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The Tempest:

by William Shakespeare, Roma Gill (Editor)

3.73 · rating details · 31,386 ratings · 862 reviews

This joyous play, the last comedy of Shakespeare's career, sums up his stagecraft with a display of seemingly effortless skill. Prospero, exiled Duke of Milan, living on an enchanted island, has the opportunity to punish and forgive his enemies when he raises a tempest that drives them ashoreas well as to forestall a rebellion, to arrange the meeting of his daughter, Mir...more

Paperback, 125 pages

Published May 25th 2006 by Oxford University Press (first published 1610)

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Mar 12, 2010

Bram rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, the-bard

Knowing that The Tempest is most likely Shakespeare's final play, it's hard to avoid noticing the hints of retirement in the text. Toward the end of the final act, Prospero solemnly describes the conclusion of his practice of the magic arts, just as Shakespeare might describe the end of his writing career:

Have I given fire and rifted Jove's stout oak
With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
Have I made shake and by the spurs pluck'd up
The pine and cedar: graves...moreKnowing that The Tempest is most likely Shakespeare's final play, it's hard to avoid noticing the hints of retirement in the text. Toward the end of the final act, Prospero solemnly describes the conclusion of his practice of the magic arts, just as Shakespeare might describe the end of his writing career:

Have I given fire and rifted Jove's stout oak
With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
Have I made shake and by the spurs pluck'd up
The pine and cedar: graves at my command
Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let 'em forth
By my so potent art. But this rough magic
I here abjure, and, when I have required
Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
To work mine end upon their senses that
This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And deeper than did ever plummet sound
I'll drown my book.

Beyond this connection, it’s fun if idly fruitless to try to expand the Prospero-as-Shakespeare angle. For example, Prospero, the Duke of Milan, was usurped by his brother. Was Shakespeare replaced as the king’s or the populace’s most favored playwright? Perhaps he was eclipsed by or had a falling out with Ben Jonson, who felt confident enough to be the first to publish a written collection of his plays (something Shakespeare never did) and who mocked Shakespeare and his Tempest subject matter in one of his own plays, Bartholomew Fair. As I said, it’s idle speculation, particularly when engaged in by someone unfamiliar with the time period. But the text does seem to encourage some autobiographical reading, and it’s certainly fun to consider the possibilities.

One thing that continues to impress me about Shakespeare is his refusal to create blameless heroes. Even if we end up feeling very sympathetic toward someone, there's always something to nag us and remind us that this character isn’t irreproachable. In the Richard II—Henry IV—Henry V cycle, Hal has a remarkable and redemptive character arc, but he must abandon his rowdy friends most cruelly to achieve this. As someone who wants to love and celebrate Hal unreservedly, this fact is like a thorn that pokes me every time I cheer too loudly during the St. Crispin's Day speech.

Like Hal, Prospero has a troubling relationship that mars his character. As mentioned above, he was usurped. But then he became the usurper, enslaving an 'uninhabited' island's sole inhabitant (and therefore the ruler of sorts), Caliban, and treating him harshly. (For the record, Caliban's witch mother usurped the original fairies of the Island, Ariel et al., when she was dropped off by some sailors while pregnant.) The story of the enslavement is morally complicated, it's true. Caliban was apparently well-treated, if still usurped, before he attempted to rape Prospero's daughter, thus leading to the mistreatment and his begrudging service as we encounter them during the three hours of the play (side note: Before Jack Bauer and 24, Shakespeare had already created a drama where the play length occurs in real time). There's also the troubling distinction between Prospero's two slaves, Caliban and Ariel. Caliban, a hideous semi-human monster, is rude and bitter and therefore 'deserves' his slave state and cruel treatment, while obedient Ariel is set free at the story's end. But because Prospero is leaving the island to return to Milan at the conclusion, even Caliban can look forward to freedom once again.

And so in the end, Prospero wins us over with his capacity for forgiveness and his desire to do everyone a good turn, while only desiring to finish off his days in Milan “where/Every third thought shall be my grave.” While he spends much of the play spooking those who’d wronged him with spirit visitations and magical scenes, he eventually leaves anger and vengeance behind. Interestingly, it’s the nonhuman spirit slave Ariel who encourages Prospero to be humane and compassionate:

ARIEL
Your charm so strongly works 'em
That if you now beheld them, your affections
Would become tender.

PROSPERO
Dost thou think so, spirit?

ARIEL
Mine would, sir, were I human.

PROSPERO
And mine shall.
Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling
Of their afflictions, and shall not myself,
One of their kind, that relish all as sharply,
Passion as they, be kindlier moved than thou art?
Though with their high wrongs I am struck to the quick,
Yet with my nobler reason 'gainst my fury
Do I take part: the rarer action is
In virtue than in vengeance.

Perhaps this suggestion had to come from a nonhuman since treating kindly those who’ve wronged us can seem most unnatural. Shakespeare seems to recognize that this type of forgiveness, especially offered to those who have intentionally affected one’s life for the worse, is exceptionally difficult to bestow. But he also seems to recognize that overcoming this difficulty is well worth it, perhaps more for the sake of the forgiver than that of the forgiven.
(less)

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Mar 24, 2009

Madeline rated it

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Shelves: shakespeare, assigned-reading

The Tempest, abridged.
*or maybe not so abridged. But in my defense, this play is really fucking complicated*

MIRANDA: So, um, Daddy, did you notice that huge-ass storm that just crashed a ship on the shore of our previously deserted island?
PROSPERO: Wow, is it exposition time already? Okay, kiddo, listen up: I used to be the duke of Milan, but then my asshole brother and the King of Naples put you and me on a boat and we ended up here on Wherever-The-Hell-Island, but luc...more

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Sep 20, 2010

Terence rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Who would I not recommend it to?

