The Tempest

This article is about the Shakespeare play. For other uses, seeTempest (disambiguation).

The Tempestis aplaybyWilliam Shakespeare,probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, the rest of the story is set on a remote island, whereProspero,a wizard, lives with his daughterMiranda,and his two servants:Caliban,a savage monster figure, andAriel,an airy spirit. The play contains music and songs that evoke the spirit of enchantment on the island. It explores many themes, includingmagic,betrayal, revenge, and family. In Act IV, a weddingmasqueserves as aplay-within-a-play,and contributes spectacle, allegory, and elevated language.

The Tempest

Title page of the part in theFirst Folio
Editors	Edward BlountandIsaac Jaggard
Author	William Shakespeare
Language	English
Genre	Shakespearean comedy Tragicomedy
Publication place	England

AlthoughThe Tempestis listed in theFirst Folioas the first of Shakespeare's comedies, it deals with both tragic and comic themes, and modern criticism has created a category ofromance for this and others of Shakespeare's late plays.The Tempesthas been put to varied interpretations, from thosethat see it as a fable of art and creation, with Prospero representing Shakespeare, and Prospero's renunciation of magic signaling Shakespeare's farewell to the stage, to interpretationsthat consider it an allegory of Europeans colonizing foreign lands.

Characters

• Prospero– the rightful Duke of Milan
• Miranda– daughter to Prospero
• Ariel– a spirit in service to Prospero
• Caliban– an enslaved servant of Prospero
• Alonso – King of Naples
• Sebastian – Alonso's brother
• Antonio – Prospero's brother, the usurping Duke of Milan
• Ferdinand– Alonso's son
• Gonzalo– an honest old councillor
• Adrian – a lord serving under Alonso
• Francisco – a lord serving under Alonso
• Trinculo – the King's jester
• Stephano– the King's drunken butler
• Juno– Roman goddess of marriage
• Ceres– Roman goddess ofagriculture
• Iris– Greek goddess of the rainbow and messenger of the gods
• Master – master of the ship
• Mariners
• Boatswain – servant of the master

Plot

The shipwreck in Act I, Scene 1, in a 1797 engraving byBenjamin Smithafter a painting byGeorge Romney

Act I

Twelve years before the action of the play,Prospero,formerly Duke ofMilanand a gifted sorcerer, had been usurped by his treacherous brother Antonio with the aid of Alonso, King ofNaples.Escaping by boat with his infant daughterMiranda,Prospero flees to a remote island where he has been living ever since, using his magic to force the island's only inhabitant,Caliban,to protect him and Miranda. He also frees the spiritArieland binds them into servitude.

When a ship carrying his brother Antonio passes nearby, Prospero conjures up a storm with help from Ariel and the ship is destroyed. Antonio is shipwrecked, along with Alonso, Ferdinand (Alonso's son and heir to the throne), Sebastian (Alonso's brother), Gonzalo (Prospero's trustworthy minister), Adrian, and other court members.

Acts II and III

Prospero and Miranda,byWilliam Maw Egley,c. 1850

Prospero enacts a sophisticated plan to take revenge on his usurpers and regain his dukedom. Using magic, he separates the shipwreck survivors into groups on the island:

• Ferdinand, who is rescued by Prospero and Miranda and given shelter. Prospero successfully manipulates the youth into a romance with Miranda;
• Trinculo, the king's jester, andStephano,the king's drunkenmajordomo,who encounter Caliban. Recognizing his miserable state, the three stage an unsuccessful "rebellion" against Prospero. Their actions provide the "comic relief" of the play.
• Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, and two attendant lords (Adrian and Francisco). Antonio and Sebastian conspire to kill Alonso and Gonzalo so Sebastian can become King; Prospero and Ariel thwart the conspiracy. Later, Ariel takes the form of aharpyand torments Antonio, Alonso, and Sebastian, causing them to flee in guilt for their crimes against Prospero and each other.
• The ship's captain andboatswain,along with the other surviving sailors, are placed into a magical sleep until the final act.

Act IV

Prospero intends that Miranda, now aged 15, will marry Ferdinand, and he instructs Ariel to bring some other spirits and produce amasque.The masque will feature classical goddesses,Juno,Ceres,andIris,and will bless and celebrate the betrothal. The masque will also instruct the young couple on marriage, and on the value of chastity until then.

The masque is suddenly interrupted when Prospero realises he had forgotten the plot against his life. Once Ferdinand and Miranda are gone, Prospero orders Ariel to deal with the nobles' plot. Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano are then chased off into the swamps by goblins in the shape of hounds.

Act V and Epilogue

Prospero vows that once he achieves his goals, he will set Ariel free, and abandon his magic, saying:

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

Ariel brings on Alonso, Antonio, and Sebastian. Prospero forgives all three. Prospero's former title, Duke of Milan, is restored. Ariel fetches the sailors from the ship, and then Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano. Caliban, seemingly filled with regret, promises to be good. Stephano and Trinculo are ridiculed and sent away in shame by Prospero. Before the reunited group (all the noble characters plus Miranda and Prospero) leave the island, Ariel is instructed to provide good weather to guide the king's ship back to the royal fleet and then to Naples, where Ferdinand and Miranda will be married. After this, Ariel is set free.

In an epilogue, Prospero requests that the audience set him free — with their applause.

The masque

The Tempestbegins with the spectacle of a storm-tossed ship at sea, and later there is a second spectacle—the masque. A masque in Renaissance England was a festive courtly entertainment that offered music, dance, elaborate sets, costumes, and drama. Often a masque would begin with an "anti-masque", that showed a disordered scene ofsatyrs,for example, singing and dancing wildly. The anti-masque would then be dramatically dispersed by the spectacular arrival of the masque proper in a demonstration of chaos and vice being swept away by glorious civilisation. In Shakespeare's play, the storm in scene one functions as the anti-masque for the masque proper in act four.

The masque inThe Tempestis not an actual masque; rather, it is an analogous scene intended to mimic and evoke a masque, while serving the narrative of the drama that contains it. The masque is a culmination of the primary action inThe Tempest:Prospero's intention to not only seek revenge on his usurpers, but to regain his rightful position as Duke of Milan. Most important to his plot to regain his power and position is to marry Miranda to Ferdinand, heir to the King of Naples. This marriage will secure Prospero's position by securing his legacy. The chastity of the bride is considered essential and greatly valued in royal lineages. This is true not only in Prospero's plot, but also notably in the court of the virgin queen, Elizabeth.Sir Walter Raleighhad in fact named one of the new world colonies "Virginia" after his monarch's chastity. It was also understood by James, king whenThe Tempestwas first produced, as he arranged political marriages for his grandchildren. What could possibly go wrong with Prospero's plans for his daughter is nature: the fact that Miranda is a young woman who has just arrived at a time in her life when natural attractions among young people become powerful. One threat is the 24-year-old Caliban, who has spoken of his desire to rape Miranda, and "people this isle with Calibans",and who has also offered Miranda's body to a drunken Stephano.Another threat is represented by the young couple themselves, who might succumb to each other prematurely. Prospero says:

Look though be true. Do not give dalliance
Too much the rein. The strongest oaths are straw
To th'fire i'th'blood. Be more abstemious
Or else good night your vow!

Prospero, keenly aware of all this, feels the need to teach Miranda—an intention he first stated in act one.The need to teach Miranda is what inspires Prospero in act four to create the masque,and the "value of chastity" is a primary lesson being taught by the masque along with having a happy marriage.

Date and sources

A depiction fromNicholas Rowe's1709 edition of Shakespeare's plays of the stage direction of the opening of the 1674 adaptation

Date

It is not known for certain exactly whenThe Tempestwas written, but evidence supports the idea that it was probably composed sometime between late 1610 to mid-1611. It is considered one of the last plays that Shakespeare wrote alone.Evidence supports composition perhaps occurring before, after, or at the same time asThe Winter's Tale.Edward BlountenteredThe Tempestinto theStationers' Registeron 8 November 1623. It was one of 16 Shakespeare plays that Blount registered on that date.

