The Tempest

The Tempest is a fairy play. It tells Prospero, Duke of Milan, who is dethroned by his brother Antonio and put to sea in a leaky boat with his daughter Miranda. They arrive in a desert island inhabited by Caliban the son of the witch Sycorax. Here Prospero studies sorcery, so he discovers Ariel, an airy spirit, from long slavering to Caliban. Thanks to his magical arts, he learns that Antonio, Alonso (king of Naples) and his son Ferdinand will sale near the island. He makes the tempest so the arrive in different part of island. Ferdinand falls in love with Miranda, meanwhile Caliban fails in killing Prospero. At the end Prospero forgives everybody and sets free Ariel and Caliban, and regains his Dukedom where Ferdinand and Miranda will be married.

This island represents an ideal world. Ariel represents the highest human faculty, because she is the spirit which control nature. The theme of this play is the forgiveness, other themes are: youth, love, harmony and magic. The interest in the occult passionate the Elizabethans. Other themes treated by Shakespeare are: kingship, war, honour, life and death, disorder in a man or in a state, the passing of time and the power of nature. Love is often associated with gold, jewels and flowers to show the sweetness of love. Poetry is the only way to save a man. The corruption of a court is associated with images of illness, suffering and death. The Elizabethans love music, so in the play music is used to accompany peace, love and unity. The dialog between Caliban and Prospero originates from a violent situation. Prospero considers Caliban like a savage, slave, brutish, vile man. Caliban represents the savage that refuses to be civilized. The play seems to echo the contemporary condition of the native Americans. Prospero speaks as a colonist who considers the island his natural possession, he also tries to impose his own civilization by teaching Caliban his own language. But Caliban represents the clash between the Old (civilized) world and the New (primitive) one.