Shelves: shakespeare-stuff, audio-books, the-plays-the-thing

I finished my rereading of The Tempest earlier today. As usual when I reread one of the Bard's plays, I appreciate it more. I can definitely upgrade my initial reaction to a solid 3 stars. It's still not a favorite; many of the qualms I had from my original review remain. Except perhaps at the end when Prospero gives up the power his magic gives him, though I couldn't tell you why he does so - Shakespeare doesn't give us much in the way of motivation for any of his actions. For example, why does...moreI finished my rereading of The Tempest earlier today. As usual when I reread one of the Bard's plays, I appreciate it more. I can definitely upgrade my initial reaction to a solid 3 stars. It's still not a favorite; many of the qualms I had from my original review remain. Except perhaps at the end when Prospero gives up the power his magic gives him, though I couldn't tell you why he does so - Shakespeare doesn't give us much in the way of motivation for any of his actions. For example, why does he forgive Antonio? How secure is Antonio going to be with a restored Duke Prospero? Why is Prospero OK with Ferdinand courting his daughter? (I realize that in the context of Elizabethan and Jacobean England it's usual but the modern reader must realize that Miranda is only 15 years old. I wonder how young she was when Caliban - how old is he? - attempted to rape her, and was it really "rape" or just two children playing "doctor"? Considering Prospero's decidedly aristocratic temperament, I can easily see him overeacting and the incident becoming more and more lurid with each passing year.)

That aside, The Tempest is a good play by itself. I was particularly taken with Caliban, Trinculo and Stephano who came across as the most "real" in this reading. (I'm sure something else will engage me the next time I read the play.)
______________________________________________________

This is probably the least 3-starry play amongst my Shakespeare reading. More like a 2.5 or 2.6; I'm rounding up because it is Shakespeare and I do wish I could write half so well.

The greatest impediment to a full-throated 3 stars is that I don't find anyone in the play all that admirable or interesting. The two characters I feel any regard for (and it's sympathy) are Ariel and Caliban, enslaved these dozen years by Prospero, whom I think Caliban rightly calls "tyrant."

My practice over the last year, ever since I discovered that my Glendora library has all of the plays on Audio CD and most of BBC TV's versions on DVD, has been to read (or reread) the text, listen to the play, and watch a version (or versions). Perhaps when I get the time to watch the DVD this weekend, I'll have more sympathy for the play.

(And I just wanted to mention: I'm not approaching this from the point of view of colonialist-native. Heck, I'm one of the white males who've been oppressing the rest of you for four centuries. Prospero's a "tyrant" by any measure.)(less)

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Nov 08, 2010

Elizabeth rated it

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Shelves: tam-lin, in-theater, elizabethan-my-dear, 2010, gods-myths-heroes, in-by-of-england, reviewed, romance-with-a-capital-r

I've always had a Romantic impression of this play. It's not hard. Shipwreck. First love (also being true love, impressively). An ancient magician. Invisible and dancing spirits. And, as if out of nowhere, Gods. How do you not get romance when images like this are floating around?

The Pre-Raphaelites had a way of making everything romantic, whether it should be or not, so I was skeptical when I finally started reading this one. It's all there though. All of the elements that w...moreI've always had a Romantic impression of this play. It's not hard. Shipwreck. First love (also being true love, impressively). An ancient magician. Invisible and dancing spirits. And, as if out of nowhere, Gods. How do you not get romance when images like this are floating around?

The Pre-Raphaelites had a way of making everything romantic, whether it should be or not, so I was skeptical when I finally started reading this one. It's all there though. All of the elements that would bring out a sigh in a romantic sensibility. And what I mean by that isn't the romance of bodice-rippers. I'm not talking about the people who stick a wedding at the end of every Austen film or the women who thinks Heathcliff is just misunderstood and the love of a better woman (i.e. themselves) would keep him from killing puppies. (You are wrong, girls). I am talking about the sensibility that lead to the Romantic poets and the interpretation of Hamlet as a melancholy young man in a black turtleneck, Browning's epic poems, and the Pre-Raphaelite painters. The Tempest was ahead of its time.

Or was it? One of the things that leaves me with this romantic impression is the sense of exploration, reinforced by the magical and mysterious. The discussion of natives and feeling of dislocation that the survivors of the shipwreck feel, was strangely familiar. I was several scenes in when I realized that it sounded like some of the writing quoted in The Age of Wonder. There's about 150 years between the exploratory trip to Tahiti that opens The Age of Wonder and the writing of The Tempest but that feeling of discovery and exploration is there. If it wasn't science, in the sense we know it, there was still a sense of questioning the powers of the natural world more than I remember from the other plays. Maybe it's just Miranda's line of this being O brave new world, that has such people in 't that triggered this feeling in me. Maybe it's really there. Knowing that people were beginning to bring back plants and animals from the strange new lands that were being "discovered" influenced me. Marvels, like tobacco, were beginning to become available in London. The early modern world was opening up and here was a tired, aging man discovering it.

