The Tempest by William Shakespeare | Summary & Analysis

[Music] in the introduction to William Shakespeare's play The Tempest Alonso the King of Naples and his men are travelling on a ship from Africa where Alonso's daughter has been married back to Italy when they face a tempest or a terrible storm in the rising action magician Prospero and his daughter Miranda watched the ship being tossed and turned in the storm the two have been stranded on the island for 12 years since their escape from Milan when Prospero was deposed by his traitorous brother Antonio and other enemies and exiled the very men on board the ship Prospero has used his magic to orchestrate the storm and the events that will follow in order to exact revenge he has his servant the spirit Ariel separate those onboard into three groups the nobles Ferdinand and the comics Trinculo and Stephano Prospero other servant Caliban is a monster like man son of an evil witch Sycorax whom Prospero defeated when he came to the island also Ferdinand the son of King Alonso saved from the storm falls in love with Miranda when they see each other for the first time she reciprocates meanwhile the rest of the Kings party has survived and arrives on shore on a different part of the island Alonso is certain his son Ferdinand has drowned Antonio and the King's brother Sebastian plot to kill King Alonso so that Sebastian can become king Antonio reminds his friends that he did the same thing to his brother Prospero elsewhere on the island Trinculo the Kings jester and Stefano the Kings Butler StumbleUpon Caliban Caliban believes he is seeing a God and swears to serve Stefano together the men get very drunk and come up with a plan to kill Prospero so that Stefano can become the ruler of the island the king and his men search for Ferdinand with no luck exhausted they are shocked when a magical banquet appears before them just as they prepare to it Ariel tells them sins against possible their treachery is exposed meanwhile the climax of the play sees Prospero calling forth a celebratory mask with music and dancing by a host of spirits to honor the engagement of Miranda and Ferdinand midway through the party Prospero remembers that Caliban Stefano and Trinculo are coming to kill him so he ends the celebration in the falling action realizing he has everyone under his control Prospero also realizes he does not want to execute revenge but wants to extend mercy instead he vows to give up his magic after he has brought about restoration Ariel brings the men who are under a magic spell to Prospero who explains the various crimes that have been committed against him but he announces his forgiveness of them all Prospero reveals that Ferdinand is alive and engaged to his daughter Miranda Alonso is overjoyed at his son's survival and approves of the coming marriage in the resolution Prospero turns to the audience and ask them to free him so he can go to Naples as well by clapping to show that they have enjoyed the show [Music] seven central characters and their relationships - and maneuverings by protagonist Prospero tell the story of Shakespeare's The Tempest the magician Prospero is the main character in the play both as the focus as well as the orchestrator of all the action as the Duke of Milan he was too focused on magical study and left the running of his dukedom to his brother Antonio who turned on Prospero and deposed him exiled to an island Prospero and his daughter Miranda have lived in near isolation for 12 years during that time Prospero has become a more powerful magician when fate brings the men who conspired against him within reach Prospero uses his powers to elevate his daughters position in society and pursue revenge against his enemies but in the end Prospero forgives his enemies regains his dukedom and plans to return with his newly engaged daughter to Italy Prospero faithful spirit servant Ariel helps Prospero gather his enemies on his island in order to repay them for their traitorous crimes against him Ariel is haunted by his former experience as a slave to the witch Sycorax enticed by the promise of freedom from Prospero who freed Ariel from a tree he serves Prospero willingly using his magic to manipulate the other characters throughout the play exiled with her father when she was only three years old Miranda has grown up on an island with no humans other than her father and their slave Caliban when she meets Ferdinand she is awed by his beauty and immediately falls in love engaged to him at the end of the play she prepares to travel to Naples for their wedding Caliban son of the deceased which sicker acts is a half-human who lost control of the island when Prospero and his daughter Miranda arrived there twelve years earlier although Prospero and his daughter tried to educate Caliban in their language in ways and claim they treated him with respect and kindness at first he later tried to rape Miranda he is now a bitter frequently punished slave when Caliban meets some of the castaways from the ship Trinculo and Stephano he hopes to serve a new master Alonso the King of Naples is on board a ship returning to Italy from Africa where his daughter has married the king of Algiers after the shipwreck Alonso despairs over the presumed drowning of his son Ferdinand Ariel reveals Alonso's part in the Exile of Prospero Alonso repents of his past sins Gonzalo King Alonso's advisor and Prospero's loyal friend is a positive person he sees the beauty and purity of the isolated island considering a utopia he might create there eliminating poverty and wealth as well as social classes because he helped Prospero escape long ago he has earned prosper owes gratitude Antonio is the current Duke of Milan after undermining his brother Prospero's power and exiling him from his home 12 years before a greedy remorseless and unsympathetic character he plots with Sebastian King Alonso's brother to kill Alonso and take power [Music] The Tempest itself magic books sleep and dreams are the three key symbols William Shakespeare uses in The Tempest to convey the powers at work in bringing revenge and restoration to the characters of the play a tempest is a terrible windy storm it's not unusual to hear someone refer to the storms of life meaning the various life circumstances that toss weak mortals to the winds storms themselves suggest a swirling chaos of events beyond human control Shakespeare builds on this idea of the storm and The Tempest the magical storm appears out of nowhere but it's actually the result of Prospero's long-held plan of revenge against the enemies who drove him from his rightful place as Duke of Milan the storm represents the consequences of the treachery and self-interest of Antonio Shakespeare suggests that when the natural order of things is disrupted the repercussions create a conflict that goes beyond the realm of humans and into the realm of the supernatural like a calm after a storm the chaos that The Tempest produces is followed by a peaceful outcome and the restoration of order books particularly