual or supernatural power that Prospero
brings them to their knees, makes them repent for the grievous wrong done to him twelve years ago and
arranges the meeting of Ferdinand and Miranda that leads to their marriage. He keeps both Ariel and
Caliban on a tight leash, promising Ariel eternal liberty after his plan has been accomplished and
punishing Caliban relentlessly for the curses heaped upon him while carrying out the tedious tasks
assigned to him. He also puts Ferdinand through severe physical rigor and tests his love for Miranda
before consenting to their union.

The difference between the supernatural power exercised by Sycorax and Prospero is that, while Sycorax
was evil and devilish, Prospero is benign and forgiving. Sycorax's power was derived through her pact
with the devil, of which the deformed Caliban is a living embodiment. While keeping Caliban in his place,
Prospero seeks the assistance of Ariel and other heavenly spirits to carry out his designs. Prospero's
power is not derived from the devil or black magic. It is the spiritual or supernatural power achieved
through the development of his mind and art. Prospero has subdued all his evil instincts, unlike Alonso,
Antonio, Sebastian, Stephano, Trinculo and Caliban in the pursuit of world power. The conspirators do no
suffer from any pangs of conscience in plotting against Prospero - whether it was in Milan twelve years
ago or on this island. Antonio and Sebastian are the living examples of this relentless pursuit of world
power at all costs.

Having achieved the acme of world-power, Prospero is moved by Ariel to give it all up as forgiveness is
nobler than revenge. Once his mission is accomplished, he pledges to drown his books and break his
magic wand. He decides to forgive his enemies once they have repented and decides to spend the last
days of his life in scholarly pursuits in Milan after the marriage of Miranda has been celebrated in Naples.
He frees Ariel and all the heavenly spirits that he has controlled so far. He had subdued his enemies
through the exercise of his supernatural powers and he has now no use of any worldly power which he
renounces in his quest of further spiritual power - the ultimate triumph of the inner self over the outer
self.

Prospero achieves this by controlling the forces of Nature with the help of Ariel and other spirits of the
air. He is fond of them. The decision to forgive his enemies comes chiefly from within and that is his
greatest achievement. The Tempest exemplifies not only the pursuit of worldly and spiritual power, but
also regeneration, forgiveness and reconciliation through the exercise of spiritual power which triumphs
in the end.

**

Themes in Shakespeare's The Tempest

Forgiveness and repentance are the prime themes of the play The Tempest. Antonio, his brother,
wronged him by dethroning and banishing some twelve years ago. Antonio was supported by Alonso and
Sebastian. These all three corrupted people are the culprit of Prospero and are rightful to get punished
by him.

Prospero designs a tempest and brings all his foes on the island. After some torture and magic over
them, Prospero gives his real identity. The moment his identity is revealed, Alonso asks for his
forgiveness, but Antonio and Sebastian never do so. However, he decides to forgive them all. Prospero
forgives Caliban, the deformed monster, who tried to rape Miranda and even conspires to kill Prospero.
He frees the airy spirit Ariel as promised at the end of the play. The forgiveness given by Prospero is
Christian value which Shakespeare praises in his life too.

Quest for knowledge

As The Tempest is a Renaissance drama, the quest for knowledge as a theme pertains in the play.
Prospero is the king of Milan, he has a lot of responsibility towards the people and the kingdom but he
fails to accomplish his duty. He remains quite busy in studying book of magic. He is concerned in his
hunger of knowledge that he wants perfection in his learning and forgets everything about the kingdom.
Antonio, his brother, gets right chance to dethrone him with the assistance of the king of Naples and his
brother, Alonso and Sebastian respectively. Prospero loses the right to be the king of Milan, only
because of his unquenchable thirst for the knowledge. In a sense, he is ready to lose everything for the
sake of learning. He is the right example of Renaissance man. Whereas on the other hand, there is
Caliban, a deformed being on the island who does not have any interest in learning, to be
knowledgeable. Prospero teaches him the language to make him civilized and learned one, but he never
learns it well. He learns few words, with which he curses Prospero for his ruthless treatment.

Power

The pursuit of power and the exercise of power is one of the leading themes of William Shakespeare's
last play, The Tempest. The theme is all-pervasive in this well-knit play. Before the play starts, Antonio,
Prospero's brother who was put in charge of administration by Prospero, usurped power and conspired
to banish Prospero from Milan. Here, he incites Alonso's brother, Sebastian, to kill the sleeping king and
become the ruler of Naples. In the same manner, Prospero wants to be powerful with the help of magic
and he seizes all the power of the island from the witch, Sycorax. The main political theme of the play is
gaining power and control over others.

The difficulty of distinguishing "Man" from "Monster"

The identity of Caliban remains ambiguous in this play. Sometime he is addressed as monster and in
some places he is called man. In the play when Miranda first sees Ferdinand she says that he is the third
man she has ever seen. On that basis, we can say that the two other men must be her father and
Caliban. Here she regards Caliban as a man. Prospero refers to him as a born devil, a thing most brutish,
a vile race, which significantly rejects him being a man and takes him as a monster. The views of Miranda
and Prospero contradict in terms of Caliban’s identity. They think that if they provide him with the
western education along with the language, he can be uplifted and his status can be improved. But at the
same time, they seem to see him inherently devil and monster to whom no education can reform.
Caliban himself says he was generous to Prospero but when he starts dehumanizing him and oppressing
him, he starts disliking him. It is vague to generalize that Caliban is born brutish or he is made brutish by
the oppression of Prospero.

The Charm of Colonialism

The Tempest is interpreted as a play about colonialism primarily because Prospero comes to Sycorax’s
island, subdues her, rules the land and imposes his own culture on the people of the land. Pushing the
native to the side, he places himself at the helm of affairs. He displaces Caliban’s mother and treats her
as a beast. He has full control over everything on the island. He makes Caliban work as his servant and
calls him a thing of darkness. Caliban is being dehumanized or treated as subhuman. This shows the
colonizer’s attitude of looking down on the colonized people. Caliban is seen as a despicable entity. The
whites looked down on the people of other color. Some are born to dominate while others are born to
be dominated. Caliban is treated as inferior. The colonizer used words like light, knowledge and wisdom
to refer himself while he used terms like darkness, ignorance and elemental to describe the colonized.
This binary opposition shows how Prospero as a colonizer creates essences about the colonized people.
Prospero sees himself as a ruler carrying out the project of civilization mission. The way light dispels
darkness and knowledge dispels ignorance Prospero as a colonizer educates and civilizes Caliban but
without much success. The civilizing mission is always accompanied by the politics of domination over
the colonized. These elements confirms the theme of colonialism in The Tempest.

**

William Shakespeare - Biography and Works

William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a prosperous leather merchant in the village of Stratford-upon-
Avon, in Warwickshire England. He is not only regarded as the father of English drama, but also known as
the greatest English poet, and actor. He is also famous as England’s national poet and the Bard of Avon.
During his childhood, he attended a grammar school and when his father’s financial condition degraded
he left the school. At the age of eighteen, he got married to an older woman Anne Hathaway. From her,
he became the father of three children, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith.

He left Stratford for London to pursue a career in theater. He started his career holding the reins of
horses for the theater audiences. Gradually he made ways to the theater and began getting success. By
the early seventeenth century, he had contributed some great plays to the world literature. He wrote
most of his masterpieces between 1589 and 1613. His early works especially the plays were comedies
and histories which still remain as the best comedies and histories in this genre. His later works focused
on the tragedies because of which he is still known as the Tragedy king. His greatest tragedies are
Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. In his last phase of life he wrote tragicomedy, which are also
known as romances. Altogether he produced 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and two long narrative poems. His
most of the plays have been translated into many major languages and they have been staged in
different parts of the world.

He owned his own theater, the Glob, and amassed enough wealth from his venture to retire to Stratford
as a wealthy gentleman. He died in 1616, and was hailed by Jonson and others as the apogee of theater
during the Renaissance of Queen Elizabeth’s reign.

In poetry, Shakespeare changed the rhyming scheme to abab; cdcd; efef; gg. He used the iambic
pentameter. He used three quatrains and a couplet. The concluding couplet is usually an unusual twist
given to the argument of the body of the argument in three quatrains. So the Shakespearian sonnet can
also be divided into two parts; statement-cum-argument, and conclusion.