The play frustrates me in many ways. I feel like the scenes are disjointed. There is a great scene and then a silly one. Another one over here with another set of characters. True love happens in fifteen minutes but it is so pure that some Gods show up to bless it. I am half-convinced that we love this play because of the last scene and epilogue. You can feel the weight on Prospero, even if the motivation might have been lacking, you can feel for him, needing to be set free from whatever is holding him down.

I feel like my impression, maybe all of our impressions, of this play are tainted by what has happened to us, culturally, economically, socially, since it was written. Of course, of course, that always happens. There's no way to avoid it but I feel like it happened to me more this time, with this play. I don't know how to step out of what I know happens next and read the play in a purer form. I don't know if that would actually help or hurt the play. It feels wrong, somehow, to leave it like this, though, as if I didn't get what Shakespeare was trying to say, like something is missing. It's a disturbing state, not one I am used to being in with him. (less)

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Dec 11, 2009

Rauf rated it

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Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: fantasy-and-sf, literature, fiction, play, fromthepit, shiny

Hmmm...

Wouldn't it be interesting if Prospero, Ariel, Sycorax and Caliban are used in another story? A darker, bloodier, gung-hoer story involving time-machines and space lizards? I say yes.
--
Dec. 2009 --
Above was my old review. I chose not to erase it so I will always remember just how stupid I was. The Tempest was a great play. The dynamics between the characters -- especially Ariel-Prospero, Caliban-Stephano -- were fantastic.
For my NaNoWriMo novel I borrow...more

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Jun 01, 2008

Amelia rated it

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Shelves: classics, plays

Now that's my kind of story! Funny in parts, bit of intrigue, bad guys getting pinched and a happy ending all around. Mind you, I would have liked for Antonio to have received some of those pinches, he got off far to lightly in my opinion. I must not have quite the forgiving nature of Prospero.

Strange, this is the direct opposite to King Lear. There were many near misses and narrow escapes, but no actual deaths. While in KL, they were dropping left and right, sometimes before ...more

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Feb 20, 2010

Eric rated it

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One is tempted to ding this a smidge because of the astonishing speed with which Ferdinand and Miranda fall for each other (then again, she's never even seen a man other than papa). Then too, Prospero is such a fascinating character, the play is so beautifully structured and the use of spirits/magic so cool, that you gotta go all thumbs up. Then there's this: "The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance." How brilliant and prescient was this guy Willie S.?

addendum, ...more

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Mar 10, 2011

Manny rated it

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Shelves: why-not-call-it-poetry

I might as well admit I don't understand what it's about - it's still absolutely gorgeous to listen to. Here are my three favourite bits. Bronze goes to what's generally considered Shakespeare's farewell to the dramatic arts:

... Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
Let your indulgence set

...more

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May 02, 2007

liz rated it

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Shelves: readforwork

I first read this play on my own for a European History class, where I was expected to relate the themes to Europe's imperialism and colonies founded in the Indies. I thought it was interesting at the time, but I only really appreciated it after discussing it in a formal Shakespeare class. The main thing that I love about this play is that the line between fantasy and reality is blurred to the point where you're not sure what's being caused by magic and what's actually happening as an effect f...more

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Jan 05, 2009

Mary rated it

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Shelves: favorites, plays

Prospero, once Duke of Milan now stranded on an island with his daughter, Miranda, orchestrates a tempest that sends the ship carrying the King of Naples, his usurping brother Antonio, and others, crashing on the shore of the island. With his spirit-servant Ariel's help, Prospero exacts revenge on those who wronged him twelve years ago.

This is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. The characters are complex, the wordplay is fun, and each reread is always a little different depending ...more

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Jan 06, 2009

Annie rated it

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Shakespeare, my dear, you are killing me.

I performed as Miranda in this play when I was in the fifth grade. I wish I had more memories of doing so, because how in God's name could we have staged this at an elementary school? Our (AWESOME) director must've cut the whole thing to shreds, because the entire first scene is elaborate and graphic swearing. The entire scene!!

So, I had already pondered this play somewhat, from a postcolonialist viewpoint (like you do). And I had ...more

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Aug 03, 2011

Matthew rated it

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Tempest fights awfully hard with Richard III for being my favorite Shakespeare play, and it is obvious why.

The location, the characters, and the masterful storytelling all meet and give Shakespeare's most well-rounded play in his career. There is a literary masterpiece in the lines of the piece. Wonderfully complex, Shakespeare gives his viewers (or readers, as the case may be) a walking chess game with Prospero and Alonso being the kings of both sides.

Hidden within are the conflicts of slaver...more

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Jul 11, 2011

Jipson.L.J added it · review of another edition

Shelves: litrature

Prospero, the rightful duke of Milan has been deposed and set adrift with his young daughter Miranda. Their disabled boat came to an island and for some 12 years the two of them have lived on the island in safety, and even in magic.

The people who deposed him, his brother Antonio, Alonso, the King of Naples and others, had gone to a wedding in northern African, and on the way home Prospero magically brings their ship to his island where they are seemingly marooned.

