The Tempest

by William Shakespeare Romance Act I The play begins on a ship, with a ship-master and a boatswain trying to keep the ship from wrecking in a tempest. Alonso, King of Naples, is on board, as are his brothers Antonio and Sebastian. Alonso comes abo e deck merely to gi e the mariners an !nnecessary order" the boatswain begs the nobles to keep below deck d!ring the storm, so that the men can do their #obs witho!t distraction. $owe er, Antonio and Sebastian take the opport!nity to make r!de and sarcastic remarks to the good boatswain, and can do nothing to help. A spell comes o er all on board, and the mariners all flee in desperation" the nobles on deck decide that all is lost witho!t the sailors, and go below deck to say goodbye to their king. %iranda and &rospero are re ealed on the island" %iranda laments that a shipf!l of men m!st ha e died in the tempest, b!t her father reass!res her that none were h!rt, and that the tempest was of his own doing. 'pon %iranda(s re)!est, &rospero begins to tell her of his history, and how they came !pon the island" %iranda was ery yo!ng when she left the island, and cannot remember anyone b!t her father, not e en her dead mother. &rospero tells her how his kingdom was !s!rped by his brother Antonio, while &rospero was distracted by his st!dies, and how the king of Naples s!pported Antonio(s r!le. Antonio then cast &rospero and %iranda o!t of %ilan, and ordered both of them killed" howe er, &rospero tells his da!ghter how the good co!ncilor *on+alo arranged for them not to be killed, which led to their landing on the island. &rospero declares his intention of reclaiming his d!kedom, and that the tempest and his brothers( shipwreck on the island are part of this plan. Ariel makes his first entrance, and declares that &rospero(s bidding has been perfectly performed, and none of the party are harmed" the sailors are still !pon the ship, while the King and his companions ha e been scattered abo!t the island. Ariel reminds &rospero of his promise to free Ariel, and &rospero impresses !pon him how m!ch more genero!s a master he belie es himself to be than Sycora,.

-aliban enters, stating his claim to the island that comes thro!gh his mother Sycora," &rospero(s teachings, for whate er reason, ha e failed !pon -aliban, and -aliban retains his more primiti e nat!re, for which &rospero and %iranda despise him. .erdinand st!mbles !pon %iranda, and they immediately fall in lo e, d!e to Ariel(s magic" b!t &rospero decides to make him a ser ant, and will p!t him to hard tasks abo!t the island. Act II King Alonso has landed on the island, with his brothers Sebastian and Antonio, noblemen Adrian and .rancisco, and the co!ncilor *on+alo. *on+alo tries to console Alonso !pon their good fort!ne of s!r i ing the shipwreck - b!t Alonso is grie ed - not only beca!se his son .erdinand is missing and pres!med dead, b!t beca!se he was ret!rning from his da!ghter(s wedding in Africa, and fears he will ne er see her again beca!se of the distance. Antonio and Sebastian show great skill with mocking wordplay, and !se this skill to stifle *on+alo and Adrian(s attempts to speak frankly to the rest of the party. Ariel(s magic makes the party fall asleep, with the e,ception of Antonio and Sebastian. A strange serio!sness, of Ariel(s doing, falls !pon Antonio and Sebastian. Antonio begins to concoct a plan to get his brother the kingship, which will be m!ch easier if .erdinand, the c!rrent heir, really is dead" and since Alonso(s da!ghter is ery far away in T!nis, Sebastian might be able to inherit the crown with only two m!rders, those of Alonso and *on+alo. Ariel, howe er, hears to conspirators plan, and wakes *on+alo with a warning of the danger he is in. Ariel intends to let &rospero know that the conspiracy has indeed been formed as he wished, and &rospero in t!rn will try to keep *on+alo safe, o!t of appreciation for his past help in preser ing the li es of &rospero and %iranda. -aliban c!rses &rospero, as another storm approaches the island" he takes the storm as a sign that &rospero is !p to mischief, and hides at the approach of what he fears is one of &rospero(s p!nishing spirits. Trinc!lo, Alonso(s co!rt #ester, finds -aliban lying still on the gro!nd and co ered with a cloak, and fig!res him to be a /dead 0ndian/" b!t, the