He returned to Stratford to live a retired life around 1613 at age 49, where he died three years later. His
works were collected and printed posthumously in various editions. By the early eighteenth century he
was well known as the best poet ever to write in English language. Today, Shakespeare is remembered
for the wealth of magnificent poetry and drama he left the world- for Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet,
Macbeth, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and many other plays, and for his extraordinary sequence of 154
lyrics, which we group together as Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Scholars have written thousands of books and articles about his plots, characters, themes, and language.
He is the most widely quoted author in history, and his plays have probably been performed more times
than those of any other dramatist. There is no simple explanation for Shakespeare's unrivaled popularity,
but he remains one of the greatest entertainers. More interesting than that is however his being one of
the most profound thinkers also. He had a remarkable knowledge of human behavior, which he was able
to communicate through his portrayal of a wide variety of characters. He was able to enter fully into the
point of view of each of his characters and to create vivid, dramatic situations in which to explore human
motivations and behavior. His mastery of poetic language and of the techniques of drama enabled him to
combine these multiple viewpoints, human motives, and actions to produce a uniquely compelling
theatrical experience.

His people are not the exaggerated types or allegorical abstractions found in many other Elizabethan
plays. They are instead men and women with the mingled qualities and many of the inconsistencies of
life itself. The very richness of Shakespeare's language continues to delight, and it is always amazing to
be reminded how many common words and phrases have their origin in Shakespeare's art.

The women in Shakespeare's plays are equally vivid creations, though in Shakespeare's time boy actors
played the female parts; and Shakespeare could create such a rich array of fascinating women
characters. He was fond of portraying aggressive, witty heroines, but he was also adept at creating gentle
and innocent women. His female characters also include the treacherous, the iron-willed Lady Macbeth,
the witty and resourceful Portia in Merchant of Venice, the tender and loyal Juliet, and the alluring
Cleopatra. Shakespeare's comic figures are also highly varied. They include bumbling rustics, tireless
punsters, pompous grotesques, cynical realists, and fools who utter nonsense that often conceals
wisdom. Shakespeare drew his characters with remarkable insight into human character. Even the
wicked characters, such as Iago in Othello, have human traits that can elicit understanding if not
compassion. The characters achieve uniqueness through their brilliantly individualized styles of speech.
Shakespeare's understanding of the human soul and his mastery of language enabled him to write
dialogue that makes the characters in his plays always intelligible, vital, and memorable.

Shakespeare wrote many of his plays in blank verse, unrhymed poetry in iambic pentameter, a verse
form in which unaccented and accented syllables alternate in lines of ten syllables. Shakespeare
sometimes used rhymed verse, particularly in his early plays. Rhymed couplets occur frequently at the
end of a scene, punctuating the dramatic rhythm and perhaps serving as a cue to the offstage actors to
enter for the next scene. As Shakespeare's dramatic skill developed, he began to make greater use of
prose. In earlier plays, prose is almost always reserved for characters from the lower classes.
Shakespeare, however, soon abandoned this rigid assignment of prose or verse on the basis of social
rank. Many plays use prose for different important effects. Examples include Ophelia's mad scenes in
Hamlet, and Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene in Macbeth.
Shakespeare remained always a dramatist, not a writer of philosophical or ethical tracts, but the
tolerance of human weakness evident in the plays tends to indicate that Shakespeare was broad-minded
personality. He had generous attitudes and balanced views towards humanity. Although he never
lectured his audience, sound morality is implicit in his themes and in the way he handled his material.
The comments of Shakespeare's contemporaries suggest that he himself possessed both integrity and
gentle manners. He accepted people as they are, without condemning them, but he did not allow
wickedness to triumph. But, as the history plays indicate, he accepted the idea of monarchy and had
little interest in, or even concept of, participatory democracy. Although many of his women characters
are assertive and independent, the plays still have them subordinate their energy to the logic of the
male-dominated household.

**

Plot Overview

A storm strikes a ship carrying Alonso, Ferdinand, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, Stephano, and Trinculo,
who are on their way to Italy after coming from the wedding of Alonso’s daughter, Claribel, to the prince
of Tunis in Africa. The royal party and the other mariners, with the exception of the unflappable
Boatswain, begin to fear for their lives. Lightning cracks, and the mariners cry that the ship has been hit.
Everyone prepares to sink.

The next scene begins much more quietly. Miranda and Prospero stand on the shore of their island,
looking out to sea at the recent shipwreck. Miranda asks her father to do anything he can to help the
poor souls in the ship. Prospero assures her that everything is all right and then informs her that it is
time she learned more about herself and her past. He reveals to her that he orchestrated the shipwreck
and tells her the lengthy story of her past, a story he has often started to tell her before but never
finished. The story goes that Prospero was the Duke of Milan until his brother Antonio, conspiring with
Alonso, the King of Naples, usurped his position. Kidnapped and left to die on a raft at sea, Prospero and
his daughter survive because Gonzalo leaves them supplies and Prospero’s books, which are the source
of his magic and power. Prospero and his daughter arrived on the island where they remain now and
have been for twelve years. Only now, Prospero says, has Fortune at last sent his enemies his way, and he
has raised the tempest in order to make things right with them once and for all.

After telling this story, Prospero charms Miranda to sleep and then calls forth his familiar spirit Ariel, his
chief magical agent. Prospero and Ariel’s discussion reveals that Ariel brought the tempest upon the ship
and set fire to the mast. He then made sure that everyone got safely to the island, though they are now
separated from each other into small groups. Ariel, who is a captive servant to Prospero, reminds his
master that he has promised Ariel freedom a year early if he performs tasks such as these without
complaint. Prospero chastises Ariel for protesting and reminds him of the horrible fate from which he
was rescued. Before Prospero came to the island, a witch named Sycorax imprisoned Ariel in a tree.
Sycorax died, leaving Ariel trapped until Prospero arrived and freed him. After Ariel assures Prospero that
he knows his place, Prospero orders Ariel to take the shape of a sea nymph and make himself invisible to
all but Prospero.

Miranda awakens from her sleep, and she and Prospero go to visit Caliban, Prospero’s servant and the
son of the dead Sycorax. Caliban curses Prospero, and Prospero and Miranda berate him for being
ungrateful for what they have given and taught him. Prospero sends Caliban to fetch firewood. Ariel,
invisible, enters playing music and leading in the awed Ferdinand. Miranda and Ferdinand are
immediately smitten with each other. He is the only man Miranda has ever seen, besides Caliban and her
father. Prospero is happy to see that his plan for his daughter’s future marriage is working, but decides
that he must upset things temporarily in order to prevent their relationship from developing too quickly.
He accuses Ferdinand of merely pretending to be the Prince of Naples and threatens him with
imprisonment. When Ferdinand draws his sword, Prospero charms him and leads him off to prison,
ignoring Miranda’s cries for mercy. He then sends Ariel on another mysterious mission.

On another part of the island, Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, and other miscellaneous lords give
thanks for their safety but worry about the fate of Ferdinand. Alonso says that he wishes he never had
married his daughter to the prince of Tunis because if he had not made this journey, his son would still
be alive. Gonzalo tries to maintain high spirits by discussing the beauty of the island, but his remarks are
undercut by the sarcastic sourness of Antonio and Sebastian. Ariel appears, invisible, and plays music
that puts all but Sebastian and Antonio to sleep. These two then begin to discuss the possible
advantages of killing their sleeping companions. Antonio persuades Sebastian that the latter will become
ruler of Naples if they kill Alonso. Claribel, who would be the next heir if Ferdinand were indeed dead, is
too far away to be able to claim her right. Sebastian is convinced, and the two are about to stab the
sleeping men when Ariel causes Gonzalo to wake with a shout. Everyone wakes up, and Antonio and
Sebastian concoct a ridiculous story about having drawn their swords to protect the king from lions. Ariel
goes back to Prospero while Alonso and his party continue to search for Ferdinand.

Caliban, meanwhile, is hauling wood for Prospero when he sees Trinculo and thinks he is a spirit sent by
Prospero to torment him. He lies down and hides under his cloak. A storm is brewing, and Trinculo,
curious about but undeterred by Caliban’s strange appearance and smell, crawls under the cloak with
him. Stephano, drunk and singing, comes along and stumbles upon the bizarre spectacle of Caliban and
Trinculo huddled under the cloak. Caliban, hearing the singing, cries out that he will work faster so long
as the “spirits” leave him alone. Stephano decides that this monster requires liquor and attempts to get
Caliban to drink. Trinculo recognizes his friend Stephano and calls out to him. Soon the three are sitting
up together and drinking. Caliban quickly becomes an enthusiastic drinker, and begins to sing.

Prospero puts Ferdinand to work hauling wood. Ferdinand finds his labor pleasant because it is for
Miranda’s sake. Miranda, thinking that her father is asleep, tells Ferdinand to take a break. The two flirt
with one another. Miranda proposes marriage, and Ferdinand accepts. Prospero has been on stage most
of the time, unseen, and he is pleased with this development.

Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban are now drunk and raucous and are made all the more so by Ariel, who
comes to them invisibly and provokes them to fight with one another by impersonating their voices and
taunting them. Caliban grows more and more fervent in his boasts that he knows how to kill Prospero.
He even tells Stephano that he can bring him to where Prospero is sleeping. He proposes that they kill
Prospero, take his daughter, and set Stephano up as king of the island. Stephano thinks this a good plan,
and the three prepare to set off to find Prospero. They are distracted, however, by the sound of music
that Ariel plays on his flute and tabor-drum, and they decide to follow this music before executing their
plot.