Prospero is ...more

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May 16, 2011

Edward rated it

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When I was a kid I thought the inscription from THE TEMPEST above the entrance to the Comstock swimming pool in Spokane was a strange one, "“Sir, he may live: I saw him beat the surges under him, And ride upon their backs. . ." Why would you even suggest the possibility of drowning in a place where people go to enjoy themselves? But it's this ambivalence of appearances and reality, at the heart of all of Shakespeare's plays, that is the "rough magic" of this, one of h...more

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May 15, 2011

Michele rated it

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Shelves: classics, fiction

Quick synopsis: In this play we have Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan. Prospero and his daughter Miranda were shipwrecked on an (almost) deserted island when Prospero's evil brother Antonio ousted him from power and cast Prospero and a three year old Miranda in a leaky old boat out to sea. But Prospero and Miranda lived, thanks to a kind man named Gonzolo who sneaked a bunch of provisions onto the boat ahead of time.

Fast forward twelve years.

Prospero and Miranda are st...more

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Mar 18, 2011

Ofa Fotu rated it

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It didn't have that immediate delight or enjoyment that I got from the other plays I've read of Shakespeare so far. It was a nice story. And it had some beautiful lines. Some of them were interesting combinations of magical characters quoting christian themes. The deformed man is not treated very well (Caliban). The sorcerer never seems to lose complete control over the situation. Everything is calculated and goes according to his plan. Maybe I was casual about this book because I didn't see ...more

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Oct 24, 2010

Helen (Helena/Nell) rated it

· review of another edition

I know this is meant to be the last play Shakespeare wrote. It is meant to be a sort of poetic farewell when Prospero announces:

"I’ll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And deeper than did ever plummet sound
I’ll drown my book."

But I was never convinced by this. That’s a lovely speech, and so is the bit about our little lives being rounded by a sleep—but surely not a way to finish one’s dramatic career? It’s nowhere near as po...more

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Jul 14, 2010

Tomas rated it

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Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again.
- The Tempest, 3. 2

Our revels now are ended. Thes...moreBe not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again.
- The Tempest, 3. 2

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.
- The Tempest, 4. 1

The Tempest is widely considered to be Shakespeare's final play, having been written around 1610-1611. This is a romantic comedy, revolving around a sorcerer and ex-duke name Prospero who was stranded on a remote island with his daughter, Miranda, by his treacherous brother, Antonio, who usurped his dukedom in Milan. The entire play is set on this island, and begins with a fierce tempest at sea caused by Prospero's magic, which shipwrecks Antonio and his entourage on the island - setting the plot in motion. What follows is a tale of revenge, love, and eventual forgiveness. Some of the play's best prose is featured above.

As much as I enjoyed this play, I do not consider it to be one of my favourite Shakespearean tales. The premise is fine, and there is certainly some beautiful poetry that has withstood the test of time. However, the plot itself is quite simple (so simple, in fact, that the whole timeline of the play is only a matter of hours), and I didn't find the characters to be very likeable. Prospero began as a cold figure in the story, although he slowly warmed to me as the plot moved forward. I pitied Caliban (Prospero's half-human, half-beast servant), but his animalistic qualities didn't make him a sympathetic character in the end. The rest of the characters where neither here nor there for me.

To be quite honest, I'm more partial to Shakespeare's tragedies rather than his comedies, which is why I only liked The Tempest. It's a classic, yes, but to me it's just a pleasant little read that doesn't quite resonate with you once you finish it. That's probably due to the "happily-ever-after" type ending, but maybe it's just me. I guess Shakespeare wanted to end his career on a happy note? (less)

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Jun 03, 2010

Rowland Bismark rated it

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The Tempest probably was written in 1610–1611, and was first performed at Court by the King’s Men in the fall of 1611. It was performed again in the winter of 1612–1613 during the festivities in celebration of the marriage of King James’s daughter Elizabeth. The Tempest is most likely the last play written entirely by Shakespeare, and it is remarkable for being one of only two plays by Shakespeare (the other being Love’s Labor’s Lost) whose plot is entirely original. The play does, however, draw...moreThe Tempest probably was written in 1610–1611, and was first performed at Court by the King’s Men in the fall of 1611. It was performed again in the winter of 1612–1613 during the festivities in celebration of the marriage of King James’s daughter Elizabeth. The Tempest is most likely the last play written entirely by Shakespeare, and it is remarkable for being one of only two plays by Shakespeare (the other being Love’s Labor’s Lost) whose plot is entirely original. The play does, however, draw on travel literature of its time—most notably the accounts of a tempest off the Bermudas that separated and nearly wrecked a fleet of colonial ships sailing from Plymouth to Virginia. The English colonial project seems to be on Shakespeare’s mind throughout The Tempest, as almost every character, from the lord Gonzalo to the drunk Stephano, ponders how he would rule the island on which the play is set if he were its king. Shakespeare seems also to have drawn on Montaigne’s essay “Of the Cannibals,” which was translated into English in 1603. The name of Prospero’s servant-monster, Caliban, seems to be an anagram or derivative of “Cannibal.”

The extraordinary flexibility of Shakespeare’s stage is given particular prominence in The Tempest. Stages of the Elizabethan and Jacobean period were for the most part bare and simple. There was little on-stage scenery, and the possibilities for artificial lighting were limited. The King’s Men in 1612 were performing both at the outdoor Globe Theatre and the indoor Blackfriars Theatre and their plays would have had to work in either venue. Therefore, much dramatic effect was left up to the minds of the audience. We see a particularly good example of this in The Tempest, Act II, scene i when Gonzalo, Sebastian, and Antonio argue whether the island is beautiful or barren. The bareness of the stage would have allowed either option to be possible in the audience’s mind at any given moment.

