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Which act of The Tempest contains the following quote, and under what circumstances is it spoken?

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.

Quick answer:

Prospero speaks these lines in act 5, scene 1 of The Tempest. This is the last scene of the play. Prospero tells Ariel he is ready to forgive and release the prisoners if they are penitent. He instructs Ariel to free the men so he can break the spell and return them to their senses. In this soliloquy, Prospero draws a magic circle and addresses magical beings. He has used magic throughout the play, but now he says he will give it up forever. Prospero gestures to his staff and says he will break it once he is done with his last act of magic. He will bury it in the ground and throw his book into the sea.

Expert Answers

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Prospero speaks these lines in act 5, scene 1 of The Tempest. This is the last scene of the play.

Prospero tells Ariel he is ready to forgive and release the prisoners if they are penitent. He instructs Ariel to free the men so he can break the spell and return them to their senses.

In this soliloquy, Prospero draws a magic circle and addresses magical beings. He has used magic throughout the play, but now he says he will give it up forever. Prospero gestures to his staff and says he will break it once he is done with his last act of magic. He will bury it in the ground and throw his book into the sea.

The heavenly music soothes the prisoners as the spell wears off. By saying "which even now I do," he acknowledges that he is doing magic as he speaks; the...

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final act is to end it all. Perhaps breaking the staff and throwing away the book are to prevent him from being tempted to return to magic.

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The lines that you cite here come from Shakespeare's play The Tempest.  The person who speaks these lines is the character Prospero.  He speaks these lines in Act V, Scene 1.

What is going on at this point in the play is that Prospero is promising to quit using magic.  He has been using magic during the whole play (and ever since he's been on the island) to make various people do what he wants.  Now, in these lines, he is saying that he will get rid of his book and no longer do any magic.

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