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Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, was overthrown twelve years ago by his brother Antonio with the help of the King of Naples and set adrift with his…
Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, was overthrown twelve years ago by his brother Antonio with the help of the King of Naples and set adrift with his little daughter Miranda. They reached a remote island, where Prospero, a scholar of magic, freed the spirit Ariel and made the island's savage native, Caliban, his servant. Now his enemies are sailing past, and Prospero raises a storm that wrecks them on his shores. While the king's son Ferdinand falls in love with Miranda ('O brave new world, that has such people in't!'), Prospero holds all his enemies in his power and must decide between revenge and forgiveness.
Context and significance
Written around 1610, probably the last play Shakespeare wrote alone, it draws partly on reports of an English ship wrecked off Bermuda in 1609. It is the first play in the First Folio of 1623, whose text this edition follows. Prospero's farewell to his magic, 'We are such stuff as dreams are made on', has long been read as Shakespeare's farewell to the stage. Its earlier companion in enchantment is A Midsummer Night's Dream.
About the author
William Shakespeare (1564–1616), born in Stratford-upon-Avon, actor, playwright and shareholder of a London company, wrote about thirty-seven plays and 154 sonnets.