At the same time, The Tempest includes stage directions for a number of elaborate special effects. The many pageants and songs accompanied by ornately costumed figures or stage-magic—for example, the banquet in Act III, scene iii, or the wedding celebration for Ferdinand and Miranda in Act IV, scene i—give the play the feeling of a masque, a highly stylized form of dramatic, musical entertainment popular among the aristocracy of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is perhaps the tension between simple stage effects and very elaborate and surprising ones that gives the play its eerie and dreamlike quality, making it seem rich and complex even though it is one of Shakespeare’s shortest, most simply constructed plays.

It is tempting to think of The Tempest as Shakespeare’s farewell to the stage because of its theme of a great magician giving up his art. Indeed, we can interpret Prospero’s reference to the dissolution of “the great globe itself” (IV.i.153) as an allusion to Shakespeare’s theatre. However, Shakespeare is known to have collaborated on at least two other plays after The Tempest: The Two Noble Kinsmen and Henry VIII in 1613, both probably written with John Fletcher. A performance of the latter was, in fact, the occasion for the actual dissolution of the Globe. A cannon fired during the performance accidentally ignited the thatch, and the theater burned to the ground.

The Tempest tells a fairly straightforward story involving an unjust act, the usurpation of Prospero’s throne by his brother, and Prospero’s quest to re-establish justice by restoring himself to power. However, the idea of justice that the play works toward seems highly subjective, since this idea represents the view of one character who controls the fate of all the other characters. Though Prospero presents himself as a victim of injustice working to right the wrongs that have been done to him, Prospero’s idea of justice and injustice is somewhat hypocritical—though he is furious with his brother for taking his power, he has no qualms about enslaving Ariel and Caliban in order to achieve his ends. At many moments throughout the play, Prospero’s sense of justice seems extremely one-sided and mainly involves what is good for Prospero. Moreover, because the play offers no notion of higher order or justice to supersede Prospero’s interpretation of events, the play is morally ambiguous.

As the play progresses, however, it becomes more and more involved with the idea of creativity and art, and Prospero’s role begins to mirror more explicitly the role of an author creating a story around him. With this metaphor in mind, and especially if we accept Prospero as a surrogate for Shakespeare himself, Prospero’s sense of justice begins to seem, if not perfect, at least sympathetic. Moreover, the means he uses to achieve his idea of justice mirror the machinations of the artist, who also seeks to enable others to see his view of the world. Playwrights arrange their stories in such a way that their own idea of justice is imposed upon events. In The Tempest, the author is in the play, and the fact that he establishes his idea of justice and creates a happy ending for all the characters becomes a cause for celebration, not criticism.

By using magic and tricks that echo the special effects and spectacles of the theater, Prospero gradually persuades the other characters and the audience of the rightness of his case. As he does so, the ambiguities surrounding his methods slowly resolve themselves. Prospero forgives his enemies, releases his slaves, and relinquishes his magic power, so that, at the end of the play, he is only an old man whose work has been responsible for all the audience’s pleasure. The establishment of Prospero’s idea of justice becomes less a commentary on justice in life than on the nature of morality in art. Happy endings are possible, Shakespeare seems to say, because the creativity of artists can create them, even if the moral values that establish the happy ending originate from nowhere but the imagination of the artist.(less)

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May 12, 2010

Christopher Culver rated it

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Shakespeare's play THE TEMPEST is, much like THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, a play where one is not quite sure whether to ascribe characterization to the ethnic stereotypes of the time or laud the playwright for looking beyond the prejudices of society to the universal equality of human beings. The plot of THE TEMPEST is generally about exiled duke and magician Prospero luring his enemies to his island to wreak vengence is entertaining enough, what remains with me after every reading is the interactio...moreShakespeare's play THE TEMPEST is, much like THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, a play where one is not quite sure whether to ascribe characterization to the ethnic stereotypes of the time or laud the playwright for looking beyond the prejudices of society to the universal equality of human beings. The plot of THE TEMPEST is generally about exiled duke and magician Prospero luring his enemies to his island to wreak vengence is entertaining enough, what remains with me after every reading is the interaction between Prospero and the indigenous islander Caliban. How, as Shakespeare has the reader ask, can Prospero blast his fellows for overthrowing him if the magician has done the same to Caliban? THE MERCHANT OF VENICE had Shylock giving a moving defence of his humanity before the jeers of Elizabethan society, but then he went back to being the Jewish villian that contemporary audiences would love to hate. Caliban gets that too, for although a European character muses on the possibility that primitive societies are superior to his own, Caliban is mostly exploited for a sort of comedy: watch as Prospero harasses and torments the foreigner!

Over the years I've seen certain conservative writers blast the tendency of contemporary readers to focus on the Prospero-Caliban relationship, seeing it as a manifestation of political correctness. Still, that's what makes THE TEMPEST intriguing and saves the play from being a fairly goofy account of conspirators getting their comeuppance through an elemental spirit playing tricks on them, and then two young people falling in love but being commanded not to get frisky.