Alonso, Gonzalo, Sebastian, and Antonio grow weary from traveling and pause to rest. Antonio and
Sebastian secretly plot to take advantage of Alonso and Gonzalo’s exhaustion, deciding to kill them in the
evening. Prospero, probably on the balcony of the stage and invisible to the men, causes a banquet to be
set out by strangely shaped spirits. As the men prepare to eat, Ariel appears like a harpy and causes the
banquet to vanish. He then accuses the men of supplanting Prospero and says that it was for this sin that
Alonso’s son, Ferdinand, has been taken. He vanishes, leaving Alonso feeling vexed and guilty.

Prospero now softens toward Ferdinand and welcomes him into his family as the soon-to-be-husband of
Miranda. He sternly reminds Ferdinand, however, that Miranda’s “virgin-knot” (IV.i.15) is not to be
broken until the wedding has been officially solemnized. Prospero then asks Ariel to call forth some
spirits to perform a masque for Ferdinand and Miranda. The spirits assume the shapes of Ceres, Juno,
and Iris and perform a short masque celebrating the rites of marriage and the bounty of the earth. A
dance of reapers and nymphs follows but is interrupted when Prospero suddenly remembers that he still
must stop the plot against his life.

He sends the spirits away and asks Ariel about Trinculo, Stephano, and Caliban. Ariel tells his master of
the three men’s drunken plans. He also tells how he led the men with his music through prickly grass and
briars and finally into a filthy pond near Prospero’s cell. Ariel and Prospero then set a trap by hanging
beautiful clothing in Prospero’s cell. Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban enter looking for Prospero and,
finding the beautiful clothing, decide to steal it. They are immediately set upon by a pack of spirits in the
shape of dogs and hounds, driven on by Prospero and Ariel.

Prospero uses Ariel to bring Alonso and the others before him. He then sends Ariel to bring the
Boatswain and the mariners from where they sleep on the wrecked ship. Prospero confronts Alonso,
Antonio, and Sebastian with their treachery, but tells them that he forgives them. Alonso tells him of
having lost Ferdinand in the tempest and Prospero says that he recently lost his own daughter. Clarifying
his meaning, he draws aside a curtain to reveal Ferdinand and Miranda playing chess. Alonso and his
companions are amazed by the miracle of Ferdinand’s survival, and Miranda is stunned by the sight of
people unlike any she has seen before. Ferdinand tells his father about his marriage.

Ariel returns with the Boatswain and mariners. The Boatswain tells a story of having been awakened
from a sleep that had apparently lasted since the tempest. At Prospero’s bidding, Ariel releases Caliban,
Trinculo and Stephano, who then enter wearing their stolen clothing. Prospero and Alonso command
them to return it and to clean up Prospero’s cell. Prospero invites Alonso and the others to stay for the
night so that he can tell them the tale of his life in the past twelve years. After this, the group plans to
return to Italy. Prospero, restored to his dukedom, will retire to Milan. Prospero gives Ariel one final task
—to make sure the seas are calm for the return voyage—before setting him free. Finally, Prospero
delivers an epilogue to the audience, asking them to forgive him for his wrongdoing and set him free by
applauding.

**

1) Why was Prospero banished?

Years before the action of The Tempest begins, two men conspired to assassinate Prospero, who was
then the Duke of Milan. These two men were Prospero’s brother, Antonio, and the King of Naples,
Alonso. The purpose of these men’s conspiracy was to remove Prospero from power and install Antonio
in his place. Antonio succeeded in taking over the dukedom but the assassination plot failed because
Gonzalo alerted Prospero to the plot and helped him escape from Milan on a rotting boat. As Prospero
explains to Miranda in Act I, scene ii, they arrived on the island “By providence divine.” Although
Prospero is clearly the victim of a foul plot against his life, he was not entirely blameless in the events
that occurred. By his own admission, Prospero’s increasing obsession with the study of magic had begun
to take more and more of his time. This obsession forced him to neglect his duties as duke and
eventually hand the government over to Antonio. Though Prospero’s delinquency does not justify
Antonio’s betrayal, it certainly enabled it.
2) Who is Ariel and why does he work for Prospero?

Ariel is a spirit who uses magic to help Prospero carry out his plans. Given Ariel’s evident power, it may
seem odd that he would be willing to serve Prospero at all. So why does he do the magician’s bidding?
The main reason is that Ariel owes what freedom he has to Prospero. Prior to Prospero’s arrival on the
island, Ariel served Caliban’s mother, Sycorax. As Prospero reminds him in Act I, scene ii, Ariel fell out of
favor with Sycorax, and she imprisoned him in a “cloven pine.” Ariel remained stuck in the tree for twelve
years, during which time Sycorax died, abandoning Ariel to an eternity of pain. When Prospero arrived
on the island, he found Ariel in torment: “Thy groans,” he explains, “Did make wolves howl and
penetrate the breasts / Of ever angry bears” (I.ii.). Prospero freed Ariel from this prison, and he struck a
deal in which Ariel would serve him faithfully for one year, after which he would be released from all
service and return to freedom.

3) Why does Caliban hate Prospero and Miranda?

Caliban sees Prospero and Miranda as imperialists who took control of an island that he felt belonged to
him. In a way, Caliban ironically mirrors Prospero, who was also violently unseated from power. However,
whereas Prospero ended up free but in exile, Caliban ended up enslaved in his own home. Caliban
resents the sudden and radical shift in his social position, going from the free ruler of the island to the
servant of a tyrannical master. In addition to despising Prospero for enslaving him and divesting him of
all power, Caliban also resents Miranda for the education she has given him. Miranda describes her
efforts as selfless and guided by pity. However, Miranda’s educational program also intends to civilize
Caliban, a “savage” who “wouldst gabble like / A thing most brutish” (I.ii.). Caliban sees Miranda’s
apparently selfless act as an extension of her father’s imperialism. He also insists that the only good
thing about being forced to learn her language is that he can now fully express his hatred: “You taught
me language, and my profit on ’t / Is I know how to curse” (I.ii.).

4) How does Prospero manipulate Alonso and his company?

Throughout the play Prospero commands his servant Ariel to present Alonso and his company with
visions of splendor and horror. These visions have a dual purpose. On the one hand, they are meant to
keep the men disoriented. At one point Ariel even puts the men to sleep in order to disorient them
further. As long as Alonso and his company remain bewildered, Prospero can control their movements
and lead them through space as he pleases. On the other hand, the visions of splendor and horror are
meant to break the men down emotionally and psychologically. This emotional breakdown is a crucial
aspect of Prospero’s plan. Alonso must feel broken and defeated, so that when Prospero reveals that his
son Ferdinand survived, the revelation will enable an authentic emotional resolution to their
longstanding conflict. In other words, Prospero uses magic both to get revenge and to secure his own
salvation.

**

Act I, scene i
Summary

A violent storm rages around a small ship at sea. The master of the ship calls for his boatswain to rouse
the mariners to action and prevent the ship from being run aground by the tempest. Chaos ensues.
Some mariners enter, followed by a group of nobles comprised of Alonso, King of Naples, Sebastian, his
brother, Antonio, Gonzalo, and others. We do not learn these men’s names in this scene, nor do we learn
(as we finally do in Act II, scene i) that they have just come from Tunis, in Africa, where Alonso’s
daughter, Claribel, has been married to the prince. As the Boatswain and his crew take in the topsail and
the topmast, Alonso and his party are merely underfoot, and the Boatswain tells them to get below-
decks. Gonzalo reminds the Boatswain that one of the passengers is of some importance, but the
Boatswain is unmoved. He will do what he has to in order to save the ship, regardless of who is aboard.

The lords go belowdecks, and then, adding to the chaos of the scene, three of them—Sebastian,
Antonio, and Gonzalo—enter again only four lines later. Sebastian and Antonio curse the Boatswain in his
labors, masking their fear with profanity. Some mariners enter wet and crying, and only at this point
does the audience learn the identity of the passengers on-board. Gonzalo orders the mariners to pray for
the king and the prince. There is a strange noise—perhaps the sound of thunder, splitting wood, or
roaring water—and the cry of mariners. Antonio, Sebastian, and Gonzalo, preparing to sink to a watery
grave, go in search of the king.

Act I, scene ii

Due to its length, Act I, scene ii is treated in two sections. Beginning through Miranda’s awakening (I.ii.1–
308)

Summary

Prospero and Miranda stand on the shore of the island, having just witnessed the shipwreck. Miranda
entreats her father to see that no one on-board comes to any harm. Prospero assures her that no one
was harmed and tells her that it’s time she learned who she is and where she comes from. Miranda
seems curious, noting that Prospero has often started to tell her about herself but always stopped.
However, once Prospero begins telling his tale, he asks her three times if she is listening to him. He tells
her that he was once Duke of Milan and famous for his great intelligence.

