Collins Classroom Classics - The Tempest

By (author) : William Shakespeare, Peter Alexander, Lucy Toop, Mike Gould

English

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SUMMAERY

The Tempest, thought to be one of the last plays that Shakespeare wrote alone, begins with a storm which shipwrecks the king of Naples and his crew. We quickly learn that the tempest was not a natural occurence; it was created by Prospero, the usurped duke of Milan who is stranded on a nearby island, with the help of Ariel, a spirit in his service. The rest of the play explores the relationships between the shipwrecked crew, Prospero, his daughter Miranda, and a native of the island: a half human, half monster called Caliban. Though this play is traditionally classified as a comedy, more modern scholarship, out of a desire to highlight the dramatic elements of some of Shakepeare’s comedies, created a genre subgroup called the “late romances.” The Tempest is included in that subgroup.