I read the Bantam Classic edition of this work, which features some fine supplementary materials. The chapter on The Tempest in performance tracks the play's remarkable staging history, for Shakespeare's original work was usually extended operetta-style with music and dancing until the 20th century. Bantam also includes extracts from the 16th century works which served as an inspiration for Shakespeare's setting: Sylvester Jourdain's "A Discovery of the Bermudas", William Strachey's account of the same incident, and Baron Montaigne's essay on cannibals.(less)

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May 01, 2010

Chris rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: shakespeare, plays-scripts, italy, fairy, british-ren-lit

The Tempest is not one of my favorite Shakespearean plays. It’s lovely, but it has always been like a weird form of cotton candy, almost like cotton candy on acid. This could be because my first encounter with the play was via part of the movie Prospero’s Books, where I couldn’t get pass the boy peeing into the pool. It could be my reaction to Tad Williams’ Caliban’s Hour. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t really make my top ten.

Like Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest takes place over a...moreThe Tempest is not one of my favorite Shakespearean plays. It’s lovely, but it has always been like a weird form of cotton candy, almost like cotton candy on acid. This could be because my first encounter with the play was via part of the movie Prospero’s Books, where I couldn’t get pass the boy peeing into the pool. It could be my reaction to Tad Williams’ Caliban’s Hour. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t really make my top ten.

Like Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest takes place over a short span of days, almost a long weekend. Unlike Romeo it is a happy idea, though today’s reader/viewer is confronted by two beings that just don’t sit entirely right to our modern eyes and ears.

The first, of course, is Prospero. Now, I have to admit, I sort like the guy. More on that later. Prospero is naturally upset because his brother stole Milan from him, even though it doesn’t seem like Prospero did much governing. In fact, it just looks like Prospero used the money to build up his library and let his brother do the hard work of governing. (Kinda reminds you of Lear, don’t it?) Now, this doesn’t excuse Antonio kicking old brother out and throwing him and his niece into the big wide sea. Prospero is also a wizard, so we have to raise an eye brow. Maybe he is a nod to Dr. Dee. Additionally, there is Prospero’s treatment of Caliban, who himself is the second character that just doesn’t sit right.

Prospero apparently wrestled control of the paltry island away from Caliban, who had lived there since the death of his mother, who perhaps left the isle to Caliban. Caliban is the suppose to be a “noble savage” type or a showcase of the Elizabethan view of the Native American (First People). I’ve never been entirely convinced of this. Caliban doesn’t seem very noble. In fact, he seems, well, almost cruel. It is true that Prospero treats him as an unworthy slave. Caliban goes from ruling the island to collecting the firewood. If this is true, then we can’t really blame Caliban for cursing Prospero.

Yet, this is only Caliban’s side of the story. Prospero tells us that he treated Caliban as an equal until the point where Caliban tried to rape Miranda. More modern authors have taken this line and used to redeem Caliban, making Miranda into a liar and slut, though the textual story of the play doesn’t bear this out. Miranda herself backs her father and tells us that she never sighed for a man until she saw Ferdinand. Furthermore, when Caliban betrays Prospero, he willingly sets up Miranda to be raped. Caliban does not see Miranda as a person; he sees her as a womb (and at this point, he knows it to be wrong). He may be a savage, but he is not the noble savage. If Shakespeare is using the idea of the noble savage; he is, as always, twisting it as well as commenting on the British relationship to it (Caliban’s lines at the end seem to suggest this). It is possible to feel pity for Caliban, but there is something about him that is unlikable to me. Maybe that is the point, how can a savage be noble is the savage knows nothing about society?

In fairness to Prospero, he keeps his word. He frees Ariel at the end of the play. True, it is the very end of the play, but Prospero, despite the wondrous aid that Ariel could give him, allows the spirit his freedom, keeps his promise. He also treats Ariel as something more than a slave. Furthermore, Prospero does seem like a caring father, despite the fact that he calls his daughter wench. He tests Ferdinand, simply to make sure that the prince is worthy of his daughter, to make sure that prince will value his daughter. It also seems that he has taught his daughter, and while it is unlikely that he has taught her magic, it does seem to be implied that he has taught her more than other young ladies would learn. In the canon of Shakespearean fathers, Prospero doesn’t look that bad.

The Tempest is a sweet play. There is a wonderful de facto marriage masque, there is Ariel (anyone else see Alan Cumming in the part?), there is the magic, there is the wonderful courtly love of Ferdinand and Miranda; yet there is that weird lack of substance to the play.

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Mar 23, 2010

Bruce rated it

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Is Prospero a Faust-like figure, an alchemist? More a magician by necessity. He is both skilled and arrogant, not suffering fools gladly. Yet he is fundamentally good-hearted, even initially towards Caliban whom he treated well until the latter made advances toward Miranda. An apparently omniscient figure, he orchestrates events with godlike omnipotence, assisted by his charming spirit, Ariel. His benignity even in revenge is demonstrated by his saving all the people on the sinking ship, al...more

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Mar 21, 2010

John rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: readers who long for a reawakening, in every sense

Recommended to John by: Mom, maybe?

