The Tempest

In The Tempest Shakespeare puts romance onstage. He gives us a magician, a monster, a grief-stricken king, a wise old councillor, and no fewer than two beautiful princesses (one of whom we only hear about) and two treacherous brothers. The magician is Prospero, former duke of the Italian city-state of Milan, whose intense attraction to the study of magic caused him to lose sight of the political necessity of maintaining power, which he then lost to his treacherous brother, Antonio. When we first meet Prospero, he has already suffered twelve years of exile on a desert island, where his only companions have been his daughter, Miranda, now a beautiful princess, the spirit Ariel, and the monster Caliban, whom Prospero has used his magic to enslave. Now, sailing by the island and caught in a terrible storm are Prospero’s enemies (and one of his friends), who are returning from North Africa after having attended the wedding of another beautiful princess, Claribel of Naples, and the king of Tunis. On the ship are Antonio, who usurped Prospero’s dukedom and put him out to sea; King Alonso of Naples, who conspired with Antonio against Prospero; Sebastian, Alonso’s brother, who is about to conspire with Antonio against Alonso; Prince Ferdinand, Alonso’s son, destined to discover and fall into the power of the beautiful Miranda; and finally, Gonzalo, the wise old councillor who, twelve years before, provided Prospero with the books and other necessities that have made it possible for Prospero not only to survive his exile, but also to grow ever more powerful as a magician. Prospero will now turn his awesome power upon his enemies through the agency of Ariel (and the many other spirits whom Ariel directs) in producing terror in Prospero’s victims and pleasure in those whom Prospero favors. Yet The Tempest is more than romance, for its characters exceed the roles of villains and heroes, some of them becoming both villains and heroes. Prospero seems heroic in enduring his long exile, in protecting his daughter from Caliban, and in mastering a spirit world that he can use to control the elements and much else. Yet he also seems villainous in his enslavement of others, notably Caliban, and his enormous appetite for revenge on his enemies. Caliban seems to deserve the name of monster for his attack upon Miranda, but he also seems heroic in his resistance to Prospero, who wrests the island from him and attempts to tyrannize over him. Thus The Tempest belongs not only to the world of romance, but also to the period of colonialism, written as it was in the early stages of the European exploration and conquest of the New World. The doubleness that we see in the play’s embodiment of seemingly timeless romance and a temporally specific historical moment is characteristic of this complex play, which seems simple and lyrical but which contains wonderfully complex narratives and emotions.

The Tempest was among the last of Shakespeare’s plays; he is thought to have written it in 1610–11, and it was performed at court November 1, 1611. It was printed in the 1623 First Folio. Among Shakespeare’s sources were an account of Sir Thomas Gates’s shipwreck, works on the New World such as Silvester Jourdain’s A Discovery of the Barmudas and the True Declaration of the Estate of the Colonie in Virginia, and other sources he frequently used for his plays, including Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Virgil's Aeneid, and the essays of Montaigne.

●Adapted from the New Folger Library Shakespeare edition, edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. © 1994 Folger Shakespeare Library

1893. The World's Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago … Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 premiers … Prospero, the Duke of Milan, is deposed, exiled and set adrift at sea with his infant daughter, Miranda … and his books … 1909. Ernest Shackleton's expedition discovers the South Pole … The Grand Isle Hurricane devastates Cuba … Alonso, the King of Naples, shipwrecks with his crew on the shore of a strange, uncharted island ... And this is where our steampunk Tempest begins. The last of Shakespeare's comedies, The Tempest is a wonderful tale of magic both real and imagined, of love as a voyage of discovery, of wild things that cannot be tamed. It's big and bold and we can't wait to get started. And yes, there will be gears. Among other things. Our Prospero is an illusionist, the product of a late 19th Century that resembles history, but only just. His magic is borne of electricity and steam. Exiled from Milan, his known world, our wizard will engineer a mechanical world of illusions. At his side is Ariel, the embodiment of energy unbound, like electricity alive. His Miranda is just as brilliant as her father, empowered further by hope and joy. And sharing the island is Caliban, nature itself, doing Prospero's bidding only until he can find a newer, better, stronger master.

Prospero – Zip Rampy

Miranda – Jo Arellanes

Ferdinand – Justin Munson

Ariel Prime – Cynthia Brower

Caliban – Paul Riley

Alonso – Donovan Craig

Antonia – Emma Greene

Gonzalo – Gary Heffelfinger

Sebastian – Christo Taoushiani

Francesca – Kate Rasnick

Stephano – Ben Silver

Trinculo – Jessica DeMaria

Boatswain – Adam Levenstein

Master of the Ship – Kirsten Milliken

Mariner – Lyle Chadwick

Ceres – Kate Rasnick

Iris - Sarah Frey

Juno – Sarah Keyes Chang

And featuring as Aspects of Ariel: Ilene Miller, Emily Gail Howell, Emily Arvidson, Hannah Twiggs, Aleah Burgdorf, Shari Bonsack

1.What do Antonio and Sebastian want to do to Alonso and Gonzalo? Why? What does Antonio mean when he says, "What's past is prologue" ?

2. How does Trinculo and Stephano's discovery of Caliban resemble aspects of Prospero and Miranda's first encounters with him? What do these scenes of discovery reveal about the political, religious, or social attitudes of each character?

3. What are the goals of the conspiracy staged by Trinculo, Stephano, and Caliban What does each party want to get out of it? Do you ever feel that they are likely to succeed? How (if at all) does the playwright let us know whose side he's on?

4. What kind of society would Gonzalo like to found on the desert island? What is the reaction of his companions?

5. Does it make a difference that Prospero’s power lies in science and not just with the spirit Ariel? What kind?

6. What do you think happens on the island once the Italians leave? What kind of community or way of life do you see Caliban and Ariel forming? Will the co-exist or try to live on their own?

7. Is Prospero “right” in the way he treats Caliban? His daughter Miranda? The Italian conspirators?

1. Choose one of Shakespeare's plays (other than The Tempest) and adapt it to another time and place OR an imagined reality. Plan your set and costume design. Justify your choice and discuss in detail 3 plot or character changes that would be most affected by the adaptation.

2. Many readers find Caliban’s plight to be more sympathetic than his fate justifies. Re-write the ending of The Tempest in which Caliban succeeds in leading Stephano and Trinculo to defeat Prospero and take the island. Who will rule? How will this change the lives of the other survivors?