Prospero explains that he gradually grew uninterested in politics, however, and turned his attention
more and more to his studies, neglecting his duties as duke. This gave his brother Antonio an
opportunity to act on his ambition. Working in concert with the King of Naples, Antonio usurped
Prospero of his dukedom. Antonio arranged for the King of Naples to pay him an annual tribute and do
him homage as duke. Later, the King of Naples helped Antonio raise an army to march on Milan, driving
Prospero out. Prospero tells how he and Miranda escaped from death at the hands of the army in a
barely-seaworthy boat prepared for them by his loyal subjects. Gonzalo, an honest Neapolitan, provided
them with food and clothing, as well as books from Prospero’s library.

Having brought Miranda up to date on how she arrived at their current home, Prospero explains that
sheer good luck has brought his former enemies to the island. Miranda suddenly grows very sleepy,
perhaps because Prospero charms her with his magic. When she is asleep, Prospero calls forth his spirit,
Ariel. In his conversation with Ariel, we learn that Prospero and the spirit were responsible for the storm
of Act I, scene i. Flying about the ship, Ariel acted as the wind, the thunder, and the lightning. When
everyone except the crew had abandoned the ship, Ariel made sure, as Prospero had requested, that all
were brought safely to shore but dispersed around the island. Ariel reports that the king’s son is alone.
He also tells Prospero that the mariners and Boatswain have been charmed to sleep in the ship, which
has been brought safely to harbor. The rest of the fleet that was with the ship, believing it to have been
destroyed by the storm, has headed safely back to Naples.

Prospero thanks Ariel for his service, and Ariel takes this moment to remind Prospero of his promise to
take one year off of his agreed time of servitude if Ariel performs his services without complaint.
Prospero does not take well to being reminded of his promises, and he chastises Ariel for his impudence.
He reminds Ariel of where he came from and how Prospero rescued him. Ariel had been a servant of
Sycorax, a witch banished from Algiers (Algeria) and sent to the island long ago. Ariel was too delicate a
spirit to perform her horrible commands, so she imprisoned him in a “cloven pine” (I.ii.279). She did not
free him before she died, and he might have remained imprisoned forever had not Prospero arrived and
rescued him. Reminding Ariel of this, Prospero threatens to imprison him for twelve years if he does not
stop complaining. Ariel promises to be more polite. Prospero then gives him a new command: he must
go make himself like a nymph of the sea and be invisible to all but Prospero. Ariel goes to do so, and
Prospero, turning to Miranda’s sleeping form, calls upon his daughter to awaken. She opens her eyes
and, not realizing that she has been enchanted, says that the “strangeness” of Prospero’s story caused
her to fall asleep.

Act I, scene ii (continued)

Miranda’s awakening through end of the scene (I.ii.309–506)

Summary

After Miranda is fully awake, Prospero suggests that they converse with their servant Caliban, the son of
Sycorax. Caliban appears at Prospero’s call and begins cursing. Prospero promises to punish him by giving
him cramps at night, and Caliban responds by chiding Prospero for imprisoning him on the island that
once belonged to him alone. He reminds Prospero that he showed him around when he first arrived.
Prospero accuses Caliban of being ungrateful for all that he has taught and given him. He calls him a
“lying slave” and reminds him of the effort he made to educate him (I.ii.347). Caliban’s hereditary nature,
he continues, makes him unfit to live among civilized people and earns him his isolation on the island.
Caliban, though, cleverly notes that he knows how to curse only because Prospero and Miranda taught
him to speak. Prospero then sends him away, telling him to fetch more firewood and threatening him
with more cramps and aches if he refuses. Caliban obeys him.

Ariel, playing music and singing, enters and leads in Ferdinand. Prospero tells Miranda to look upon
Ferdinand, and Miranda, who has seen no humans in her life other than Prospero and Caliban,
immediately falls in love. Ferdinand is similarly smitten and reveals his identity as the prince of Naples.
Prospero is pleased that they are so taken with each other but decides that the two must not fall in love
too quickly, and so he accuses Ferdinand of merely pretending to be the prince of Naples. When he tells
Ferdinand he is going to imprison him, Ferdinand draws his sword, but Prospero charms him so that he
cannot move. Miranda attempts to persuade her father to have mercy, but he silences her harshly. This
man, he tells her, is a mere Caliban compared to other men. He explains that she simply doesn’t know
any better because she has never seen any others. Prospero leads the charmed and helpless Ferdinand
to his imprisonment. Secretly, he thanks the invisible Ariel for his help, sends him on another mysterious
errand, and promises to free him soon.

Act II, scene i

Summary

While Ferdinand is falling in love with Miranda, Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, and other
shipwrecked lords search for him on another part of the island. Alonso is quite despondent and
unreceptive to the good-natured Gonzalo’s attempts to cheer him up. Gonzalo meets resistance from
Antonio and Sebastian as well. These two childishly mock Gonzalo’s suggestion that the island is a good
place to be and that they are all lucky to have survived. Alonso finally brings the repartee to a halt when
he bursts out at Gonzalo and openly expresses regret at having married away his daughter in Tunis.
Francisco, a minor lord, pipes up at this point that he saw Ferdinand swimming valiantly after the wreck,
but this does not comfort Alonso. Sebastian and Antonio continue to provide little help. Sebastian tells
his brother that he is indeed to blame for Ferdinand’s death—if he had not married his daughter to an
African (rather than a European), none of this would have happened.

Gonzalo tells the lords that they are only making the situation worse and attempts to change the subject,
discussing what he might do if he were the lord of the island. Antonio and Sebastian mock his utopian
vision. Ariel then enters, playing “solemn music” (II.i.182, stage direction), and gradually all but Sebastian
and Antonio fall asleep. Seeing the vulnerability of his sleeping companions, Antonio tries to persuade
Sebastian to kill his brother. He rationalizes this scheme by explaining that Claribel, who is now Queen of
Tunis, is too far from Naples to inherit the kingdom should her father die, and as a result, Sebastian
would be the heir to the throne. Sebastian begins to warm to the idea, especially after Antonio tells him
that usurping Prospero’s dukedom was the best move he ever made. Sebastian wonders aloud whether
he will be afflicted by conscience, but Antonio dismisses this out of hand. Sebastian is at last convinced,
and the two men draw their swords. Sebastian, however, seems to have second thoughts at the last
moment and stops. While he and Antonio confer, Ariel enters with music, singing in Gonzalo’s ear that a
conspiracy is under way and that he should “Awake, awake!” (II.i.301). Gonzalo wakes and shouts
“Preserve the King!” His exclamation wakes everyone else (II.i.303). Sebastian quickly concocts a story
about hearing a loud noise that caused him and Antonio to draw their swords. Gonzalo is obviously
suspicious but does not challenge the lords. The group continues its search for Ferdinand.

Act II, scene ii

Summary

Caliban enters with a load of wood, and thunder sounds in the background. Caliban curses and describes
the torments that Prospero’s spirits subject him to: they pinch, bite, and prick him, especially when he
curses. As he is thinking of these spirits, Caliban sees Trinculo and imagines him to be one of the spirits.
Hoping to avoid pinching, he lies down and covers himself with his cloak. Trinculo hears the thunder and
looks about for some cover from the storm. The only thing he sees is the cloak-covered Caliban on the
ground. He is not so much repulsed by Caliban as curious. He cannot decide whether Caliban is a “man
or a fish” (II.ii.24). He thinks of a time when he traveled to England and witnessed freak-shows there.
Caliban, he thinks, would bring him a lot of money in England. Thunder sounds again and Trinculo
decides that the best shelter in sight is beneath Caliban’s cloak, and so he joins the man-monster there.

Stephano enters singing and drinking. He hears Caliban cry out to Trinculo, “Do not torment me! O!”
(II.ii.54). Hearing this and seeing the four legs sticking out from the cloak, Stephano thinks the two men
are a four-legged monster with a fever. He decides to relieve this fever with a drink. Caliban continues to
resist Trinculo, whom he still thinks is a spirit tormenting him. Trinculo recognizes Stephano’s voice and
says so. Stephano, of course, assumes for a moment that the monster has two heads, and he promises to
pour liquor in both mouths. Trinculo now calls out to Stephano, and Stephano pulls his friend out from
under the cloak. While the two men discuss how they arrived safely on shore, Caliban enjoys the liquor
and begs to worship Stephano. The men take full advantage of Caliban’s drunkenness, mocking him as a
“most ridiculous monster” (II.ii.157) as he promises to lead them around and show them the isle.

Act III, scene i

Summary

I am your wife, if you will marry me.