Contemporary sources

Silvester Jourdain'sA Discovery of the Barmvdas

There is no obvious singleoriginfor the plot ofThe Tempest;it appears to have been created with several sources contributing, chiefly William Strachey's "Letter to an Excellent Lady".Since source scholarship began in the eighteenth century, researchers have suggested passages from "Naufragium" ( "The Shipwreck" ), one of the colloquies inErasmus'sColloquia Familiaria(1518),andRichard Eden's 1555 translation ofPeter Martyr'sDe orbo novo(1530).

William Strachey'sA True Reportory of the Wracke and Redemption of Sir Thomas Gates, Knight,an eyewitness report of the real-life shipwreck of theSea Venturein 1609 on the island ofBermudawhile sailing towardVirginia,may be considered a primary source for the opening scene, as well as a few other references in the play to conspiracies and retributions.Although not published until 1625, Strachey's report was first recounted in his "Letter to an Excellent Lady", a private letter describing the incident and the earliest account of all; the letter was dated 15 July 1610, and it is thought that Shakespeare may have seen the original sometime during that year.E. K. Chambersidentified theTrue Reportoryas Shakespeare's "main authority" forThe Tempest,despite the fact that it was published in 1625.Regarding the influence of Strachey in the play,Kenneth Muirsays that although "[t]here is little doubt that Shakespeare had read... William Strachey'sTrue Reportory"and other accounts," [t]he extent of the verbal echoes of [the Bermuda] pamphlets has, I think, been exaggerated. There is hardly a shipwreck in history or fiction which does not mention splitting, in which the ship is not lightened of its cargo, in which the passengers do not give themselves up for lost, in which north winds are not sharp, and in which no one gets to shore by clinging to wreckage ", and goes on to say that" Strachey's account of the shipwreck is blended with memories ofSaint Paul's—in which too not a hair perished—and with Erasmus' colloquy. "

Shakespeare almost certainly read Strachey's account from the original source, according toCharles Mills Gayley.Gayley posits that Shakespeare had access to Strachey's original "Letter to an Excellent Lady", brought to England by Sir Thomas Gates the summer of 1610: "The letter was entrusted by this lady to certain members of the [Virginia Company] council, and one of them, probablySir Edwin Sandys,incorporated from it such portions as were fitting for the True Declaration issued to the public....The letter was always in the keeping of those vitally concerned untilPurchasgot hold of it [and published it fifteen years later]. That Shakespeare was allowed to read it and to use certain of its materials for a play, as with just discrimination and due discretion as he did, is illustrative of the closeness of his intimacy with the patriot leaders of the Virginia enterprise. "

The character of Stephano has been identified withStephen Hopkins,who later signed theMayflower Compact.

AnotherSea Venturesurvivor,Silvester Jourdain,published his account,A Discovery of The Barmudasdated 13 October 1610;Edmond Maloneargues for the 1610–11 date on the account by Jourdain and theVirginia Council of London'sA True Declaration of the Estate of the Colonie in Virginiadated 8 November 1610.

Michel de Montaigne'sessay "Of the Caniballes" is considered a source for Gonzalo's utopian speculations in Act II, scene 1, and possibly for other lines that refer to differences between cultures.

A poem entitledPimlyco; or, Runne Red-Capwas published as a pamphlet in 1609. It was written in praise of a tavern inHoxton.The poem includes extensive quotations of an earlier (1568) poem,The Tunning of Elynor Rymming,byJohn Skelton.The pamphlet contains a pastoral story of a voyage to an island. There is no evidence that Shakespeare read this pamphlet, was aware of it, or had used it. However, the poem may be useful as a source to researchers regarding how such themes and stories were being interpreted and told in London near to the timeThe Tempestwas written.

Other sources

The Tempestmay take its overall structure from traditional Italiancommedia dell'arte,which sometimes featured amagusand his daughter, their supernatural attendants, and a number of rustics. Thecommediaoften featured aclownknown asArlecchino(or his predecessor,Zanni) and his partnerBrighella,who bear a striking resemblance to Stephano and Trinculo; a lecherous Neapolitan hunchback who corresponds to Caliban; and the clever and beautiful Isabella, whose wealthy and manipulative father,Pantalone,constantly seeks a suitor for her, thus mirroring the relationship between Miranda and Prospero.

Gonzalo's description of his ideal society (2.1.148–157, 160–165) thematically and verbally echoesMontaigne'sessayOf the Canibales,translated into English in a version published byJohn Florioin 1603. Montaigne praises the society of theCaribbeannatives: "It is a nation... that hath no kinde of traffike, no knowledge of Letters, no intelligence of numbers, no name of magistrate, nor of politike superioritie; no use of service, of riches, or of poverty; no contracts, no successions, no dividences, no occupation but idle; no respect of kinred, but common, no apparrell but natural, no manuring of lands, no use of wine, corne, or mettle. The very words that import lying, falsehood, treason, dissimulation, covetousnes, envie, detraction, and pardon, were never heard of amongst them."

A source for Prospero's speech in act five, in which he bids farewell to magic (5.1.33–57) is an invocation by the sorceressMedeafound in Ovid's poemMetamorphoses.Medea calls out:

Ye airs and winds; ye elves of hills, of brooks, of woods alone,
Of standing lakes, and of the night, approach ye every one,
Through help of whom (the crooked banks much wondering at the thing)
I have compelled streams to run clean backward to their spring. (Ovid, 7.265–268)

Shakespeare's Prospero begins his invocation:

Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,
And ye that on the sands with printless foot
Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him
When he comes back... (5.1.33–36)

Text

The first page ofThe Tempest,printed in the First Folio of 1623

The Tempestfirst appeared in print in 1623 in the collection of 36 of Shakespeare's plays entitled,Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies; Published according to the True and Original Copies,which is known as theFirst Folio.The plays, includingThe Tempest,were gathered and edited byJohn HemingesandHenry Condell.

A handwritten manuscript ofThe Tempestwas prepared byRalph Crane,ascriveneremployed by the King's Men. (A scrivener is one who has a talent and is practiced at using a quill pen and ink to create legible manuscripts.) Crane probably copied from Shakespeare's rough draft, and based his style on Ben Jonson's Folio of 1616. Crane is thought to have neatened texts, edited the divisions of acts and scenes, and sometimes added his own improvements. He was fond of joining words with hyphens, and using elisions with apostrophes, for example by changing "with the king" to read: "w'th' King".The elaborate stage directions inThe Tempestmay have been due to Crane; they provide evidence regarding how the play was staged by the King's Company.

The entire First Folio project was delivered to the blind printer,William Jaggard,and printing began in 1622.The Tempestis the first play in the publication. It was proofread and printed with special care; it is the most well-printed and the cleanest text of the thirty-six plays. To do the work of setting the type in the printing press, three compositors were used forThe Tempest.In the 1960s, a landmark bibliographic study of the First Folio was accomplished byCharlton Hinman.Based on distinctive quirks in the printed words on the page, the study was able to individuate the compositors, and reveal that three compositors worked onThe Tempest,who are known as Compositor B, C, and F. Compositor B worked onThe Tempest's first page as well as six other pages. He was an experienced journeyman in Jaggard's printshop, who occasionally could be careless. He also was fond of dashes and colons, where modern editions use commas. In his role, he may have had a responsibility for the entire First Folio. The other two, Compositors C and F, worked full-time and were experienced printers.

At the time, spelling and punctuation was not standardized and will vary from page to page, because each compositor had their individual preferences and styles. There is evidence that the press run was stopped at least four times, which allowed proofreading and corrections. However, a page with an error would not be discarded, so pages late in any given press run would be the most accurate, and each of the final printed folios may vary in this regard. This is the common practice at the time. There is also an instance of a letter (a metalsortor a type) being damaged (possibly) during the course of a run and changing the meaning of a word: After the masque Ferdinand says,

Ferdinand's line as it appears in Shakespeare's First Folio published in 1623

Let me live here ever!
So rare a wondered father and a wise
Makes this place paradise! (4.1.122–124)

The word "wise" at the end of line 123 was printed with the traditional long "s" that resembles an "f". But in 1978 it was suggested that during the press run, a small piece of the crossbar on the type had broken off, and the word should be "wife". Modern editors have not come to an agreement—Oxford says "wife", Arden says "wise".

Themes and motifs

The Theatre

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.

Prospero,Act 4, Scene 1.

