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The Tempest
Prospero tells Miranda about his past because Miranda witnesses the shipwreck, from act 1, scene 1, in the storm and realizes it was Prospero's magic that caused it. She begs him to stop. If by...
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The Tempest
Initially, Prospero prizes his books above just about everything else. Indeed, his love of books and study helps to explain why he was deposed as Duke of Milan. He was so engrossed in his studies...
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The Tempest
Prospero uses his magic to control both Ariel and Caliban, albeit in different ways. In that sense his attitude towards them is inherently exploitative. Ariel and Caliban exist to serve him, and...
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The Tempest
Alonso, the King of Naples, is feeling sad because he has lost his daughter Claribel to marriage, and now, shipwrecked on a deserted island, he believes his son, Ferdinand, is also dead. A loving...
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The Tempest
In The Tempest, act 3 is called the climax because it is the point at which Prospero's enemies finally come under his power. Every action that Prospero has instigated up to this point has been for...
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The Tempest
When Miranda meets Ferdinand for the first time, it's love at first sight. Miranda has never seen such a handsome, dashing man before. But then again she's never clapped eyes on any man other than...
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The Tempest
In The Tempest, act 2 is called the rising action because it builds up to the climax in act 3, scene 3 (where Antonio, Alonso, and Sebastian are attending Ariel's banquet). Act 2 includes...
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The Tempest
The third act of Shakespeare's The Tempest can be summarized in terms of slyness and deception, which point to the overall theme of secrecy. Sly Prospero observes without being observed, learning...
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The Tempest
In literature (and in theatre, in this case), "exposition" refers to the first part of the work that introduces the primary characters, the setting, and, in some cases, the main conflict. Why is...
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The Tempest
Ariel is Prospero's spirit servant. Ariel became Prospero's slave thanks to Sycorax, a witch (and Caliban's mother) who was on the island before Prospero. Sycorax trapped Ariel in a tree because he...
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The Tempest
Sycorax was a powerful, fearsome witch, the mother of Caliban. We never actually see "the blue-eyed hag" at any point during The Tempest; she dies several years before the main action takes place....
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The Tempest
In act 3, scene 2, Caliban tells Stephano about having had the island stolen from him by Prospero. Because Stephano's friend, Trinculo, happens to be there, he also hears the story. Trinculo does...
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The Tempest
The title of The Tempest has both literal and metaphorical significance. Literally, it refers to the storm, or tempest, whipped up by Prospero's magic to shipwreck the King of Naples and his crew....
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The Tempest
Gonzalo is making a speech about what kind of world we'd have if he were in charge. It's a utopian vision; there'd be no war, riches, poverty, or any kind of laws. Humankind would be innocent and...
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The Tempest
Produced at a time when the masque was in style and extremely popular, Shakespeare's Tempest has many of the elements of a masque, and in 1611 it was performed as such. However, whereas a masque...
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The Tempest
One of the ways that Shakespeare's The Tempest is different from his other major works is that it seems to deal most directly with the concept of colonialism. Many scholars, for instance, have seen...
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The Tempest
In Aristotle’s On the Art of Poetry, he referred to the “three unities” in drama: unity of place, unity of action, and unity of time. He said the plot should occur in a single place, the...
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The Tempest
Prospero used magic to bring the mariners to the island. To explain that in a bit more detail, Shakespeare's play begins with a ship facing a storm, the "tempest" that gives the play its title. The...
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The Tempest
Act 1, Scene 2 of The Tempest opens with Miranda commenting on the storm and the shipwreck she has just witnessed. She is greatly distressed by having seen the ship sink. Her compassion is fully...
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The Tempest
In Shakespeare's The Tempest, Miranda is the daughter of Prospero, the former Duke of Milan living in exile on a remote island. Since Miranda has grown up in relative isolation (her chief...
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The Tempest
Beginning in the late 1800s, critics saw elements of Shakespeare in the character of Prospero, the sorcerer in the Tempest. Even Coleridge, in his essay on the play, mentioned this connection....
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The Tempest
Caliban and Prospero see their rancorous relationship differently. Their first conversation reveals how they both view themselves as victims of one another. Prospero claims Caliban’s father was...
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The Tempest
Miranda is a very open and loving person. She seems to be caring and empathetic toward everyone immediately. She also has not met many people, and as soon as she meets people she is very excited....
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The Tempest
Prospero tells Miranda that when he was expelled from his kingdom, Gonzalo made sure that he was provided with clothes and food, and also gave him his books. Knowing I loved my books, he furnish'd...
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The Tempest
The tension in the opening scenes is created by the shipwreck, Prospero’s story, and the conflict with Caliban. Starting a play with a shipwreck is always a good way to get the audience’s...
