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Recommended Reading: 600 Classics Reviewed

The Tempest

by William Shakespeare

1611

Drama

Romantic

An exiled duke employs magic to recover his domain. This eloquent, highly crafted play marked the culmination of Shakespeare's dramatic career.

At the center of the play's action, and controlling it from the island where he lives in exile, is the wise magician Prospero. He conjures a storm to shipwreck his brother Antonio, usurper of his ducal throne in Milan. Prospero engineers a marriage between his daughter and the son of an enemy, King Alonso of Naples, who accompanies Antonio. The marriage would end the feud and allow Prospero to regain his dukedom.

The portrayal of the villainous characters presents a contradiction between seeming and being. Reportedly they have victimized Prospero; yet on stage we see them as Prospero's victims. The shipwreck leaves them helpless, stranded, and separated; Alonso grieves when he thinks that his son has died in the storm.

Over all is Prospero—reportedly the victim—manipulating others' perceptions. In the end, he reveals Alonso's son as still living, secures the king's repentance for supporting Antonio the usurper, and regains his dukedom.

As Prospero manages the perceptions of other characters, Shakespeare manages those of the audience, often to its confusion. For example, though Prospero is supposed to be the stock figure of the benevolent magician, Shakespeare makes him address his daughter and servants with unneeded harshness that seems out of character. Again, the stock dramatic plot calls for wrongdoers to repent, yet two who planned Alonso's murder are pardoned without repenting. Even a Christian audience might have trouble forgiving their lack of remorse. Such conflict is a typical effect of watching Shakespearean drama.

Scholars see The Tempest as Shakespeare's farewell to the stage. Prospero's speech beginning “Our revels now are ended …” seems to sum up both the play's action and the playwright's estimate of human life. Besides a philosophically challenging situation, the play contains some of Shakespeare's best poetry, songs, and comic scenes.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Shakespeare, William. "The Tempest." Recommended Reading: 600 Classics Reviewed, edited by Editors of Salem Press, Salem Press, 2015. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=6CR_0537.
APA 7th
Shakespeare, W. (2015). The Tempest. In E. Salem Press (Ed.), Recommended Reading: 600 Classics Reviewed. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Shakespeare, William. "The Tempest." Edited by Editors of Salem Press. Recommended Reading: 600 Classics Reviewed. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2015. Accessed September 15, 2025. online.salempress.com.