Shakespeare’s farewell to the stage is a play of enduring enchantment and one of the richest treasures to be found in drama. Marooned on an isle somewhere in the New World, a great but embittered magician prepares to take vengeance on those who have wronged him, only to learn the nature of compassion and forgiveness. Inhabited by a host of characters—the wise Prospero, his daughter, the innocent Miranda, and her first love, Ferdinand; Ariel, the spirit of the air, and the gross earth monster, Caliban; the drunkard vaudeville clowns, Stephano and Trinculo, among others—The Tempest is the culmination of Shakespeare’s unequalled creative powers.
SYNOPSIS
For twelve years before the play begins, the sorcerer Prospero and his daughter Miranda have been marooned on a desert island. Once Duke of Milan, Prospero had allowed his obsession with necromancy to dominate his life, so that his treacherous brother Antonio, with the aid of Alonso, King of Naples, had usurped his title and set him and Miranda adrift in a boat. Prospero’s faithful counselor Gonzalo had secretly provided him with books on magic and food. Now they live on the island attended by spirits under Prospero’s control; the only other inhabitant of the island is Caliban, a savage, deformed creature. As the play begins, a ship bearing Prospero’s old enemies passes the island, and, raising a tempest, he wrecks the vessel. Among the shipwrecked are Antonio, Gonzalo, Alonso with his son Ferdinand, and Alonso’s brother Sebastian, who all land safely but are scattered over the island. Ferdinand and Miranda fall in love. Antonio plots with Sebastian to murder Alonso and Gonzalo. Meanwhile, the recalcitrant Caliban plots with Alonso’s jester, Trinculo, and butler, Stephano, to murder Prospero and take control of the island. The spirit Ariel, Prospero’s servant, discovers both plots and reveals them to his master. After the celebrations for the betrothal of Ferdinand and Miranda, a masque performed by spirits and nymphs, Caliban and his plotters are punished by spirits. Then Prospero, summoning the nobles through Ariel’s magical music, reveals his identity, forces Antonio to restore his dukedom, and foils the plot against Alonso, who is overjoyed to find his son alive and delighted by Miranda. Renouncing his occult powers, Prospero gives a final command to Ariel to ensure a calm voyage for the travelers’ return home.