The Tempestis explicitly concerned with its own nature as a play, frequently drawing links between Prospero's art and theatrical illusion. The shipwreck was a spectacle that Ariel performed, while Antonio and Sebastian are cast in a troupe to act.Prospero may even refer to theGlobe Theatrewhen he describes the whole world as an illusion: "the great globe... shall dissolve... like this insubstantial pageant".Ariel frequently disguises himself as figures fromClassical mythology,for example anymph,aharpy,andCeres,acting as the latter in amasqueandanti-masquethat Prospero creates.

Thomas Campbellin 1838 was the first to consider that Prospero was meant to partially represent Shakespeare, but then abandoned that idea when he came to believe thatThe Tempestwas an early play.

As it was Shakespeare's last solo play,The Tempesthas often been seen as a valedictory for his career, specifically in Prospero's final speech in which he tells the audience "Let your indulgence set me free",asking to be released from the stage one last time before retiring.

Magic

Prospero is a magician, whose magic is a beneficial "white magic". Prospero learned his magic by studying in his books about nature, and he uses magic to achieve what he considers positive outcomes. Shakespeare uses Caliban to indicate the opposite—evil black magic. Caliban's mother, Sycorax, who does not appear, represents the horrors that were stirring at this time in England and elsewhere regarding witchcraft and black magic. Magic was taken seriously and studied by serious philosophers, notably the GermanHenricus Cornelius Agrippa,who in 1533 published in three volumes hisDe Occulta Philosophia,which summarized work done by Italian scholars on the topic of magic. Agrippa's work influencedJohn Dee(1527–1608), an Englishman, who, like Prospero, had a large collection of books on the occult, as well as on science and philosophy. It was a dangerous time to philosophize about magic—Giordano Bruno,for example, was burned at the stake in Italy in 1600, just a few years beforeThe Tempestwas written.

Ariel(Fuseli,c. 1800–1810)

Prospero uses magic grounded in science and reality—the kind that was studied by Agrippa and Dee. Prospero studied and gradually was able to develop the kind of power represented by Ariel, which extended his abilities. Sycorax's magic was not capable of something like Ariel: "Ariel is a spirit too delicate to act her earthy and abhored commands."Prospero's rational goodness enables him to control Ariel, where Sycorax can only trap him in a tree.Sycorax's magic is described as destructive and terrible, where Prospero's is said to be wondrous and beautiful. Prospero seeks to set things right in his world through his magic, and once that is done, he renounces it, setting Ariel free.

What Prospero is trying to do with magic is essential toThe Tempest;it is the unity of action. It is referred to as Prospero's project in act two when Ariel stops an attempted assassination:

My master through his art foresees the danger
That you, his friend, are in, and sends me forth—
For else his project dies—to keep them living!

At the start of act five Prospero says:

Now does my project gather to a head

Prospero seems to know precisely what he wants. Beginning with the tempest at the top of the play, his project is laid out in a series of steps. "Bountiful fortune"has given him a chance to affect his destiny, and that of his county and family.

His plan is to do all he can to reverse what was done twelve years ago when he was usurped: First he will use a tempest to cause certain persons to fear his great powers, then when all survived unscathed, he will separate those who lived through the tempest into different groups. These separations will let him deal with each group differently. Then Prospero's plan is to lead Ferdinand to Miranda, having prepared them both for their meeting. What is beyond his magical powers is to cause them to fall in love—but yet they do. The next stages for the couple will be a testing. To help things along he magically makes the others fall into a sleep. The masque which is to educate and prepare the couple is next. But then his plans begin to go off the tracks when the masque is interrupted.Next Prospero confronts those who usurped him. He demands his dukedom and a "brave new world"by the merging of Milan and Naples through the marriage of Ferdinand and Miranda.

Prospero's magic has not worked on Sebastian and Antonio, who are not penitent. Prospero then deals with Antonio, not with magic, but with something more mundane—blackmail.This failure of magic is significant, and critics disagree regarding what it means:Jan Kottconsiders it a disillusionment for both Prospero and for the author.E. M. W. Tillyardplays it down as a minor disappointment. Some critics consider Sebastian and Antonio clownish and not a real threat.Stephen Orgelblames Prospero for causing the problem by forgetting about Sebastian and Antonio, which may introduce a theme of Prospero's encroaching dotage.David Hirst suggests that the failure of Prospero's magic may have a deeper explanation: He suggests that Prospero's magic has had no effect at all on certain things (like Caliban), that Prospero is idealistic and not realistic, and that his magic makes Prospero like a god, but it also makes him other than human, which explains why Prospero seems impatient and ill-suited to deal with his daughter, for example, when issues call on his humanity, not his magic. It explains his dissatisfaction with the "real world", which is what cost him his dukedom, for example, in the first place. In the end, Prospero is learning the value of being human.

Criticism and interpretation

Genre

Romance:Shakespeare's romantic narrative appears in the characters themselves and the island setting. Often, romances involve exotic and remote locations like this island inThe Tempest.The environment is the home for Prospero and Miranda. It is also the setting where one of the shipwrecked characters, Ferdinand, falls in love with Miranda. However, they are part of a knight and a princess situation.Romance will use the theme of a knight trying to win the love of the princess. Ferdinand is an example of fitting such a role since he has to work for Prospero to win respect and love him to marry his daughter Miranda.

Comedy:The Tempestwas initially presented as a form of tragic comedy in the First Folio by John Fletcher of Shakespeare's plays. Another form of comedy thatThe Tempestcreates is the concept of Greek and Latin New Comedy. Lester E Barber's article "The Tempestand New Comedy "suggests that The New Comedy has to do in part with the narrative of slaves with the characters of Ariel and Caliban. Both characters are considered comedic slaves because their goal is to be free from Prospero's hold. Here both characters differ in how they present themselves as slaves. Arguably Caliban is sometimes considered a character who is not a part of New Comedy since he is regarded as a Convent Vehicle. Lester E Barber suggests a Convent Vehicle is a slave who does vile and unintelligent things that cause them to fail miserably and be humiliated and punished. Caliban fits this through his hatred and disobedience to Prospero. Ariel as a slave carries a different approach to himself since he is a Typical Paradigm. A Typical Paradigm is a more brilliant slave that is more intelligent than other slaves, supportive of their masters, and will fix their master's problems. Ariel is very obedient to Prospero and follows his wishes to use magic against the shipwrecked victims as part of Prospero's revenge.

Dramatic structure

LikeThe Comedy of Errors,The Tempestroughly adheres to theunitiesof time, place, and action.Shakespeare's other plays rarely respected the three unities, taking place in separate locations miles apart and over several days or even years.The play's events unfold in real time before the audience, Prospero even declaring in the last act that everything has happened in, more or less, three hours.All action is unified into one basic plot: Prospero's struggle to regain his dukedom; it is also confined to one place, a fictional island, which many scholars agree is meant to be located in the Mediterranean Sea.Another reading suggests that it takes place in theNew World,as scholars have noted some parts of the play share similarities with theEuropean colonization of the Americas.Still others argue that the island can represent any land that has been colonised.

In the denouement of the play, Prospero enters into a parabasis (a direct address to the audience). In his bookBack and Forth,the poet and literary critic Siddhartha Bose argues that Prospero's epilogue creates a "permanent parabasis" which is "the condition ofSchlegelianRomantic Irony ".Prospero, and by extension Shakespeare, turns his absolution over to the audience. The liberation and atonement Prospero 'gives' to Ariel and Caliban is also handed over to the audience. However, just as Prospero derives his power by "creating the language with which the other characters are able to speak about their experiences",so too the mechanics and customs of theatre limit the audience's understanding of itself and its relationship to the play and to reality.