storm contin!es to approach, so he also hides himself, !sing -aliban(s cloak as a shelter, and flattening himself on the gro!nd beside -aliban(s prostrate form. Alonso(s dr!nken b!tler, Stephano, enters, dr!nk and singing, and st!mbles !pon the strange sight of the two men !nder the cloak" he fig!res, in his dr!nken st!por, that Trinc!lo and -aliban make a fo!r-legged monster. -aliban,in his deliri!m, thinks that Stephano is one of &rospero(s minions, sent to torment him" Stephano thinks a drink of wine will c!re -aliban of what ails him, and bit by bit, gets -aliban dr!nk as well. 0t takes Stephano a while to recogni+e his old friend, Trinc!lo, whom -aliban seems to be ignoring. 1eca!se of Stephano(s generosity with his /celestial li)!or,/ -aliban takes him to be some sort of bene olent god" m!ch to Trinc!lo(s disbelief, -aliban act!ally offers his ser ice to Stephano, forsaking the /tyrant/ &rospero. Stephano accepts the offer. Act III .erdinand has been made to take -aliban(s place as a ser ant, despite his royal stat!s" and tho!gh he does not like &rospero, he does the work beca!se it will benefit his new lo e, %iranda. .erdinand and %iranda e,press their lo e for each other, and both e,press their desire to be married - tho!gh they ha e known each other for less than a day. Stephano, Trinc!lo, and -aliban are drinking" Trinc!lo and Sebastian contin!e to ins!lt -aliban, tho!gh -aliban only protests against Trinc!lo(s remarks, and tries to get Stephano to defend him. -aliban begins to tell the other two abo!t the tyranny of his old master, &rospero, and how he wants to be rid of &rospero fore er" Ariel enters, ca!ses f!rther discord among the gro!p, and gets -aliban to form a m!rder plot against &rospero. -aliban promises Stephano that if &rospero is s!ccessf!lly killed, he will allow Stephano to be r!ler of the island, and will be his ser ant. $e also promises that Stephano will get %iranda if the plot is s!ccessf!l - Ariel lea es, to tell &rospero of these de elopments. Alonso, Adrian, .rancisco, Sebastian, Antonio, and *on+alo are still wandering abo!t the island, and Alon+o has finally gi en !p any hope of his son .erdinand being ali e. Antonio and Sebastian decide to make their m!rdero!s mo e later that night, b!t

their conspiracy is interr!pted by &rospero sending in a h!ge ban)!et ia his spirits, with he himself there, b!t in isible. They are all ama+ed, b!t not too taken aback that they will not eat the food" b!t, as they are abo!t to eat, a engef!l Ariel enters, taking credit for their shipwreck, and makes the ban)!et anish. Alonso recogni+es Ariel(s words as being of &rospero(s pen, and the great g!ilt of Alonso, Antonio, and Sebastian begins to take them o er, at the tho!ght of &rospero being ali e, and so nearby. Act IV &rospero stops .erdinand(s p!nishment, and decides to finally gi e %iranda to him, since he has pro en his lo e for her thro!gh his ser ice. &rospero accepts the !nion, b!t iss!es them a warning" if .erdinand takes %iranda(s irginity before a ceremony can be performed, then their !nion will be c!rsed. .erdinand swears to &rospero that they shall wait !ntil the ceremony to cons!mmate their marriage, and then &rospero calls !pon Ariel to perform one of his last acts of magic. A betrothal mas)!e is performed for the party by some of &rospero(s magical spirits" 2!no, -eres, and 0ris are the goddesses who are represented within the mas)!e, and the play speaks abo!t the bo!nties of a good marriage, and blesses the happy co!ple. This act of magic so capti ates &rospero that he forgets -aliban(s plot to kill him" for a moment, he almost loses control, b!t manages to p!ll himself o!t of his re erie and take action. -aliban, Stephano, and Trinc!lo come looking for &rospero, and swipe a few garments of &rospero(s on their way. -aliban still wants ery m!ch to kill &rospero, and carry o!t this plot" howe er, Trinc!lo and Stephano are ery dr!nk, as !s!al, and pro e completely incapable of anything b!t petty theft. &rospero catches them - not diffic!lt, since they are making a h!ge amo!nt of noise--and sends Ariel after them as they flee. Act V &rospero finally has all !nder his control" Ariel has apprehended Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio, and they are all waiting for &rospero(s #!dgment. .inally, &rospero makes !p his mind against re enge, and makes a speech that signifies his

ren!nciation of magic" the acc!sed and the other nobles enter the magic circle that &rospero has made, and stand there, enchanted, while he speaks. &rospero charges Alonso with throwing &rospero and his da!ghter o!t of 0taly, and Antonio and Sebastian with being part of this crime. &rospero anno!nces Ariel(s freedom after Ariel sees the party back to Naples, and Ariel sings a song o!t of #oy. Alonso and &rospero are reconciled after Alonso declares his remorse and repents his wrongs to &rospero and %iranda, and &rospero finally wins back his d!kedom from Antonio. &rospero, perhaps !nwillingly, also says that he forgi es Antonio and Sebastian, tho!gh he calls them /wicked/ and e,presses his reser ations abo!t letting them off the hook. After despairing that his son is dead, Alonso finds o!t that his son .erdinand is indeed ali e, and the two are re!nited" then, .erdinand and %iranda(s engagement is anno!nced, and is appro ed before the whole party by Alonso and &rospero. *on+alo re#oices that on the oyage, s!ch a good match was made, and that the brothers are re!nited, and some of the bad blood between them is now fl!shed o!t. Ariel has readied Alonso(s boat for their depart!re, and the boatswain shows !p again, telling them abo!t what happened to all of the sailors d!ring the tempest. -aliban apologi+es to &rospero for taking the foolish Stephano as his master, and &rospero, at last, acknowledges -aliban, and takes him as his own. Stephano, Trinc!lo, and -aliban(s plot is e,posed to the whole gro!p, and is immediately forgi en. &rospero in ites e eryone to pass one last night in the island at his dwelling, and promises to tell the story of his and %iranda(s s!r i al, and of the de ices of his magic. The play ends with &rospero addressing the a!dience, telling them that they hold an e en greater power than &rospero the character, and can decide what happens ne,t.