If not, I’ll die your maid. To be your fellow

You may deny me, but I’ll be your servant

Whether you will or no.

(See Important Quotations Explained)

Back at Prospero’s cell, Ferdinand takes over Caliban’s duties and carries wood for Prospero. Unlike
Caliban, however, Ferdinand has no desire to curse. Instead, he enjoys his labors because they serve the
woman he loves, Miranda. As Ferdinand works and thinks of Miranda, she enters, and after her, unseen
by either lover, Prospero enters. Miranda tells Ferdinand to take a break from his work, or to let her work
for him, thinking that her father is away. Ferdinand refuses to let her work for him but does rest from his
work and asks Miranda her name. She tells him, and he is pleased: “Miranda” comes from the same
Latin word that gives English the word “admiration.” Ferdinand’s speech plays on the etymology:
“Admired Miranda! / Indeed the top of admiration, worth / What’s dearest to the world!” (III.i.37–39).

Ferdinand goes on to flatter his beloved. Miranda is, of course, modest, pointing out that she has no idea
of any woman’s face but her own. She goes on to praise Ferdinand’s face, but then stops herself,
remembering her father’s instructions that she should not speak to Ferdinand. Ferdinand assures
Miranda that he is a prince and probably a king now, though he prays his father is not dead. Miranda
seems unconcerned with Ferdinand’s title, and asks only if he loves her. Ferdinand replies
enthusiastically that he does, and his response emboldens Miranda to propose marriage. Ferdinand
accepts and the two part. Prospero comes forth, subdued in his happiness, for he has known that this
would happen. He then hastens to his book of magic in order to prepare for remaining business.

Act III, scene ii

Summary

Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano continue to drink and wander about the island. Stephano now refers to
Caliban as “servant monster” and repeatedly orders him to drink. Caliban seems happy to obey. The men
begin to quarrel, mostly in jest, in their drunkenness. Stephano has now assumed the title of Lord of the
Island and he promises to hang Trinculo if Trinculo should mock his servant monster. Ariel, invisible,
enters just as Caliban is telling the men that he is “subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning hath
cheated me of the island” (III.ii.40–41). Ariel begins to stir up trouble, calling out, “Thou liest” (III.ii.42).
Caliban cannot see Ariel and thinks that Trinculo said this. He threatens Trinculo, and Stephano tells
Trinculo not to interrupt Caliban anymore. Trinculo protests that he said nothing. Drunkenly, they
continue talking, and Caliban tells them of his desire to get revenge against Prospero. Ariel continues to
interrupt now and then with the words, “Thou liest.” Ariel’s ventriloquizing ultimately results in
Stephano hitting Trinculo.
While Ariel looks on, Caliban plots against Prospero. The key, Caliban tells his friends, is to take
Prospero’s magic books. Once they have done this, they can kill Prospero and take his daughter.
Stephano will become king of the island and Miranda will be his queen. Trinculo tells Stephano that he
thinks this plan is a good idea, and Stephano apologizes for the previous quarreling. Caliban assures
them that Prospero will be asleep within the half hour.

Ariel plays a tune on his flute and tabor-drum. Stephano and Trinculo wonder at this noise, but Caliban
tells them it is nothing to fear. Stephano relishes the thought of possessing this island kingdom “where I
shall have my music for nothing” (III.ii.139–140). Then the men decide to follow the music and afterward
to kill Prospero.

Act III, scene iii

Summary

Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, and their companion lords become exhausted, and Alonso gives up
all hope of finding his son. Antonio, still hoping to kill Alonso, whispers to Sebastian that Alonso’s
exhaustion and desperation will provide them with the perfect opportunity to kill the king later that
evening.

At this point “solemn and strange music” fills the stage (III.iii.17, stage direction), and a procession of
spirits in “several strange shapes” enters, bringing a banquet of food (III.iii.19, stage direction). The
spirits dance about the table, invite the king and his party to eat, and then dance away. Prospero enters
at this time as well, having rendered himself magically invisible to everyone but the audience. The men
disagree at first about whether to eat, but Gonzalo persuades them it will be all right, noting that
travelers are returning every day with stories of unbelievable but true events. This, he says, might be just
such an event.

Just as the men are about to eat, however, a noise of thunder erupts, and Ariel enters in the shape of a
harpy. He claps his wings upon the table and the banquet vanishes. Ariel mocks the men for attempting
to draw their swords, which magically have been made to feel heavy. Calling himself an instrument of
Fate and Destiny, he goes on to accuse Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio of driving Prospero from Milan
and leaving him and his child at the mercy of the sea. For this sin, he tells them, the powers of nature
and the sea have exacted revenge on Alonso by taking Ferdinand. He vanishes, and the procession of
spirits enters again and removes the banquet table. Prospero, still invisible, applauds the work of his
spirit and announces with satisfaction that his enemies are now in his control. He leaves them in their
distracted state and goes to visit with Ferdinand and his daughter.

Alonso, meanwhile, is quite desperate. He has heard the name of Prospero once more, and it has
signaled the death of his own son. He runs to drown himself. Sebastian and Antonio, meanwhile, decide
to pursue and fight with the spirits. Gonzalo, ever the voice of reason, tells the other, younger lords to
run after Antonio, Sebastian, and Alonso and to make sure that none of the three does anything rash.

Act IV, scene i

Summary

Prospero gives his blessing to Ferdinand and Miranda, warning Ferdinand only that he take care not to
break Miranda’s “virgin-knot” before the wedding has been solemnized (IV.i.15–17). Ferdinand promises
to comply. Prospero then calls in Ariel and asks him to summon spirits to perform a masque for
Ferdinand and Miranda. Soon, three spirits appear in the shapes of the mythological figures of Iris
(Juno’s messenger and the goddess of the rainbow), Juno (queen of the gods), and Ceres (goddess of
agriculture). This trio performs a masque celebrating the lovers’ engagement. First, Iris enters and asks
Ceres to appear at Juno’s wish, to celebrate “a contract of true love.” Ceres appears, and then Juno
enters. Juno and Ceres together bless the couple, with Juno wishing them honor and riches, and Ceres
wishing them natural prosperity and plenty. The spectacle awes Ferdinand and he says that he would like
to live on the island forever, with Prospero as his father and Miranda as his wife. Juno and Ceres send Iris
to fetch some nymphs and reapers to perform a country dance. Just as this dance begins, however,
Prospero startles suddenly and then sends the spirits away. Prospero, who had forgotten about Caliban’s
plot against him, suddenly remembers that the hour nearly has come for Caliban and the conspirators to
make their attempt on his life.

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,

As I foretold you, were all spirits, and

Are melted into air, into thin air;

And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,

The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,

The solemn temples, the great globe itself,

Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve;

And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,

Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff

As dreams are made on, and our little life

Is rounded with a sleep. (IV.i.148–158)

Prospero’s apparent anger alarms Ferdinand and Miranda, but Prospero assures the young couple that
his consternation is largely a result of his age; he says that a walk will soothe him. Prospero makes a
short speech about the masque, saying that the world itself is as insubstantial as a play, and that human
beings are “such stuff / As dreams are made on.” Ferdinand and Miranda leave Prospero to himself, and
the old enchanter immediately summons Ariel, who seems to have made a mistake by not reminding
Prospero of Caliban’s plot before the beginning of the masque. Prospero now asks Ariel to tell him again
what the three conspirators are up to, and Ariel tells him of the men’s drunken scheme to steal
Prospero’s book and kill him. Ariel reports that he used his music to lead these men through rough and
prickly briars and then into a filthy pond. Prospero thanks his trusty spirit, and the two set a trap for the
three would-be assassins.

On a clothesline in Prospero’s cell, Prospero and Ariel hang an array of fine apparel for the men to
attempt to steal, after which they render themselves invisible. Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano enter, wet
from the filthy pond. The fine clothing immediately distracts Stephano and Trinculo. They want to steal
it, despite the protests of Caliban, who wants to stick to the plan and kill Prospero. Stephano and
Trinculo ignore him. Soon after they touch the clothing, there is “A noise of hunters” (IV.i.251, stage
direction). A pack of spirits in the shape of hounds, set on by Ariel and Prospero, drives the thieves out.

Act V, scene i & Epilogue

Summary

Ariel tells Prospero that the day has reached its “sixth hour” (6 p.m.), when Ariel is allowed to stop
working. Prospero acknowledges Ariel’s request and asks how the king and his followers are faring. Ariel
tells him that they are currently imprisoned, as Prospero ordered, in a grove. Alonso, Antonio, and
Sebastian are mad with fear; and Gonzalo, Ariel says, cries constantly. Prospero tells Ariel to go release
the men, and now alone on stage, delivers his famous soliloquy in which he gives up magic. He says he
will perform his last task and then break his staff and drown his magic book.

