Overview

Element	Details
Play Title	The Tempest
Playwright	William Shakespeare
Genre	Romance / Tragicomedy
Setting	A magical island and the sea nearby
Central Conflict	Betrayal, revenge, forgiveness, and restoration

Alonso, King of Naples, and his court are travelling home from the wedding of Alonso’s daughter in Tunisia when their ship is threatened by a violent storm at sea. The courtiers and the crew of the ship argue as it sinks out of frustration and fear.

Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, and his daughter Miranda are watching the ship from a nearby island. Miranda worries about the people on the ship, believes her father used magic to start the storm, and begs him to quiet the seas. Then, Prospero tells Miranda about their past, describing how his brother Antonio overthrew and betrayed him 12 years prior.

Antonio planned up Prospero and Miranda’s abduction and abandonment at sea with the aid of Alonso. Now, according to Prospero, he is in a position to exact revenge on his adversaries, and as a result, he summoned the storm.

Miranda is enchanted by Prospero, and she nods off. The storm’s originator Ariel, his spirit servant, is then called forward. After confirming that everyone reached the island safely but in separate groups, Ariel mentions Prospero’s vow to release him from servitude early in exchange for his good behaviour.

Prospero informs the spirit angrily that he freed him from the cell that the witch Sycorax had imprisoned him in. (The island’s former ruler was Sycorax.) Following Prospero’s instructions, Ariel turns himself invisible, then goes to observe the shipwrecked courtiers after apologising.

Then, Prospero wakes Miranda and calls his aide Caliban, a Sycorax descendant. Caliban curses Prospero and disputes any debt he may have to him for educating him.He uses Prospero’s removal of him as the island’s ruler as evidence for his claim.

Ariel is still invisible as she guides Alonso’s son Ferdinand to Prospero. Miranda and Ferdinand fall in love right away, but Prospero casts a spell on Ferdinand and kidnaps him. In another location, Alonso, Antonio, Sebastian (Alonso’s brother), and Gonzalo (Alonso’s advisor) awaken to find themselves on land in a secure location. Alonso laments, believing Ferdinand was killed in the storm and drowned.

Gonzalo and Alonso are sent to sleep when Ariel appears and starts playing sombre music. Antonio convinces Sebastian to try to kill Alonso in order to become king of Naples when they are asleep. Just in time to stop the act, Ariel awakens the men who were sleeping.Caliban runs across Trinculo, the jester, and Alonso’s butler Stephano on yet another area of the island.

They offer him wine and get him inebriated, so he takes them for gods. With Ariel listening in, Caliban convinces them to assist him in killing Prospero by promising to make them the island’s lords in exchange for their cooperation.

Ferdinand meets Miranda as he works arduously for Prospero. They show each other their affection. They consent to get married as Prospero observes them in secret.Later on, Ariel once more foils Antonio and Sebastian’s attempt to harm Alonso.

He appears as a harpy and accuses them and Alonso of overthrowing Prospero, claiming that the only thing that may rescue them at this point is genuine remorse. Alonso apologises right away. Sebastian and Antonio promise to fight back, but Prospero quickly charms and captures everyone.

Prospero approves of Miranda and Ferdinand’s union back at his cave home. To put up a lavish masque (dramatic performance) for the newlyweds, he calls spirits. Prospero suddenly recalls Caliban’s plan to have him killed. He quickly terminates the masque and, with Ariel’s assistance, deceives the three would-be murderers before chasing them away.In the play’s last scene, Prospero decides with Ariel’s advice that he will forgo his powers and forgive his adversaries rather than exacting revenge. In the robes he donned as the Duke of Milan, he introduces himself to them.

The courtiers are in disbelief. While Antonio is mute, Alonso apologises and cedes control of Milan. When Alonso and Ferdinand are reunited, Alonso approves of Miranda and Ferdinand’s union. Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano are called before Prospero, who exposes them to public ridicule.

Caliban scolds himself for thinking they were deities. Ariel is finally given his freedom after Prospero gives him the order to make sure that everyone returns to Italy safely.