Jan 1, 2010

The Tempest | Did Shakespeare intend The Tempest to be his last play?

Some scholars have identified Shakespeare with Prospero and have interpreted the epilogue that Prospero speaks at the end of The Tempest as the playwright's farewell speech to the theater. Whether Shakespeare intended this play to be his last contribution to the London stage is highly problematical. We know that he wrote the bulk of the play in 1610 or 1611, and that it was probably first performed in early November, 1611. It is widely believed that by the timing of the play's first staging, Shakespeare had left London for "retirement" in Stratford. In comparison with his other...