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The Tempest
In Shakespeare’s tragicomedy The Tempest, Prospero is the patriarch on a primitive yet magical island. Once the Duke of Milan, Prospero was wrongfully betrayed and exiled. It seems that Prospero...
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The Tempest
Prospero and his daughter Miranda have been trapped on an island together for almost her entire life. He is the only man, or even person, she can remember. Only the spirit Ariel and the creature...
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The Tempest
The Tempest is driven by Prospero’s desire to avenge his betrayal. He says that he loved his brother Antonio more than anyone in the world other than himself. Prospero, “being transported / And...
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The Tempest
In a sense, the theme of discovery is at the heart of Shakespeare's The Tempest. On the one hand, you have the shipwrecked crew stranded by the storm at the beginning of the play. Much of the rest...
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The Tempest
Prospero’s brother Antonio conspired with Alonso to steal his position from him. Prospero is a wizard or magic-user who is stranded on a deserted island with his daughter, Miranda. He used to...
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The Tempest
When answering this question, consider Ferdinand’s predicament. He just endured a shipwreck, and he thinks he is alone on the island. Describe his feelings about the shipwreck and losing his...
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The Tempest
To write this diary entry, you should put yourself in the mindset of Caliban and try to think like he does. The scene you are being asked to write about actually occurs before the action of the...
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The Tempest
Freedom and forgiveness are both important themes in the play. The theme of freedom is best exemplified through the characters of Ariel and Caliban. Both characters are essentially enslaved by...
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The Tempest
Prospero teaches Caliban basic skills and then continually threatens him. Caliban believes the island is his by right, not Propsero’s. Prospero has magic, though, and can make the inhabitants of...
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The Tempest
Ferdinand appears in several scenes and is a big part of the story. He is also definitely not a dynamic or a round character in the way that, say, Prospero is. A dynamic character is a character...
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A Tempest
The key strategic revision the play makes is in telling the story of The Tempest from the point of view of Ariel and Caliban, recast as a mulatto slave and a black slave. If Shakespeare's play...
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The Tempest
Prospero listens to Miranda and Ferdinand so he can tell if they are falling in love. Prospero was betrayed by his brother, Antonio, and Ferdinand’s father, Alonso. They took his kingdom from...
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The Tempest
The full quote is: "Go charge my goblins that they grind their jointsWith dry convulsions, shorten up their sinewsWith agèd cramps, and more pinch-spotted make themThan pard or cat o' mountain"...
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The Tempest
The masque highlights one of the themes of the play, that it is important to keep oaths. The Tempest is a play about honor and loyalty. Prospero tries to lead Ferdinand to fall in love with his...
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The Tempest
One of the most critically studied components of Shakespeare's The Tempest is the relationship between Caliban and Prospero. In general, Caliban's manner toward Prospero is hostile, and his actions...
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The Tempest
Caliban is portrayed sympathetically when complaining to Prospero. When Prospero landed on the island, he enslaved Caliban through magic. Although Prospero treats Caliban with nothing but...
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The Tempest
According to Caliban himself in Act I, Scene 2, he is the only inhabitant of the island that Prospero and Miranda land on: This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother, Which thou takest from me. When...
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The Tempest
In The Tempest by William Shakespeare, we encounter Prospero living on an island with his daughter Miranda and two quasi-supernatural creatures, Caliban and Ariel. Prospero explains that he is...
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The Tempest
Prospero begins his magical vengeance by making his servant Ariel create a storm which shipwrecks select passengers. Ariel splits up the passengers, making King Alonso believe his son Ferdinand is...
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The Tempest
Caliban believes that Prospero treats him badly and stole his island from him. When Prospero came to the island, Caliban was already there. Prospero made him into his servant, or slave, and took...
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The Tempest
It is difficult to determine with certainty whether Ferdinand and Miranda will be weak leaders, but they will likely be kind and just rulers. Prospero partially controls Miranda, a teenage girl and...
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The Tempest
Ariel’s message as the harpy reminds the men of their part in taking Prospero’s kingdom from him. Ariel keeps the men in place during his speech through magic, so the literal answer is that...
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The Tempest
Well, the short answer is that Elizabethans never saw “The Tempest”. Elizabeth had died long before the play was written, and James I was the king at the time, so the English of the day are now...
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The Tempest
At first it seems that Prospero treats Ariel and Caliban very differently; he's devoted to Ariel and seems to respect him and partners with him to concoct his various schemes and plans throughout...
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The Tempest
The Tempest is one of Shakespeare's most well-loved but also most unusual plays. Although classified in the First Folio as a comedy, it does not have the light hearted tone or the humorous...