Ariel now enters with Alonso and his companions, who have been charmed and obediently stand in a
circle. Prospero speaks to them in their charmed state, praising Gonzalo for his loyalty and chiding the
others for their treachery. He then sends Ariel to his cell to fetch the clothes he once wore as Duke of
Milan. Ariel goes and returns immediately to help his master to put on the garments. Prospero promises
to grant freedom to his loyal helper-spirit and sends him to fetch the Boatswain and mariners from the
wrecked ship. Ariel goes.

Prospero releases Alonso and his companions from their spell and speaks with them. He forgives Antonio
but demands that Antonio return his dukedom. Antonio does not respond and does not, in fact, say a
word for the remainder of the play except to note that Caliban is “no doubt marketable” (V.i.269). Alonso
now tells Prospero of the missing Ferdinand. Prospero tells Alonso that he, too, has lost a child in this last
tempest—his daughter. Alonso continues to be wracked with grief. Prospero then draws aside a curtain,
revealing behind it Ferdinand and Miranda, who are playing a game of chess. Alonso is ecstatic at the
discovery. Meanwhile, the sight of more humans impresses Miranda. Alonso embraces his son and
daughter-in-law to be and begs Miranda’s forgiveness for the treacheries of twelve years ago. Prospero
silences Alonso’s apologies, insisting that the reconciliation is complete.

After arriving with the Boatswain and mariners, Ariel is sent to fetch Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano,
which he speedily does. The three drunken thieves are sent to Prospero’s cell to return the clothing they
stole and to clean it in preparation for the evening’s reveling. Prospero then invites Alonso and his
company to stay the night. He will tell them the tale of his last twelve years, and in the morning, they can
all set out for Naples, where Miranda and Ferdinand will be married. After the wedding, Prospero will
return to Milan, where he plans to contemplate the end of his life. The last charge Prospero gives to Ariel
before setting him free is to make sure the trip home is made on “calm seas” with “auspicious gales”
(V.i.318).

The other characters exit, and Prospero delivers the epilogue. He describes the loss of his magical
powers (“Now my charms are all o’erthrown”) and says that, as he imprisoned Ariel and Caliban, the
audience has now imprisoned him on the stage. He says that the audience can only release him by
applauding, and asks them to remember that his only desire was to please them. He says that, as his
listeners would like to have their own crimes forgiven, they should forgive him, and set him free by
clapping.

**

Prospero

Prospero is one of Shakespeare’s more enigmatic protagonists. He is a sympathetic character in that he

was wronged by his usurping brother, but his absolute power over the other characters and his
overwrought speeches make him difficult to like. In our first glimpse of him, he appears puffed up and
self-important, and his repeated insistence that Miranda pay attention suggest that his story is boring
her. Once Prospero moves on to a subject other than his absorption in the pursuit of knowledge,
Miranda’s attention is riveted.

The pursuit of knowledge gets Prospero into trouble in the first place. By neglecting everyday matters
when he was duke, he gave his brother a chance to rise up against him. His possession and use of
magical knowledge renders him extremely powerful and not entirely sympathetic. His punishments of
Caliban are petty and vindictive, as he calls upon his spirits to pinch Caliban when he curses. He is
defensively autocratic with Ariel. For example, when Ariel reminds his master of his promise to relieve
him of his duties early if he performs them willingly, Prospero bursts into fury and threatens to return
him to his former imprisonment and torment. He is similarly unpleasant in his treatment of Ferdinand,
leading him to his daughter and then imprisoning and enslaving him.

Despite his shortcomings as a man, however, Prospero is central to The Tempest’s narrative. Prospero
generates the plot of the play almost single-handedly, as his various schemes, spells, and manipulations
all work as part of his grand design to achieve the play’s happy ending. Watching Prospero work through
The Tempest is like watching a dramatist create a play, building a story from material at hand and
developing his plot so that the resolution brings the world into line with his idea of goodness and justice.
Many critics and readers of the play have interpreted Prospero as a surrogate for Shakespeare, enabling
the audience to explore firsthand the ambiguities and ultimate wonder of the creative endeavor.

Prospero’s final speech, in which he likens himself to a playwright by asking the audience for applause,
strengthens this reading of the play, and makes the play’s final scene function as a moving celebration of
creativity, humanity, and art. Prospero emerges as a more likable and sympathetic figure in the final two
acts of the play. In these acts, his love for Miranda, his forgiveness of his enemies, and the legitimately
happy ending his scheme creates all work to mitigate some of the undesirable means he has used to
achieve his happy ending. If Prospero sometimes seems autocratic, he ultimately manages to persuade
the audience to share his understanding of the world—an achievement that is, after all, the final goal of
every author and every play.

Miranda

Just under fifteen years old, Miranda is a gentle and compassionate, but also relatively passive, heroine.
From her very first lines she displays a meek and emotional nature. “O, I have suffered / With those that I
saw suffer!” she says of the shipwreck (I.ii.5–6), and hearing Prospero’s tale of their narrow escape from
Milan, she says “I, not rememb’ring how I cried out then, / Will cry it o’er again” (I.ii.133–134). Miranda
does not choose her own husband. Instead, while she sleeps, Prospero sends Ariel to fetch Ferdinand,
and arranges things so that the two will come to love one another. After Prospero has given the lovers
his blessing, he and Ferdinand talk with surprising frankness about her virginity and the pleasures of the
marriage bed while she stands quietly by. Prospero tells Ferdinand to be sure not to “break her virgin-
knot” before the wedding night (IV.i.15), and Ferdinand replies with no small anticipation that lust shall
never take away “the edge of that day’s celebration” (IV.i.29). In the play’s final scene, Miranda is
presented, with Ferdinand, almost as a prop or piece of the scenery as Prospero draws aside a curtain to
reveal the pair playing chess.

But while Miranda is passive in many ways, she has at least two moments of surprising forthrightness
and strength that complicate the reader’s impressions of her as a naïve young girl. The first such moment
is in Act I, scene ii, in which she and Prospero converse with Caliban. Prospero alludes to the fact that
Caliban once tried to rape Miranda. When Caliban rudely agrees that he intended to violate her, Miranda
responds with impressive vehemence, clearly appalled at Caliban’s light attitude toward his attempted
rape. She goes on to scold him for being ungrateful for her attempts to educate him: “When thou didst
not, savage, / Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like / A thing most brutish, I endowed thy
purposes / With words that made them known” (358–361). These lines are so surprising coming from
the mouth of Miranda that many editors have amended the text and given it to Prospero. This
reattribution seems to give Miranda too little credit. In Act III, scene i comes the second surprising
moment—Miranda’s marriage proposal to Ferdinand: “I am your wife, if you will marry me; / If not, I’ll
die your maid” (III.i.83–84). Her proposal comes shortly after Miranda has told herself to remember her
“father’s precepts” (III.i.58) forbidding conversation with Ferdinand. As the reader can see in her speech
to Caliban in Act I, scene ii, Miranda is willing to speak up for herself about her sexuality

Caliban

Prospero’s dark, earthy slave, frequently referred to as a monster by the other characters, Caliban is the
son of a witch-hag and the only real native of the island to appear in the play. He is an extremely
complex figure, and he mirrors or parodies several other characters in the play. In his first speech to
Prospero, Caliban insists that Prospero stole the island from him. Through this speech, Caliban suggests
that his situation is much the same as Prospero’s, whose brother usurped his dukedom. On the other
hand, Caliban’s desire for sovereignty of the island mirrors the lust for power that led Antonio to
overthrow Prospero. Caliban’s conspiracy with Stephano and Trinculo to murder Prospero mirrors
Antonio and Sebastian’s plot against Alonso, as well as Antonio and Alonso’s original conspiracy against
Prospero.

Caliban both mirrors and contrasts with Prospero’s other servant, Ariel. While Ariel is “an airy spirit,”
Caliban is of the earth, his speeches turning to “springs, brine pits” (I.ii.341), “bogs, fens, flats” (II.ii.2), or
crabapples and pignuts (II.ii.159–160). While Ariel maintains his dignity and his freedom by serving
Prospero willingly, Caliban achieves a different kind of dignity by refusing, if only sporadically, to bow
before Prospero’s intimidation.
Surprisingly, Caliban also mirrors and contrasts with Ferdinand in certain ways. In Act II, scene ii Caliban
enters “with a burden of wood,” and Ferdinand enters in Act III, scene i “bearing a log.” Both Caliban and
Ferdinand profess an interest in untying Miranda’s “virgin knot.” Ferdinand plans to marry her, while
Caliban has attempted to rape her. The glorified, romantic, almost ethereal love of Ferdinand for
Miranda starkly contrasts with Caliban’s desire to impregnate Miranda and people the island with
Calibans.