Shelves: avatars-gods-energy-sources

For too long I've been ducking the challenge of saying something useful about Shakespeare, here on GR. Okay: THE TEMPEST, & never mind that the play may not be his absolute best. Some dramaturgical Supreme Court might rule that this late, dark comedy lacks the relentlessness & invention of HAMLET, the gloom & outrage of LEAR, the blood & oratory of MACBETH. Yes, but TEMPEST haunts me these days. Prospero haunts me, in other words; the drama's all him, his ferocity, his affections, his rejectio...moreFor too long I've been ducking the challenge of saying something useful about Shakespeare, here on GR. Okay: THE TEMPEST, & never mind that the play may not be his absolute best. Some dramaturgical Supreme Court might rule that this late, dark comedy lacks the relentlessness & invention of HAMLET, the gloom & outrage of LEAR, the blood & oratory of MACBETH. Yes, but TEMPEST haunts me these days. Prospero haunts me, in other words; the drama's all him, his ferocity, his affections, his rejection of supernatural power in order to our own aches, pains & mundanities. This magic man is Shakespeare's surrogate, to be sure, an aging spell-caster who admits fatigue. He's determined to "drown his book." Around that central wizard, everyone else feels a bit like those figures he describes in one of the two or three oratorical moments that jut up from the drama like Himalayas -- "these our actors... all spirits/ ...melted into air, into thin air...." Pospero's daughter Miranda & her marooned crush Ferdinand are still children. For those two, the very point of the play-long bewitchment is their release to adult complexity. As for the objects of Prospero's revenge, Alonso & the rest of the usurpers, they come across as befuddled bastards, though the would-be regicides Sebastian & Antonio provide a pitch-black final luster to this playwright's long strand of wicked pearls. Only the sprite Ariel & the slave Caliban achieve true crankiness & serendipity, a liveliness that leaks through the wizard's powerful grip. Nonetheless the way the whole comes together achieves -- why resist the pun, if it works? -- enchantment. The revenge tale & the redemption song both keep spilling into either slapstick material (esp. Trinculo & his "strange bedfellows") or the growling surprises out of Caliban, or the dance moves of Ariel, whipping out a lariat to get his couples in step. THE TEMPEST plays as a supremely rigged & balanced mechanism, right down to how it constrains the speechifying -- the rhetoric is allowed no more than those two or three high points, each at a key juncture -- yet at the same time it's all creaks & freaks & tumbling ass-over-teakettle. This farewell to the stage & its magic foregoes gloom for adventure. One thinks of an old acidhead who, in his final hours, ingests a powerful final dose in order to meet his Maker at the peak of his high. We vanish into thin air, but in a swirl of wind & thunder & lightning in party colors. (less)

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Aug 11, 2009

Keegan rated it

· review of another edition

Usurpation in Every Aspect
On this read, I realized just how rife this play is with usurpation. Antonio usurped Prospero, Prospero usurped Sycorax and Caliban, Sycorax and Caliban usurped Ariel, Caliban and Stephano are attempting to usurp Prospero, Sebastian is attempting to usurp Alonso, and Gonzolo summons the memory of Aeneas on the island, who usurped Turnus and the Native Italians to found Rome. Such is life, this untangle-able knot of usurpation. But that is not the only part of life...more

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Jul 06, 2009

Corinne rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: the-nook-book-club

Fuss about it all you want, I agree that he's not easy to understand, but the guy WAS a genius. I've been reading one play per year (about all I can handle :) for 4 years now - and while The Tempest is not my favorite of the ones I've read, it's still full of the vivid language and intricate ideas that I've come to expect - a real commentary on the human condition.

What makes this one a bit different is that our main character, Prospero the unfairly de-throned former duke of Milan, is...more

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Dec 24, 2010

Marija rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics, medieval-renaissance, drama

“We are such stuff as dreams are made of.” The Tempest makes quite an interesting fantasy, what with the interactions among humans, spirits, demons and gods. It’s also well balanced in terms of romance, coups, death plots and revenge, all weaved together with humor and amusement. Though it all seems incongruous, it does make sense and is quite entertaining.

In terms of language, I think this play is one of the bawdiest I’ve read. Those first few speeches are full of coarse and unsavory ...more

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Jul 16, 2009

Jake rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: drama

I wanted to love The Tempest. I so wanted to love it. And for the first three acts I did. There are some great parallels between different characters making similar choices in slightly different contexts. There is fun feuding between master and servant. There’s also a brainless love story, but those can be fun and sexy.
Sadly, the dramatic energy flattens out from there on. Act Four is your basic house party sequence (albeit with Spirits). And Act Five is where Shakespeare has everyone com...more

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Nov 26, 2011

Tiger Holland (All-Consuming Books) rated it

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Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, but due to a long-ago plot by his brother Antonio, he's been kicked out of his homeland and is now living on a primitive island in the middle of nowhere. He and his 15-year-old daughter Miranda have been on this island for over a decade, and Prospero decides that it's time to bring his daughter back to her rightful place in the world. Fortunately, he has managed to use magic to shipwreck a bunch of important people on his island (The King of Naples, his so...moreProspero is the rightful Duke of Milan, but due to a long-ago plot by his brother Antonio, he's been kicked out of his homeland and is now living on a primitive island in the middle of nowhere. He and his 15-year-old daughter Miranda have been on this island for over a decade, and Prospero decides that it's time to bring his daughter back to her rightful place in the world. Fortunately, he has managed to use magic to shipwreck a bunch of important people on his island (The King of Naples, his son Prince Ferdinand, Prospero's own backstabbing brother Antonio), and Prospero manipulates events until he creates a happy ending for himself and his daughter.