Postcolonial

Ferdinand Lured by ArielbyJohn Everett Millais,1850

In Shakespeare's day, much of the world was still being colonized by European merchants and settlers, and stories were coming back from the Americas, with myths about the Cannibals of the Caribbean, farawayEdens,and distant tropicalUtopias.With the characterCaliban(whose name is almost ananagramofCannibaland also resembles "Cariban",the term then used for natives in the West Indies), it has been suggestedthat Shakespeare may be offering an in-depth discussion of the morality of colonialism. Different views of this are found in the play, with examples includingGonzalo's Utopia,Prospero's enslavement of Caliban, and Caliban's subsequent resentment.Postcolonialscholarshave argued that Caliban is also shown as one of the most natural characters in the play, being very much in touch with the natural world (and modern audienceshave come to view him as far nobler than his twoOld Worldfriends,Stephanoand Trinculo, although the original intent of the author may have been different). There is evidence that Shakespeare drew onMontaigne's essayOf Cannibals—which discusses the values of societies insulated from European influences—while writingThe Tempest.

Beginning in about 1950, with the publication ofPsychology of ColonizationbyOctave Mannoni,postcolonial theorists have increasingly appropriatedThe Tempestand reinterpreted it in light of postcolonial theory. This new way of looking at the text explored the effect of the "coloniser" (Prospero) on the "colonised" (Ariel and Caliban). Although Ariel is often overlooked in these debates in favour of the more intriguing Caliban, he is nonetheless an essential component of them.The French writerAimé Césaire,in his playUne TempêtesetsThe TempestinHaiti,portraying Ariel as amulattowho, unlike the more rebellious Caliban, feels that negotiation and partnership is the way to freedom from the colonisers. Fernandez Retamar sets his version of the play inCuba,and portrays Ariel as a wealthy Cuban (in comparison to the lower-class Caliban) who also must choose between rebellion or negotiation.It has also been argued that Ariel, and not Caliban or Prospero, is the rightful owner of the island.Michelle Cliff,a Jamaican author, has said that she tries to combine Caliban and Ariel within herself to create a way of writing that represents her culture better. Such use of Ariel in postcolonial thought is far from uncommon; the spirit is even the namesake of ascholarly journalcovering post-colonial criticism.

Feminist

Feminist interpretations ofThe Tempestconsider the play in terms of gender roles and relationships among the characters on stage, and consider how concepts of gender are constructed and presented by the text, and explore the supporting consciousnesses and ideologies, all with an awareness of imbalances and injustices.Two early feminist interpretations ofThe Tempestare included in Anna Jameson'sShakespeare's Heroines(1832) and Mary Clarke'sThe Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines(1851).

Prospero, Ariel and sleeping Miranda from a painting byWilliam Hamilton

The Tempestis a play created in a male dominated culture and society, a gender imbalance the play explores metaphorically by having only one major female role, Miranda. Miranda is fifteen, intelligent, naive, and beautiful. The only humans she has ever encountered in her life are male. Prospero sees himself as her primary teacher, and asks if she can remember a time before they arrived to the island—he assumes that she cannot. When Miranda has a memory of "four or five women" tending to her younger self (1.2.44–47), it disturbs Prospero, who prefers to portray himself as her only teacher, and the absolute source of her own history—anything before his teachings in Miranda's mind should be a dark "abysm", according to him. (1.2.48–50) The "four or five women" Miranda remembers may symbolize the young girl's desire for something other than only men.

Other women, such as Caliban's motherSycorax,Miranda's mother and Alonso's daughter Claribel, are only mentioned. Because of the small role women play in the story in comparison to other Shakespeare plays,The Tempesthas attracted much feminist criticism. Miranda is typically viewed as being completely deprived of freedom by her father. Her only duty in his eyes is to remain chaste. Ann Thompson argues that Miranda, in a manner typical of women in a colonial atmosphere, has completely internalised the patriarchal order of things, thinking of herself as subordinate to her father.

Most of what is said about Sycorax is said by Prospero, who has never met Sycorax—what he knows of her he learned from Ariel. When Miranda asks Prospero, "Sir, are you not my father?", Prospero responds,

Thy mother was a piece of virtue, and
She said thou was my daughter.

This surprising answer has been difficult for those interpretations that portray their relationship simply as a lordly father to an innocent daughter, and the exchange has at times been cut in performance. A similar example occurs when Prospero, enraged, raises a question of the parentage of his brother, and Miranda defends Prospero's mother:

I should sin
To think but nobly of my grandmother;
Good wombs have borne bad sons.

Research and genetic modification

The bookBrave New WorldbyAldous HuxleyreferencesThe Tempestin the title, and exploresgenetically modifiedcitizens and the subsequent social effects. The novel and the phrase fromThe Tempest,"brave new world", has itself since been associated with public debate about humankind's understanding and use of genetic modification, in particular with regards to humans.

Performance history

Shakespeare's day

A record exists of a performance ofThe Tempeston 1 November 1611 by theKing's MenbeforeJames Iand the English royal court atWhitehall PalaceonHallowmasnight.The play was one of the six Shakespeare plays (and eight others for a total of 14) acted at court during the winter of 1612–13 as part of thefestivities surrounding the marriageofPrincess ElizabethwithFrederick V,theElector of the Palatinateof the Rhine.There is no further public performance recorded prior to theRestoration;but in his 1669 preface to the Dryden/Davenant version, John Dryden states thatThe Tempesthad been performed at theBlackfriars Theatre.Careful consideration of stage directions within the play supports this, strongly suggesting that the play was written with Blackfriars Theatre rather than theGlobe Theatrein mind.

Restoration and 18th century

Adaptations of the play, not Shakespeare's original, dominated the performance history ofThe Tempestfrom theEnglish Restorationuntil the mid-19th century.All theatres were closed down by thepuritangovernment during theEnglish Interregnum.Upon the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, twopatent companies—theKing's Companyand theDuke's Company—were established, and the existing theatrical repertoire divided between them.Sir William Davenant'sDuke's Companyhad the rights to performThe Tempest.In 1667 Davenant andJohn Drydenmade heavy cuts and adapted it asThe Tempest, or The Enchanted Island.They tried to appeal to upper-class audiences by emphasising royalist political and social ideals: monarchy is the natural form of government; patriarchal authority decisive in education and marriage; and patrilineality preeminent in inheritance and ownership of property.They also added characters and plotlines: Miranda has a sister, named Dorinda; Caliban also has a sister, named Sycorax. As a parallel to Shakespeare's Miranda/Ferdinand plot, Prospero has a foster-son, Hippolito, who has never set eyes on a woman.Hippolito was a popularbreeches role,a man played by a woman, popular with Restoration theatre management for the opportunity to reveal actresses' legs.Scholar Michael Dobson has describedThe Tempest, or The Enchanted Islandby Dryden and Davenant as "the most frequently revived play of the entire Restoration" and as establishing the importance of enhanced and additional roles for women.

Oil sketch ofEmma Hart,as Miranda, byGeorge Romney

In 1674,Thomas Shadwellre-adapted Dryden and Davenant as an opera of the same name, usually meaning a play with sections that were to be sung or danced. Restoration playgoers appear to have regarded the Dryden/Davenant/Shadwell version as Shakespeare's:Samuel Pepys,for example, described it as "an old play of Shakespeares" inhis diary.The opera was extremely popular, and "full of so good variety, that I cannot be more pleased almost in a comedy" according to Pepys.Prospero in this version is very different from Shakespeare's: Eckhard Auberlen describes him as "reduced to the status of aPolonius-like overbusy father, intent on protecting the chastity of his two sexually naive daughters while planning advantageous dynastic marriages for them ".The operaticEnchanted Islandwas successful enough to provoke a parody,The Mock Tempest, or The Enchanted Castle,written by Thomas Duffett for the King's Company in 1675. It opened with what appeared to be a tempest, but turns out to be a riot in a brothel.

A playbill for a 1757 production ofThe Tempestat the Drury Lane Theatre Royal

In the early 18th century, the Dryden/Davenant/Shadwell version dominated the stage. Ariel was—with two exceptions—played by a woman, and invariably by a graceful dancer and superb singer. Caliban was a comedian's role, played by actors "known for their awkward figures". In 1756,David Garrickstaged another operatic version, a "three-act extravaganza" with music byJohn Christopher Smith.

The Tempestwas one of the staples of the repertoire ofRomantic Eratheatres.John Philip Kembleproduced an acting version which was closer to Shakespeare's original, but nevertheless retained Dorinda and Hippolito.Kemble was much-mocked for his insistence on archaic pronunciation of Shakespeare's texts, including "aitches" for "aches". It was said that spectators "packed the pit, just to enjoy hissing Kemble's delivery of 'I'll rack thee with old cramps, / Fill all they bones with aches'."The actor-managers of the Romantic Era established the fashion for opulence in sets and costumes which would dominate Shakespeare performances until the late 19th century: Kemble's Dorinda and Miranda, for example, were played "in white ornamented with spotted furs".