Finally, and most tragically, Caliban becomes a parody of himself. In his first speech to Prospero, he
regretfully reminds the magician of how he showed him all the ins and outs of the island when Prospero
first arrived. Only a few scenes later, however, we see Caliban drunk and fawning before a new magical
being in his life: Stephano and his bottle of liquor. Soon, Caliban begs to show Stephano the island and
even asks to lick his shoe. Caliban repeats the mistakes he claims to curse. In his final act of rebellion, he
is once more entirely subdued by Prospero in the most petty way—he is dunked in a stinking bog and
ordered to clean up Prospero’s cell in preparation for dinner.

Despite his savage demeanor and grotesque appearance, however, Caliban has a nobler, more sensitive
side that the audience is only allowed to glimpse briefly, and which Prospero and Miranda do not
acknowledge at all. His beautiful speeches about his island home provide some of the most affecting
imagery in the play, reminding the audience that Caliban really did occupy the island before Prospero
came, and that he may be right in thinking his enslavement to be monstrously unjust. Caliban’s swarthy
appearance, his forced servitude, and his native status on the island have led many readers to interpret
him as a symbol of the native cultures occupied and suppressed by European colonial societies, which
are represented by the power of Prospero. Whether or not one accepts this allegory, Caliban remains
one of the most intriguing and ambiguous minor characters in all of Shakespeare, a sensitive monster
who allows himself to be transformed into a fool.

Ariel

Ariel is a spirit who works in Prospero’s service. Prospero first encountered Ariel soon after landing on
the island. He found Ariel trapped in a cloven pine tree and freed the spirit from his prison. In return,
Ariel promised to serve Prospero faithfully for a year, after which time Prospero would give Ariel back his
freedom. We don’t know how long Ariel has already worked for Prospero when the play begins. Prospero
has been on the island for twelve years, so Ariel might have been in his service for many more years than
their agreement required. Then again, possibly Prospero freed Ariel from the tree only a year prior to the
events of the play. Either way, Prospero’s unwillingness to set Ariel free stems from the fact that Ariel
possesses immense power. As the spirit explains in his first lines in the play, not only does he have an
impressive range of abilities, but he also commands a host of lesser spirits. Given Ariel’s extraordinary
magical abilities, Prospero leans heavily on him to execute his complex revenge plot. Ariel has spent a lot
of time around humans and he learned a thing or two about them. In Act V, for example, he appears to
take pity on the castaways. He tells Prospero that if he were human his “affections” would be “tender,”
convinces Prospero to stop using magic and reconcile with his enemies. Ariel effectively manipulates
Prospero by appealing to his humanity, and in doing so he ushers himself closer to freedom

Gonzalo

Gonzalo is among the men cast ashore during the tempest that opens the play. He serves as a counselor
to Alonso, the King of Naples, though he once worked in Prospero’s service, back when he was Duke of
Milan. In fact, Gonzalo helped Prospero and Miranda escape Milan. He filled their shabby boat with
food, clothing, and prized books on the magic arts from Prospero’s library. The care he took to ensure
Prospero and Miranda’s survival indicates an innate kindness and compassion that he continues to
embody throughout the play. Gonzalo attempts to get other characters to act kindly toward one another.
In Act II, for instance, Gonzalo chastises Sebastian for blaming the shipwreck on Alonso. “My lord
Sebastian,” he says: “The truth you speak doth lack some gentleness / And time to speak it in. You rub
the sore / When you should bring the plaster” (II.i.). With these lines, Gonzalo articulates his philosophy
that kindness is always more productive harshness.

For all that Gonzalo represents a beacon of kindness, he’s also somewhat naïve. For instance, when he
tries to cheer Alonso up at the top of Act II, his words only offer cold comfort: “Beseech you, sir, be
merry. You have cause, / So have we all, of joy, for our escape / Is much beyond our loss” (II.i.). Alonso,
who believes he’s just lost his son to the sea, doesn’t find Gonzalo’s cheerful words very consoling,
despite their good intentions. Gonzalo’s naïveté also provides a source of amusement for Antonio and
Sebastian, who talk circles around him and laugh at his expense. Yet Gonzalo may not be as naïve as
these two cynics believe. He knows he’s an object of ridicule, but he remains steadfast in the face of
their inconstancy. At one point, when Antonio tells him not to get upset on account of their jokes,
Gonzalo responds maturely: “No, I warrant you, I will not adventure my discretion so weakly” (II.i.).
Ultimately, with the reconciliation that concludes the play, Gonzalo’s kindness wins out over his
companions’ cynicism.

**

Plot Analysis

Prospero’s desire to return home to Italy and reclaim his position as the rightful Duke of Milan drives the
plot of The Tempest. However, we don’t know about Prospero’s history until the second scene of the
play. Instead, the play begins by hurtling the audience straight into the action. The first scene opens on a
ship in the midst of a storm. By opening with the chaos of the tempest, Shakespeare has drawn on the
literary technique of “in medias res,” which involves starting a narrative “in the midst of things” and
hence without preamble. In doing so, Shakespeare places the audience in the same position as the
shipwrecked crew, confused and disoriented on a strange island. The audience doesn’t meet Prospero
until the second scene, when we learn that he conjured the storm. Knowing that his enemies were
aboard a passing ship, Prospero used his training in sorcery to fashion a tempest and cause the ship to
wreck on the island. The storm therefore constitutes the inciting incident of the play, setting events into
action.

In the second scene we also learn about the circumstances that landed Prospero on the island and made
him cause the storm. Prospero was the Duke of Milan until his brother, Antonio, conspired with Alonso,
the King of Naples, to assassinate Prospero and seize control of Milan. Prospero managed to escape alive
with help from his loyal councilor Gonzalo. These events occurred twelve years prior to the events of the
play itself. This means that by the time the play begins, Prospero has already spent a long time seething
with rage on the island, where he lives alone with his daughter Miranda and his slave Caliban. Prospero
recounts this backstory to Miranda in Act I, Scene 2. In order to realize his desire to return to Italy and
reclaim his position, Prospero needs to resolve the conflict with his brother Antonio. These themes of
separation and reunion will define the action of the play, as characters are torn apart from each other
before being happily reunited at the end.

The wreck that Prospero has orchestrated separates the ship’s crew into three groups: Ferdinand gets
stranded by himself and soon encounters Prospero and Miranda; Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, and
Gonzalo wind up on another part of the island; and Trinculo and Stephano wash up together on yet
another shore. By separating these groups, Prospero forces them live through an experience not unlike
his own. Just as Prospero has been cut off from his home and loved ones, the shipwrecked crew wanders
around cut off from one another, believing that their missing companions have perished in the squall.
The separation causes a great deal of sorrow and confusion, and Prospero uses his command of the
island’s spirits—and Ariel in particular—to confuse and disorient his enemies further. However, as the
play continues, Prospero’s designs grow clearer. After making his enemies suffer, he eventually employs
Ariel to guide each group toward his camp, where reunion and reconciliation can at last take place.

Prospero’s manipulations enable the play’s climax, in which he confronts his enemies. When Alonso and
his company arrive at his camp, Prospero confronts Alonso and Antonio over their past betrayal when
they tried to assassinate him. Prospero also continues with his emotional manipulation, claiming that he
has lost his daughter in the tempest. Alonso, who is mourning his son Ferdinand, who he still believes
died in the tempest, feels deeply for Prospero’s loss, and in the process forges an emotional bond with
the man he wronged so many years ago. After Alonso restores Prospero’s dukedom, Prospero performs
his greatest trick of all, pulling back the curtain to reveal Ferdinand, alive. Alonso is overcome with
happiness, and the play that began in the midst of chaos ends with an atmosphere of serenity and joy.
By forcing his enemies through an experience of separation and reunion, Prospero has resolved the
play’s central conflict and ensured his own return home, thereby bringing everything in the play full
circle.

Protagonist
Although The Tempest features many characters with their own plots and desires, Prospero is the main
protagonist. Prospero sets the events of the play in motion by conjuring the terrible tempest that
shipwrecks his enemies. The violence of the tempest indicates the magnitude of Prospero’s rage. After
setting things in motion with the tempest, Prospero goes on to orchestrate all of the characters’
movements throughout the rest of the play. He starts by instructing his servant Ariel to place the
castaways on three different parts of the island. Also with Ariel’s help, Prospero disorients the different
groups of men, making them feel lost and helpless. He keeps up his manipulations of the island’s new
inhabitants until the final act of the play, when he leads them all to the same place for the final scene of
confrontation and reconciliation. The control he exerts over all other characters makes Prospero
something even more than the play’s protagonist; he’s also a master manipulator, much like a puppeteer.