magic books are key symbols after all early in the play the audience learns that it was prosperous books that kept him from ruling well in Milan he was too focused on contemplative literary pursuits to be an active ruler during Shakespeare's time it was common to compare the life of contemplation which focused on intellectual pursuits to one of action as a result Prospero surrendered too much control to his more active brother and ended up deposed but Gonzalo snuck some of his books on board the boat that exiled him through his magic books Prospero learns to use the power that will help him execute revenge against his brother the books symbolize Prospero unique use of power to control the world toward his own ends at the end of the play Prospero surrenders his magical powers and books so that he can rejoin human society and well many scholars also believe the magic books represent Shakespeare's own writing which he too surrenders at the end of the play The Tempest is believed to be one of if not his final play sleep and dreams are not just frequent symbols but frequent pastimes in the tempest aerial controls characters levels of alertness and awareness by putting them to sleep so the spirit and Prospero can execute other plans the sleep and dreams represent just how illusory human control is over life characters dream in ways that evoke their wants and desires but also sleep when they're being manipulated like dolls so that Prospero and Ariel can enact their plans as Prospero says we are such stuff as dreams are made on and our little life is rounded with a sleep [Music] language and reality the magic of theatre power and exploitation revenge forgiveness and restoration and utopia and idealism these are the all encompassing themes of William Shakespeare's The Tempest in The Tempest language is power and characters wielded to bless curse confuse manipulate or heal Prospero is the most powerful character because of his studies in magic and advanced skill in manipulating Ariel a representation of Prospero's thoughts noble characters bless and curse in their ordinary language and alliances are created between those who share the same language for example Ferdinand de Miranda's love bond begins with the recognition that Miranda speaks the same language as he does and Caliban shared language with Stefano and Trinculo gives him the power to entice them to overthrow Prospero and empathize with him the magic of theatre speaks to the nature of magic and its ability to change reality in unexpected and inexplicable ways the obvious magic in the play comes from Prospero and his ability to manipulate the islands spirit and nature but many scholars believe that the theme of magic represents the power of the playwright to create something out of nothing as a magician Prospero controls and manipulates circumstances and people and Shakespeare as a playwright does the same eventually bringing restoration and order the play explores the role of power and exploitation over people in families and in the social order in nearly every scene Shakespeare reveals a situation in which power and its exploitation creates a lack of harmony from the opening scene when the nobles on the ship interfere with the work of the sailors - Antonio becoming power-hungry and driving Prospero into exile - Prospero becoming master of Caliban and Ariel despite Calvin's claim to the island it is not until Prospero willingly gives up his magical power and his need for revenge that the spell is broken and there is any hope of peace in the social order revenge forgiveness and restoration is a major theme while the driving energy of the play comes from the individual's desire for revenge the only way to destroy the power of revenge is to absorb it rather than unleash it which is what Prospero does at the end of the play willingly surrendering both his power and his need for revenge almost all of the major characters except Antonio and Sebastian show remorse over some aspect of the past ultimately asking for forgiveness Prospero admits he was a bad Duke Caliban regrets serving a new master and Stefano admits he would rather be a bad ruler even if he only had one subject Alonso apologizes and asks for Prospero's pardon through forgiveness freedom is restored to those washed up on the island even as Prospero's position in Milan is restored Gonzalo's ideal Commonwealth speech presents the political ideas of utopia and idealism in the play but Prospero is The Tempest true idealist he believes in divine providence and heavenly music the power of nature virtue in the pursuit of knowledge these beliefs seem quite idealistic as compared to the forces driving his brother Antonio Prospero is idealism is consistent throughout the play those who seek disharmony and discord lose to the idealistic characters seeking harmony and balance drowning music and servants are the three most significant motifs recurring in Shakespeare's and Wilde play The Tempest first off the prevalence of water imagery throughout the play serves to reinforce the ever-present force of The Tempest and its effects on the lives of the characters Prospero claims that his grief over his loss to dukedom could have drowned the sea Ferdinand is certain that his father is drowned and Alonso believes that Ferdinand is drowned departure by drowning suggests a profound and complete loss nothing returns from the sea however loss is transformed into rebirth Ferdinand and Alonso are not drowned and they reunite Prospero who also didn't drown at sea regains his dukedom through the marriage of his daughter Miranda and Ferdinand music among other mysterious noises in the play creates a sensory and enchanting experience for the characters and the audience alike the music reinforces the premise that the setting is magical Ariel's music leads Ferdinand and Miranda and it wakes Gonzalo prior to Alonso's attempted murder the banquet and the wedding are awash in music it is as if the music and chance the island where there is magic on the island there is strange and beautiful music servants particularly servant master relationships dominate the play and an exploration of power Prospero and Caliban or Ariel Caliban pledging himself to Stefano or the servant like devotion Miranda offers Ferdinand for example Shakespeare seems to ask at every turn in what ways as power used and abused to these unequal relationships The Tempest is a play that examines the effects of power in both positive and negative lights as relationships under pressure are jeopardized or destabilized [Music] you

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Keywords: shakespeare, tempest, the tempest, william shakespeare, william shakespeare (author), prospero, caliban, shakespeare summarized, the tempest (play), shakespeare plays, ariel, miranda, the tempest william shakespeare, the tempest william shakespeare summary, ariel spirit, miranda tempest, plays about magic, plays about love

Id: Ap3m3qswgus

Length: 15min 2sec (902 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 30 2019