In 1757, a year after the debut of his operatic version,David Garrickproduced a heavily cut performance of Shakespeare's script atDrury Lane,and it was revived, profitably, throughout the century.

19th century

Miranda and Ferdinand byAngelica Kauffman,1782

It was not untilWilliam Charles Macready's influential production in 1838 that Shakespeare's text established its primacy over the adapted and operatic versions which had been popular for most of the previous two centuries. The performance was particularly admired forGeorge Bennett's performance as Caliban; it was described by Patrick MacDonnell—in his "An Essay on the Play ofThe Tempest"published in 1840—as" maintaining in his mind, a strong resistance to that tyranny, which held him in the thraldom of slavery ".

TheVictorian eramarked the height of the movement which would later be described as "pictorial": based on lavish sets and visual spectacle, heavily cut texts making room for lengthy scene-changes, and elaborate stage effects.InCharles Kean's 1857 production ofThe Tempest,Ariel was several times seen to descend in a ball of fire.The hundred and forty stagehands supposedly employed on this production were described byThe Literary Gazetteas "unseen... but alas never unheard".Hans Christian Andersenalso saw this production and described Ariel as "isolated by the electric ray", referring to the effect of acarbon arc lampdirected at the actress playing the role.The next generation of producers, which includedWilliam PoelandHarley Granville-Barker,returned to a leaner and more text-based style.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Caliban, not Prospero, was perceived as the star act ofThe Tempest,and was the role which the actor-managers chose for themselves.Frank Bensonresearched the role by viewing monkeys and baboons at the zoo; on stage, he hung upside-down from a tree and gibbered.

20th century and beyond

A charcoal drawing byCharles Buchelof Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Caliban in the 1904 production.

Continuing the late-19th-century tradition, in 1904Herbert Beerbohm Treeworefurandseaweedto playCaliban,with waist-length hair andapelikebearing, suggestive of a primitive part-animal part-human stage ofevolution.This "missing link"portrayal of Caliban became the norm in productions untilRoger Livesey,in 1934, was the first actor to play the role with black makeup. In 1945Canada Leeplayed the role at theTheatre Guildin New York, establishing a tradition of black actors taking the role, includingEarle Hymanin 1960 andJames Earl Jonesin 1962.

In 1916,Percy MacKayepresented a communitymasque,Caliban by the Yellow Sands,at theLewisohn Stadiumin New York. Amidst a huge cast of dancers and masquers, thepageantcentres on the rebellious nature of Caliban but ends with his plea for more knowledge ( "I yearn to build, to be thine Artist / And 'stablish this thine Earth among the stars- / Beautiful!" ) followed by Shakespeare, as a character, reciting Prospero's "Our revels now are ended" speech.

John GielgudplayedProsperonumerous times, and is, according to Douglas Brode, "universally heralded as... [the 20th] century's greatest stage Prospero".His first appearance in the role was in 1930: he wore aturban,later confessing that he intended to look likeDante.He played the role in three more stage productions, lastly at theRoyal National Theatrein 1974.Derek Jacobi's Prospero forThe Old Vicin 2003 was praised for his portrayal of isolation and pain in ageing.

Peter Brookdirected an experimental production at theRound Housein 1968, in which the text was "almost wholly abandoned" in favour ofmime.According to Margaret Croydon'sreview,Sycoraxwas "portrayed by an enormous woman able to expand her face and body to still larger proportions—a fantastic emblem of thegrotesque... [who] suddenly... gives a horrendous yell, and Caliban, with blacksweaterover his head, emerges from between her legs: Evil is born. "

In spite of the existing tradition of a black actor playing Caliban opposite a white Prospero,colonialinterpretations of the play did not find their way onto the stage until the 1970s.Performances in England directed byJonathan Millerand byClifford Williamsexplicitly portrayed Prospero ascoloniser.Miller's production was described, by David Hirst, as depicting "the tragic and inevitable disintegration of a more primitive culture as the result of European invasion and colonisation".Miller developed this approach in his 1988 production at theOld Vicin London, starringMax von Sydowas Prospero. This used a mixed cast made up of white actors as the humans and black actors playing the spirits and creatures of the island. According toMichael Billington,"von Sydow's Prospero became a white overlord manipulating a mutinous black Caliban and a collaborative Ariel keenly mimicking the gestures of the island's invaders. The colonial metaphor was pushed through to its logical conclusion so that finally Ariel gathered up the pieces of Prospero's abandoned staff and, watched by awe-struck tribesmen, fitted them back together to hold his wand of office aloft before an immobilised Caliban.The Tempestsuddenly acquired a new political dimension unforeseen by Shakespeare. "

Psychoanalytic interpretations have proved more difficult to depict on stage.Gerald Freedman's production at theAmerican Shakespeare Theatrein 1979 and Ron Daniels'Royal Shakespeare Companyproduction in 1982 both attempted to depict Ariel and Caliban as opposing aspects of Prospero's psyche. However neither was regarded as wholly successful:Shakespeare Quarterly,reviewing Freedman's production, commented, "Mr. Freedman did nothing on stage to make such a notion clear to any audience that had not heard of it before."

In 1988,John Woodplayed Prospero for theRSC,emphasising the character's human complexity, in a performance a reviewer described as "a demented stage manager on a theatrical island suspended between smouldering rage at his usurpation and unbridled glee at his alternative ethereal power".

Japanese theatre styles have been applied toThe Tempest.In 1988 and again in 1992Yukio Ninagawabrought his version ofThe Tempestto the UK. It was staged as a rehearsal of aNohdrama, with a traditional Noh theatre at the back of the stage, but also using elements which were at odds with Noh conventions. In 1992, Minoru Fujita presented aBunraku(Japanese puppet) version inOsakaand at theTokyo Globe.

Sam Mendesdirected a 1993RSCproduction in whichSimon Russell Beale's Ariel was openly resentful of the control exercised byAlec McCowen's Prospero. Controversially, in the early performances of the run, Ariel spat at Prospero, once granted his freedom.An entirely different effect was achieved byGeorge C. Wolfein the outdoorNew York Shakespeare Festivalproduction of 1995, where the casting ofAunjanue Ellisas Ariel oppositePatrick Stewart's Prospero charged the production with erotic tensions. Productions in the late 20th-century have gradually increased the focus placed on sexual tensions between the characters, including Prospero/Miranda, Prospero/Ariel, Miranda/Caliban, Miranda/Ferdinand and Caliban/Trinculo.

Caliban rants at Prospero while Ariel looks on, in a 2014 production by OVO theatre company,St Albans,UK

The Tempestwas performed at theGlobe Theatrein 2000 withVanessa Redgraveas Prospero, playing the role as neither male nor female, but with "authority, humanity and humour... a watchful parent to both Miranda and Ariel".While the audience respected Prospero,Jasper Britton's Caliban "was their man" (in Peter Thomson's words), in spite of the fact that he spat fish at thegroundlings,and singled some of them out for humiliating encounters.By the end of 2005,BBC Radiohad aired 21 productions ofThe Tempest,more than any other play by Shakespeare.

In 2016The Tempestwas produced by theRoyal Shakespeare Company.Directed byGregory Doran,and featuringSimon Russell Beale,the RSC's version used performance capture to project Ariel in real time on stage. The performance was in collaboration withThe ImaginariumandIntel,and featured "some gorgeous [and] some interesting"use of light, special effects, and set design.

Music

Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo dancing, detail of a painting byJohann Heinrich Ramberg

The Tempesthas more music than any other Shakespeare play, and has proved more popular as a subject for composers than most of Shakespeare's plays. Scholar Julie Sanders ascribes this to the "perceived 'musicality' or lyricism" of the play.

Two settings of songs fromThe Tempestwhich may have been used in performances during Shakespeare's lifetime have survived. These are "Full Fathom Five" and "Where The Bee Sucks There Suck I" in the 1659 publicationCheerful Ayres or Ballads,in which they are attributed toRobert Johnson,who regularly composed for the King's Men.It has been common throughout the history of the play for the producers to commission contemporary settings of these two songs, and also of "Come Unto These Yellow Sands".