Side character note: Miranda's a character who is mostly just a super-pure sweetie without a lot of depth. She sees this crazy storm and immediately goes to her dad to express pity for the people who might have been shipwrecked. She also becomes a sympathetic and devoted audience member when her father decides to tell her about her own history. Miranda's always pitying and sympathizing and generally being likable, but her character seems to lack any fire. Her interaction with Ferdinand is of the adorable love-at-first-sight variety, and it's only Prospero's intervention that keeps them from getting together immediately. Even with Prospero's efforts, he's only able to delay Ferdinand's proposal of marriage until Act III, so Miranda definitely gets a Mary Sue sort of romance.

Note on The Divine Right of Kings: Prospero isn't a king, but his claim to authority sounds like a variation on the old theory of the divine right of kings--a monarch ruled because of God's will, and if you ever deposed the rightful, lawful king, terrible things would happen to you because you had upset the natural order. When I hear Prospero telling his backstory of how his brother Antonio overthrew him, it actually sounds like Prospero thinks he should have remained duke only because of his providential right to rule. Prospero says that he was a man of study, devoted to the "liberal arts", and that he let his brother handle all the business of governing Milan. It doesn't even sound like Prospero was ruling his dukedom at all--every difficult part of the office was performed by his brother. So yes, Antonio is still a bad guy, and the King of Naples is bad for conspiring with him, but Prospero seems to be lacking moral character, because he didn't tend to his responsibilities. On the island, however, his ruling style changes a bit and he kind of over-rules, which leads me to my next point...

Note on Colonialism: There are some readings of The Tempest that emphasize Prospero's colonizing of the island, and I can really see these "conqueror" themes once I look for them. He has a spirit named Ariel who serves him, and though Prospero did save Ariel from a painful imprisonment inside a tree, he uses this rescue as a means to make Ariel serve him. In their first scene together, Prospero praises Ariel for doing all the servant-work assigned to him, then switches to berating and emotionally manipulating Ariel by bringing up his painful past. And if Prospero is a less monstrous master to Ariel than Sycorax was, is that really saying so much? He's still a "master", dictating Ariel's life and utilizing his skills as if he were just another resource. Prospero treats his slave Caliban the son of Sycorax even worse than Ariel, though some would argue that Caliban deserves it because he's a would-be rapist. But it seems that any way you look at it, Prospero ends up doing a lot of lording and commanding and asserting his own innate superiority--he even faux-enslaves Ferdinand. I find that distasteful to read, though I'm sure Prospero seemed more sympathetic to the audiences of his day.

The Tempest ignites my curiosity and I love its language, though its far from my favorite Shakespearean play. I think my opinion of it would be improved by watching a live performance or a film version, since my only current experience with film adaptations of The Tempest was the time I watched the "Shakespaw" episode of Wishbone in 6th grade. Since it featured a Jack Russell terrier playing Ariel, it's safe to say that it wasn't the most faithful rendition. (less)

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Apr 26, 2010

Steve rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: shakespeare, plays

Amazing comedy. I saw a version of this at the Brooklyn Academy of Music a few months ago and it was great.

I had thought this was a weird and unattractive play when I first encountered it in college, but it contains some of the best poetry in English or any language:

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-capp'...more

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Jan 13, 2012

Carol rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics, play, read-in-2012

I don’t think I’ve read The Tempest by William Shakespeare before, but in my head it was about a magician on an island. Briefly, the play is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, and his daughter Miranda were ship-wrecked years before. Prospero plots to restore himself to his rightful place. He is a magician and has control over the spirits of the island, including his main helper, Ariel. The island sole other inhabitant who was there before Prospero is Caliban, a mon...moreI don’t think I’ve read The Tempest by William Shakespeare before, but in my head it was about a magician on an island. Briefly, the play is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, and his daughter Miranda were ship-wrecked years before. Prospero plots to restore himself to his rightful place. He is a magician and has control over the spirits of the island, including his main helper, Ariel. The island sole other inhabitant who was there before Prospero is Caliban, a monstrous person who acts as a slave to Prospero, but speaks beautifully. A storm brings to the island Prospero’s usurping brother Antonio and the complicit Alonso, King of Naples. Prospero can finally gain his revenge, but chooses forgiveness instead. In the end, Prospero will to return to his place in Milan, Miranda will marry Alonso’s son, Ferdinand, and Ariel is freed. I’m not sure if Caliban will be left on the island on his own or will go to Italy with Prospero.

I enjoyed reading this play, but I am definitely glad I chose an annotated version. I’m sure I got more out of it reading the introduction first and then having the definitions of the words I was unfamiliar with. Like any play, though, I’m sure actually seeing it performed would have been preferable, but that’s not always possible.

Prospero was an interesting character, almost all-powerful on the island, even the water obeyed his commands. But in the end he chooses forgiveness over revenge and, before departing for Milan, renounces his magic, breaking his magic staff and buries his book. It’s like he’s going to return to reality from this enchanted island. I like him, even though he could be nasty to Caliban, but even that I understand. After all, Caliban attempted to rape Miranda at some point before this story takes place. I know that some critics have equated Prospero’s magic with the theater, and his leaving it behind equalling Shakespeare saying farewell to the stage, as this is one of his last plays, if not the final one.

This play has a bit of everything, music, magic, romance, even a bit of comedy. And a happy ending to top it all off.(less)

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About William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. Hi...moreWilliam Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway, who bore him three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.

Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. Next he wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest examples in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime, and in 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's.

Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the nineteenth century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians hero-worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry". In the twentieth century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are consistently performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.
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Quotes from The Tempest

“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” — 851 people liked it

“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-capp'd 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.” — 182 people liked it

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