Prospero’s desire for revenge drives his manipulation of others. He manipulates the stranded characters
in numerous ways. In separating the castaways Prospero makes each group believe the others have
perished. This mistaken belief makes several plot points possible. Ferdinand, who believes he alone
survived, is ready to pledge himself to Prospero and fall in love with Miranda. Alonso, who believes his
son has died, loses all hope, which inspires Antonio and Sebastian to plot his assassination. Prospero also
subtly manipulates Miranda into falling in love with Ferdinand as a part of his grand plan to resolve his
conflict with Alonso. He hopes the union of their children will help heal the wound between them. What
Prospero wants more than anything else is reconciliation. And reconciliation is precisely what he gets in
the final act. With peaceful relations restored with Alonso and his men, Prospero gives up on magic and
prepares for his return to power in Milan. The play, which begins with a violent tempest and concludes
with calm celebration, parallels the trajectory of Prospero’s character arc. Whereas he starts off seething
with rage and vengefulness, he eventually calms down and sets the stage for emotional appeasement.

Antagonist

The Tempest has a large cast of antagonists, all of whom pose challenges for the play’s protagonist,
Prospero. The most important antagonists are Alonso and Antonio, who conspired to assassinate
Prospero when he was Duke of Milan, and who are responsible for his exile on the island. Although
Alonso wronged Prospero in the past, his actions during the play are not particularly antagonizing.
Instead, he spends most of the play mourning the death of his son. Antonio’s case proves a bit more
complicated, since in Act II he conspires with Sebastian to assassinate Alonso, echoing his betrayal of
Prospero twelve years prior. Prospero confronts both men in Act V, and Alonso immediately confesses his
guilt and expresses his shame. Antonio, by contrast, doesn’t have any lines in the final act. Prospero
ultimately forgives Antonio, and closes the matter by demanding his dukedom back.

The Tempest also features an array of lesser antagonists. Caliban sees Prospero as a violent imperialist
who unjustly took control of the island, which had previously belonged to him and his mother, Sycorax.
Caliban acts most insubordinate when he befriends two lesser antagonists, the drunkards Stephano and
Trinculo, with whom he plots the murder and overthrow of Prospero. Of course, Caliban and his
associates don’t stand a chance against Prospero’s magic, and their plot fails spectacularly. At the end of
the play, Caliban remains fundamentally unchanged as a character—still as hateful toward Prospero as
ever. Compared to Caliban, Prospero’s other servant, Ariel, seems like an angel. Yet Ariel also incites
Prospero’s wrath when he reminds his master of his promise to free Ariel after a year of faithful service.
Although Ariel’s character doesn’t change much in the play, he does gain his freedom in the end.

Genre

Comedy, Romance

Comedy

When the First Folio edition of Shakespeare’s plays was published in 1623, The Tempest appeared under
the genre category “comedy.” Like all of Shakespeare’s other comedies, the play resolves happily, with
the promise of a wedding between Miranda and Ferdinand. Also as in other comedies, the plot of The
Tempest revolves around a series of misunderstandings that are resolved over the course of the play. The
tempest, or storm, that gives the play its title causes a shipwreck, stranding many characters on an
island. Several of the characters mistakenly believe their shipmates are dead. However, none of the
characters actually die in the storm, and everyone is happily reunited at the play’s end. The Tempest also
features not one but two attempted assassinations: Alonso and Antonio’s attempted assassination of
Prospero, which lead to Prospero fleeing to the island, and Antonio and Sebastian’s plot to murder
Alonso. But, again, neither attempt is successful, and no one dies. The play ends with Alonso repenting
of his schemes against Prospero, and Prospero reclaiming his title of Duke of Milan. The fact that no one
dies in the play, discord is repaired, misunderstandings are resolved, and lovers and united in marriage
all contribute to the play’s classification as a comedy.

Romance

Although The Tempest contains many elements of comedy, it also deviates significantly from
Shakespeare’s other comedies, which is why scholars now classify it as a romance. Romance is a genre
scholars began assigning to a group of plays Shakespeare wrote at the end of his career. These plays,
while categorized in the First Folio as either comedies or tragedies, don’t neatly fit the conventions of
either genre. Along with Shakespeare’s other late plays Pericles, Cymbeline, and The Winter’s Tale, The
Tempest contains elements of both tragedy and comedy, with the overall structure of the play moving
from “tragic” beginning to “comedic” ending. These four plays also all contain elements of magic and the
supernatural. For example, the massive storm that opens Tempest is the result of Prospero’s conjuring.
Throughout the play, Prospero (and his magical spirit Ariel) use magic to manipulate and dazzle the other
characters. Finally, The Tempest differs from the comedic genre in that while the play ends in marriage,
the story of the lovers doesn’t drive the plot. In fact, Miranda and Ferdinand don’t meet until well into
the action of the play, and the essential conflict—Prospero’s desire to regain his title—has nothing to do
with their separation or reunion. All of Shakespeare’s romances also feature marriage as an element of
their plots, but not the driving force of the action.

Where Are All the Women?

At the end of The Tempest, Miranda says, “O brave new world / That has such people in’t.” However, the
only human beings she’s seen so far are men, and, in fact, Miranda is the only female human character
the audience sees in the whole play. The lack of female characters in The Tempest says a lot about how
the men in the play imagine the role of women in society. Perhaps the most obvious instance where a
male character explicitly situates women in a broad social vision occurs when Gonzalo describes how he
would run the island if he had an opportunity to rule. Gonzalo outlines a society defined by leisure and
the lack of commerce: “No occupation: all men idle, all. / And women too, but innocent and pure” (2.1.).
Gonzalo’s inclusion of women seems like an afterthought, as if he had all but forgotten about them, then
remembered that they play a necessary role in society, provided that they are “innocent and pure.” Just
as Gonzalo consigns women to the social background, so too does The Tempest as a whole keep its
female characters backstage.

Aside from the goddesses Iris, Ceres, and Juno, who are non-human projections created by the male
spirit Ariel, the only female character with an active role in the play is Miranda. Even Miranda remains
somewhat passive, as she is subject to her father’s command. Even though she feels sincerely attracted
to Ferdinand, Prospero manipulates her psychologically in order to stoke the fire of her attraction
further. The fact that Prospero manipulates Miranda like a pawn in his larger political game indicates
how men in The Tempest subordinate women to their desires. His speech, in blessing the upcoming
wedding, indicates Prospero sees his daughter as his property: “Then, as my gift, and thine own
acquisition / Worthily purchased…” (IV.i.) For Prospero, Miranda’s value lies mainly in her virginity, which
makes her politically advantageous marriage to Ferdinand possible. Miranda’s marriage represents the
promise of a new beginning, which Prospero desperately wishes for himself. Prospero’s future therefore
depends on Miranda’s virginity, which is why he must guard against all sexual advances, whether from
Caliban or Ferdinand.

Shakespeare names but never introduces several other female characters in The Tempest. Of these
characters, Sycorax serves as Prospero’s evil female alter ego. As the mother of Caliban and the previous
ruler of the island who died before Prospero could take direct action against her, Sycorax bears the brunt
of Prospero’s misogyny. He refers to her variously as a “damned witch” (I.ii.) and a “blue-eyed hag” (I.ii.),
and he relishes recounting how cruel a mistress she was. For instance, he reminds Ariel “once [every]
month” (I.ii.) that Sycorax locked him in a tree for twelve painful years. Prospero also narrates the story
of how she came to the island in the first place. Pregnant with her monstrous child, Sycorax was
banished from Algiers for committing unspeakable crimes. If Prospero places so much emphasis on
Sycorax’s abominable nature, he does so to highlight his own comparative benevolence, and thereby
secure his underlings’ obedience. In contrast with the evil Sycorax, Prospero appears a rather benign
ruler, and he must continuously revive her cruel memory to make himself look good.

Why is The Tempest by Shakespeare considered a tragicomedy?

According to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, a play was a tragedy if everyone suffered in the end, even
the innocent. A play was a comedy if the innocent triumphed and only the wicked came to a horrible
end. Comedies weren't necessarily humorous. But during the Renaissance, the genre of tragicomedy
became more accepted. In this genre, the ending was happy but solemn topics of danger, fall from
position, and important public figures or events were dealt with. Comedy as we think of comedy, with
jokes and buffoonish characters, was also part of tragicomedy.

Looking at tragicomedy through this lens, we can see it applies to Shakespeare's The Tempest perfectly.
Serious issues normally portrayed in tragedies are present, including Prospero's fall from power, the low
sub-human villain of Caliban, the murder plot of Sebastian and Antonio against Alonso, and the theme of
revenge. On the other hand, we have a romance between Miranda and Ferdinand, a humorous subplot
with the lower-class Stephano and Trinculo, and the lighter elements of the bridal masque and other
harmless magic. Ultimately when Prospero draws those who have wronged him into his magic circle, the
play hangs in the balance between comedy and tragedy: Will he take revenge on those who have
wronged him, showing himself to be no better than they, or will he overcome his desires for retribution
and heed his higher nature? When he forgives those who wronged him and dons his ducal robes, order
is restored, and the happy ending for everyone ensues, confirming the play to be a perfect example of
tragicomedy.