The Tempesthas also influenced songs written in thefolkandhippietraditions: for example, versions of "Full Fathom Five" were recorded byMarianne FaithfullforCome My Wayin 1965 and byPete SeegerforDangerous Songs!?in 1966.Michael Nyman'sAriel Songsare taken from his score for the filmProspero's Books.

Ludwig van Beethoven's 1802Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor,Op. 31, No. 2, was given the subtitle "The Tempest" some time after Beethoven's death because, when asked about the meaning of the sonata, Beethoven was alleged to have said "ReadThe Tempest."But this story comes from his associateAnton Schindler,who is often not trustworthy.

Incidental music

Among those who wrote incidental music toThe Tempestare:

• Arthur Sullivan:his graduation piece, completed in 1861, was a set ofincidental musicto "The Tempest".Revised and expanded, it was performed atThe Crystal Palacein 1862, a year after his return to London, and was an immediate sensation.
• Ernest Chausson:in 1888 he wrote incidental music forLa tempête,a French translation byMaurice Bouchor.This is believed to be the first orchestral work that made use of thecelesta.
• Jean Sibelius:his1926 incidental musicwas written for a lavish production at theRoyal Theatrein Copenhagen. An epilogue was added for a 1927 performance in Helsinki.He represented individual characters through instrumentation choices: particularly admired was his use of harps and percussion to represent Prospero, said to capture the "resonant ambiguity of the character".
• Malcolm Arnold,Lennox Berkeley,Hector Berlioz,Arthur Bliss,Engelbert Humperdinck,Mary McCarty Snow,Willem Pijper,Henry Purcell,Patsy Rogers,andMichael Tippett
• In 1993, singer-songwriter Loreena McKennitt set Prospero's epilogue to music as "Prospero's Speech", which was released as the finale of her 1994 albumThe Mask and the Mirror.

Opera

At least forty-six operas orsemi-operasbased onThe Tempestexist.In addition to the Dryden/Davenant and Garrick versions mentioned in the "Restoration and 18th century" section above,Frederic Reynoldsproduced an operatic version in 1821, with music by SirHenry Bishop.Other pre-20th-century operas based onThe TempestincludeFromental Halévy'sLa Tempesta(1850) andZdeněk Fibich'sBouře(1894).

In the 20th century,Kurt Atterberg'sStormenpremiered in 1948 andFrank Martin'sDer Sturmin 1955.Michael Tippett's 1971 operaThe Knot Gardencontains various allusions toThe Tempest.In Act 3, a psychoanalyst, Mangus, pretends to be Prospero and uses situations from Shakespeare's play in his therapy sessions.John Eaton,in 1985, produced a fusion of livejazzwith pre-recorded electronic music, with a libretto by Andrew Porter.Michael Nyman's 1991 operaNoises, Sounds & Sweet Airswas first performed as anopera-balletbyKarine Saporta.This opera is unique in that the three vocalists, asoprano,contralto,andtenor,are voices rather than individual characters, with the tenor just as likely as the soprano to sing Miranda, or all three sing as one character.

The soprano who sings the part of Ariel inThomas Adès's21st-century operais stretched at the higher end of the register, highlighting theandrogynyof the role.Mike Silverman of theAssociated Presscommented, "Adès has made the role of the spirit Ariel a tour de force for coloratura soprano, giving her a vocal line that hovers much of the timewell abovehigh C. "

Luca Lombardi'sProsperowas premiered 2006 atNuremberg Opera House.Ariel is sung by 4 female voices (S,S,MS,A) and has an instrumental alter ego on stage (flute). There is an instrumental alter ego (cello) also for Prospero.

Kaija Saariahohas set six fragments ofThe Tempestas accompanied arias between 1993 and 2014, and published them asThe Tempest Songbook.The work is not intended as a music theatre piece, but it has been staged for instance byGotham Chamber Operaat theMetropolitan Museumin 2015,in a collage containing also the incidental music forThe Tempestattributed to Purcell(Saariaho's work exists in settings for both modern and Baroque instruments).

Choral settings

Choral settings of excerpts fromThe TempestincludeAmy Beach'sCome Unto These Yellow Sands(SSAA,fromThree Shakespeare Songs), Matthew Harris'sFull Fathom Five,I Shall No More to Sea,andWhere the Bee Sucks(SATB,fromShakespeare Songs,Books I, V, VI), Ryan Kelly'sThe Tempest(SATB,a setting of the play's Scene I),Jaakko Mäntyjärvi'sFull Fathom FiveandA Scurvy Tune(SATB,fromFour Shakespeare SongsandMore Shakespeare Songs),Frank Martin'sSongs of Ariel(SATB),Ralph Vaughan Williams'Full Fathom FiveandThe Cloud-capp'd Towers(SATB,fromThree Shakespeare Songs), andDavid Willcocks'sFull Fathom Five(SSA).

Orchestral works

Orchestral works for concert presentation includePyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's fantasyThe Tempest(1873), Fibich's symphonic poemBouře(1880),John Knowles Paine's symphonic poemThe Tempest(1876),Benjamin Dale's overture (1902),Arthur Honegger's orchestral prelude (1923),Felix Weingartner's overture "Der Sturm",Heorhiy Maiboroda's overture, andEgon Wellesz'sProsperos Beschwörungen(five works 1934–36).

Ballet

Ballet sequences have been used in many performances of the play since Restoration times.A one-act ballet ofThe Tempestby choreographerAlexei Ratmanskywas premiered byAmerican Ballet Theatreset to the incidental music ofJean Sibeliuson 30 October 2013 in New York City.

Stage musicals

Stage musicals derived fromThe Tempesthave been produced. A production calledThe Tempest: A Musicalwas produced at theCherry Lane Theatrein New York City in December 2006, with a concept credited toThomas Meehanand a script by Daniel Neiden (who also wrote the songs) andRyan Knowles.Neiden had previously been connected with another musical, entitledTempest Toss'd.In September 2013,The Public Theaterproduced a new large-scale stage musical at theDelacorte TheaterinCentral Park,directed by Lear deBessonet with a cast of more than 200.

Literature and art

"Miranda" byFrederick Goodall,fromthe Graphic Gallery of Shakespeare's Heroines

Percy Bysshe Shelleywas one of the earliest poets to be influenced byThe Tempest.His "With a Guitar, To Jane" identifies Ariel with the poet and his songs with poetry. The poem uses simple diction to convey Ariel's closeness to nature and "imitates the straightforward beauty of Shakespeare's original songs".Following the publication ofDarwin's ideas onevolution,writers began to question mankind's place in the world and its relationship with God. One writer who explored these ideas wasRobert Browning,whose poem "Caliban upon Setebos"(1864) sets Shakespeare's character pondering theological and philosophical questions.The French philosopherErnest Renanwrote a closet drama,Caliban: Suite de La Tempête(Caliban: Sequel to The Tempest), in 1878. This features a female Ariel who follows Prospero back to Milan, and a Caliban who leads a coup against Prospero, after the success of which he actively imitates his former master's virtues.W. H. Auden's "long poem"The Sea and the Mirrortakes the form of a reflection by each of the supporting characters ofThe Tempeston their experiences. The poem takes aFreudianviewpoint, seeing Caliban (whose lengthy contribution is aprose poem) as Prospero'slibido.

In 1968 Franco-Caribbean writerAimé CésairepublishedUne Tempête,a radical adaptation of the play based on its colonial and postcolonial interpretations, in which Caliban is a black rebel and Ariel is mixed-race. The figure of Caliban influenced numerous works of African literature in the 1970s, including pieces byTaban Lo Liyongin Uganda, Lemuel Johnson in Sierra Leone,Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'oin Kenya, and David Wallace of Zambia'sDo You Love Me, Master?.A similar phenomenon occurred in late 20th-century Canada, where several writers produced works inspired by Miranda, includingThe DivinersbyMargaret Laurence,Prospero's Daughterby Constance Beresford-Howe andThe Measure of Mirandaby Sarah Murphy.Other writers have feminised Ariel (as inMarina Warner's novelIndigo) or Caliban (as inSuniti Namjoshi's sequence of poemsSnapshots of Caliban).

William Hogarth's painting ofThe Tempestc. 1735.

From the mid-18th century, Shakespeare's plays, includingThe Tempest,began to appear as the subject of paintings.In around 1735,William Hogarthproduced his paintingA Scene from The Tempest:"a baroque, sentimental fantasy costumed in the style of Van Dyck and Rembrandt".The painting is based upon Shakespeare's text, containing no representation of the stage, nor of the (Davenant-Dryden centred) stage tradition of the time.Henry Fuseli,in a painting commissioned for theBoydell Shakespeare Gallery(1789) modelled his Prospero onLeonardo da Vinci.These two 18th-century depictions of the play indicate that Prospero was regarded as its moral centre: viewers of Hogarth's and Fuseli's paintings would have accepted Prospero's wisdom and authority.John Everett Millais'sFerdinand Lured by Ariel(1851) is among thePre-Raphaelitepaintings based on the play. In the late 19th century, artists tended to depict Caliban as aDarwinian"missing-link", with fish-like or ape-like features, as evidenced inJoseph Noel Paton'sCaliban,and discussed inDaniel Wilson'sbookCaliban: The Missing Link(1873).

Joseph Noel Paton'sCaliban

Charles Knightproduced thePictorial Edition of the Works of Shakespearein eight volumes (1838–43). The work attempted to translate the contents of the plays into pictorial form. This extended not just to the action, but also to images and metaphors: Gonzalo's line about "mountaineers dewlapped like bulls" is illustrated with a picture of a Swiss peasant with agoitre.In 1908,Edmund Dulacproduced an edition ofShakespeare's Comedy of The Tempestwith a scholarly plot summary and commentary byArthur Quiller-Couch,lavishly bound and illustrated with 40 watercolour illustrations. The illustrations highlight the fairy-tale quality of the play, avoiding its dark side. Of the 40, only 12 are direct depictions of the action of the play: the others are based on action before the play begins, or on images such as "full fathom five thy father lies" or "sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not".

Fantasy writerNeil Gaimanbased a story on the play in one issue (the final issue)of his comics seriesThe Sandman.The comic stands as a sequel to the earlierMidsummer Night's Dreamissue.This issue follows Shakespeare over a period of several months as he writes the play, which is named as his last solo project, as the final part of his bargain with the Dream King to write two plays celebrating dreams. The story draws many parallels between the characters and events in the play and Shakespeare's life and family relationships at the time. It is hinted that he based Miranda on his daughterJudith Shakespeareand Caliban on her suitorThomas Quiney.

As part ofRandom House's Hogarth Shakespeare series of contemporary reimaginings of Shakespeare plays by contemporary writers,Margaret Atwood's 2016 novelHag-Seedis based onThe Tempest.The 2019 novellaMiranda in Milanby Katharine Duckett also reimagines the events which might occur after the end of the play.

Screen

The Tempest(1908)

Fyodor Paramonov as Caliban,Maly Theatre (Moscow),1905

The Tempestfirst appeared on the screen in 1905.Charles Urbanfilmed the opening storm sequence ofHerbert Beerbohm Tree's version atHer Majesty's Theatrefor a2+1⁄2-minuteflicker,whose individual frames were hand-tinted, long before the invention of colour film. In 1908Percy StowdirectedThe Tempestrunning a little over ten minutes, which is now a part of theBritish Film Institute's compilationSilent Shakespeare.It portrays a condensed version of Shakespeare's play in a series of short scenes linked byintertitles.At least two other silent versions,one from 1911byEdwin Thanhouser,are known to have existed, but have been lost.The plot was adapted for the WesternYellow Sky,directed byWilliam A. Wellman,in 1946.

The 1956 science fiction filmForbidden Planetset the story on a planet in space, Altair IV, instead of an island. Professor Morbius and his daughter Altaira (Anne Francis) are the Prospero and Miranda figures (both Prospero and Morbius having harnessed the mighty forces that inhabit their new homes). Ariel is represented by the helpfulRobby the Robot,while Sycorax is replaced with the powerful race of the Krell. Caliban is represented by the dangerous and invisible "monster from theid",a projection of Morbius' psyche born from the Krell technology instead of Sycorax's womb.

In the opinion of Douglas Brode, there has only been one screen "performance" ofThe Tempestsince the silent era, he describes all other versions as "variations". That one performance is theHallmark Hall of Fameversion from 1960, directed byGeorge Schaefer,and starringMaurice Evansas Prospero,Richard Burtonas Caliban,Lee Remickas Miranda, andRoddy McDowallas Ariel. It cut the play to slightly less than ninety minutes. Critic Virginia Vaughan praised it as "light as asoufflé,but... substantial enough for the main course ".

A 1969 episode of the television seriesStar Trek,"Requiem for Methuselah",again set the story in space on the apparently deserted planet Holberg 917-G.The Prospero figure is Flint (James Daly), an immortal man who has isolated himself from humanity and controls advanced technology that borders on magic. Flint's young ward Rayna Kapec (Louise Sorel) fills the Miranda role, and Flint's versatile robotic servant M4 parallels Ariel.

In 1979,Derek Jarmanproduced the homoerotic filmThe Tempestthat used Shakespeare's language, but was most notable for its deviations from Shakespeare. One scene shows a corpulent and naked Sycorax (Claire Davenport) breastfeeding her adult son Caliban (Jack Birkett). The film reaches its climax withElisabeth Welchbelting out "Stormy Weather".The central performances wereToyah Willcox's Miranda andHeathcote Williams's Prospero, a "dark brooding figure who takes pleasure in exploiting both his servants".

Several television versions of the play have been broadcast. Among the most notable is the 1980BBC Shakespeareproduction, virtually complete, starringMichael Hordernas Prospero.

Paul Mazursky's 1982 modern-language adaptationTempest,with Philip Dimitrius (Prospero) as a disillusioned New York architect who retreats to a lonely Greek island with his daughter Miranda after learning of his wife Antonia's infidelity with Alonzo, dealt frankly with the sexual tensions of the characters' isolated existence. The Caliban character, the goatherd Kalibanos, asks Philip which of them is going to have sex with Miranda.John Cassavetesplayed Philip,Raul JuliaKalibanos,Gena RowlandsAntonia andMolly RingwaldMiranda.Susan Sarandonplays the Ariel character, Philip's frequently bored girlfriend Aretha. The film has been criticised as "overlong and rambling", but also praised for its good humour, especially in a sequence in which Kalibanos' and his goats dance toKander and Ebb'sNew York, New York.

John Gielgudwrote that playing Prospero in a film ofThe Tempestwas his life's ambition. Over the years, he approachedAlain Resnais,Ingmar Bergman,Akira Kurosawa,andOrson Wellesto direct.Eventually, the project was taken on byPeter Greenaway,who directedProspero's Books(1991) featuring "an 87-year-old John Gielgud and an impressive amount of nudity".Prospero is reimagined as the author ofThe Tempest,speaking the lines of the other characters, as well as his own.Although the film was acknowledged as innovative in its use ofQuantel Paintboxto create visual tableaux, resulting in "unprecedented visual complexity",critical responses to the film were frequently negative:John Simoncalled it "contemptible and pretentious".

The Swedish-made 1989 animated filmResan till Melonia(directed byPer Åhlin) is an adaptation of the Shakespeare play, focusing on ecological values.Resan till Meloniawas critically acclaimed for its stunning visuals drawn by Åhlin and its at times quite dark and nightmare-like sequences, even though the film was originally marketed for children.

Closer to the spirit of Shakespeare's original, in the view of critics such as Brode, isLeon Garfield's abridgement of the play forS4C's 1992Shakespeare: The Animated Talesseries. The 29-minute production, directed byStanislav Sokolovand featuringTimothy Westas the voice of Prospero, usedstop-motion puppetsto capture the fairy-tale quality of the play.

Another "offbeat variation" (in Brode's words) was produced forNBCin 1998:Jack Bender'sThe TempestfeaturedPeter Fondaas Gideon Prosper, a Southern slave-owner forced off his plantation by his brother shortly before theCivil War.A magician who has learned his art from one of his slaves, Prosper uses his magic to protect his teenage daughter and to assist the Union Army.

Christopher Plummer's stage version of the play from the 2010Stratford Festivalwas recorded and released on DVD the following year.

DirectorJulie Taymor's 2010 adaptationThe TempeststarredHelen Mirrenas a female version of Prospero. In 2012, the year that the UK hosted a 'Tempest' themed Olympics opening ceremony,directorsRob Curryand Anthony Fletcher released a theatrical documentary following a South London youth club as they staged a production of the play at theOval House TheatreinKennington.The adaptation focused heavily on the post-colonial legacy of the play, featuring as it did a racially mixed cast of young Londoners.

The 2022 Japanese anime television seriesMobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercuryis heavily influenced by the play and functions as a modern adaptation of it in many respects, including but not limited to; a female interpretation of Prospero namedLady Prospera,her infant daughter Ericht whose spirit becomes infused in the titulargundamAerial(an interpretation of Prospero's fairy Ariel), a "monstrous" mobile suit used by the protagonist Suletta Mercury named Gundam Calibarn (named after the slave Caliban and the holy swordCaliburn) and the story's prologue depicting an assassination attempt that leaves Prospera and her infant daughter as the only survivors, leading to their refuge on the remote planet ofMercury.The series also follows a similar narrative arc as the play does, incorporating several key plot points; most notably Lady Prospera arranging for her daughter's betrothal to the heiress of the Benerit Group, theMegacorporationresponsible for her misfortune. The series also ends with Lady Prospera abandoning her plans for revenge, and the eventual marriage of her daughter to the Benerit heir. The series also incorporates the fraternal conflict between Antonio and Prospero into the characters of Guel Jeturk and Lauda Neill.

Video games

The 1999 Adventure gameThe Book of Watermarksis based uponThe Tempestand the 1991 filmProspero's Books.Game designer Takashi Kobayashi has stated additional inspiration for the game came from the 1941 short storyThe Library of Babel.

Notes and references

Sources

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• Avery, Susan (1 May 2006)."TwoTempests, Both Alike: Shakespearean indignity ".New York Magazine.Retrieved22 February2015.
• Billington, Michael(1 January 1989)."In Britain, a Proliferation of Prosperos".The New York Times.Retrieved20 December2008.
• Blades, James; Holland, James (2020). "Celesta (Fr.céleste) ".Grove Music Online(8th ed.).Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/omo/9781561592630.013.3000000242.ISBN978-1-56159-263-0.
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• Bullough, Geoffrey(1975).Romances:Cymbeline,The Winter's Tale,The Tempest.Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare.Routledge and Kegan Paul.ISBN978-0-7100-7895-7.
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• Coveney, Michael (11 August 2011)."Obituary: John Wood: Ferociously intelligent actor who reigned supreme in Stoppard and Shakespeare".The Guardian.p. 34.
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• Dobson, Michael (1992).The Making of the National Poet: Shakespeare, Adaptation and Authorship, 1660–1769.Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-818323-5.
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• Forsyth, Neil. "Shakespeare the Illusionist: Filming the Supernatural".InJackson (2000),pp. 274–294.
• Gallois, Jean(2001). "Chausson, (Amédée-)Ernest".Grove Music Online(8th ed.).Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.05490.ISBN978-1-56159-263-0.
• Gay, Penny. "Women and Shakespearean Performance". InWells & Stanton (2002),pp.155–173.
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• Halliday, F.E.(1964).A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964.Baltimore: Penguin.ISBN0-7156-0309-4.
• Hirst, David L. (1984).The Tempest: Text and Performance.Macmillan.ISBN978-0-333-34465-1.
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Further reading

• Bowling, Lawrence E. (1951). "The Theme of Natural Order inThe Tempest".College English.12(4).National Council of Teachers of English:203–209.doi:10.2307/372626.ISSN0010-0994.JSTOR372626.
• Buchanan, Judith (2005).Shakespeare on Film.Harlow:Pearson.ISBN0-582-43716-4.
• Buchanan, Judith (2009).Shakespeare on Silent Film: An Excellent Dumb Discourse.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-87199-0.
• Cantor, Paul A.(1980). "Shakespeare'sThe Tempest:The Wise Man as Hero ".Shakespeare Quarterly.31(1).Folger Shakespeare Library:64–75.doi:10.2307/2869370.ISSN0037-3222.JSTOR2869370.
• Dolan, Frances E. (1992). "The Subordinate('s) Plot: Petty Treason and the Forms of Domestic Rebellion".Shakespeare Quarterly.43(3).Johns Hopkins University Press:317–340.doi:10.2307/2870531.ISSN0037-3222.JSTOR2870531.OCLC39852252.
• Gielgud, John(2005). Mangan, Richard (ed.).Sir John Gielgud: A Life in Letters.Arcade Publishing.ISBN978-1-55970-755-8.
• Gilman, Ernest B. (1980). "'All eyes': Prospero's Inverted Masque ".Renaissance Quarterly.33(2).The University of Chicago Press:214–230.doi:10.2307/2861118.ISSN0034-4338.JSTOR2861118.OCLC37032182.S2CID163684931.
• Graff, Gerald; Phelan, James, eds. (2008).The Tempest:A Case Study in Critical Controversy(2nd ed.). London: Bedford/St. Martin's.ISBN978-0-312-45752-5.
• Grant, Patrick (1976). "The Magic of Charity: A Background to Prospero".The Review of English Studies.XXVII(105).Oxford University Press:1–16.doi:10.1093/res/XXVII.105.1.ISSN1471-6968.
• Kennedy, Michael(1992).The Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams.Oxford:Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-816330-4.
• Knight, G. Wilson(1984).Shakespearean Dimensions.Harvester.ISBN978-0-7108-0628-4.
• Macaulay, Alastair(31 October 2013)."American Ballet Theater Opens Its Fall Season".The New York Times.
• Phillips, James E. (1964). "The Tempestand Renaissance Idea of Man ".Shakespeare Quarterly.15(2).Folger Shakespeare Library:147–159.doi:10.2307/2867886.ISSN1538-3555.JSTOR2867886.
• Ruffo, Sandra; Krapp, Traudl; Gable, Michael F. (2000)."The genusMaera(Crustacea: Amphipoda: Nelitidae) from Bermuda "(PDF).Postilla(221): 1–35.Archived(PDF)from the original on 29 June 2016.
• Sagar, Keith (2005). "The Crime Against Caliban".Literature and the Crime Against Nature.London: Chaucer Press.
• Vaughan, Alden T. (2008). "William Strachey's" True Reportory "and Shakespeare: A Closer Look at the Evidence".Shakespeare Quarterly.59(3).Johns Hopkins University Press:245.doi:10.1353/shq.0.0017.ISSN1538-3555.S2CID161199723.
• Yates, Frances A. (1975).Shakespeare's Last Plays: A New Approach.London:Routledge & Kegan Paul.ISBN978-0-7100-8100-1.
• Yates, Frances A. (1979).The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age.London:Routledge & Kegan Paul.ISBN978-0-415-25409-0.
• Zimbardo, Rose Abdelnour (1963). "Form and Disorder inThe Tempest".Shakespeare Quarterly.14(1).Folger Shakespeare Library:49–56.doi:10.2307/2868137.ISSN0037-3222.JSTOR2868137.

External links

• The TempestArchived26 June 2017 at theWayback Machineat the British Library
• The TempestatStandard Ebooks
• The TempestatProject Gutenberg
• The entire First Folio owned by Brandeis UniversityatInternet Shakespeare Editions
• The TempestNavigatorArchived2 November 2018 at theWayback Machine,including annotated text, line numbers, scene summaries, and text search
• Printed introductory lecture onThe Tempestby Ian Johnston of Malaspina-University College
• Lesson plans forThe Tempestat Web English Teacher
• Anoriginal-spelling version(.docformat) ofWilliam Strachey'sTrue Reportory of the Wracke and Redemption of Sir Thomas Gates, Knight,hosted by Virtual Jamestown
• Shakespeare Birthplace Trust web site
• The Tempestpublic domain audiobook atLibriVox
• Animated version ofThe Tempest,The Puppeteers Cooperative