What follows is the summary of The Tempest and some special vocabulary you’ll need to know.

For example, Prospero comes from the Italian city of Milano, and most English-speaking people today call it “Mi-LAN”, but whenever The Tempest is performed the city is pronounced “MILL-en” so it sounds better in the poetry.

Ariel’s song in Act One refers to something called “Burden dispersedly” – this is “an undersong coming from all parts of the stage.” Maybe the other actors who were not on stage all started singing sounds like the barking of a dog, to sound spooky and like spirits.

Many scholars refer to this play as Shakespeare’s last, written around 1611, although he probably collaborated with John Fletcher on the subsequent Henry VIII, Two Noble Kinsmen, and possibly the long-lost Cardenio. The reasons for believing Tempest to be Shakespeare’s swan song are largely contextual: for example, there was an actual shipwreck in Bermuda in 1610 which may have inspired the play, although obviously there have been shipwrecks for as long as there have been ships. In any case, it is irresistible to consider Prospero’s speech in Act Five, in which he promises to “break my staff” and “drown my book”, as our Bard’s farewell to the literary world.

The philosopher Aristotle wrote that every dramatic work should contain what he called the “Three Unities”. That is, the play should have only one plot, be set in only one location, and take place in the course of a single day. During the Renaissance many European dramatists adopted this restriction, although Elizabethan writers such as Shakespeare largely ignored it. It’s significant that for The Tempest, his final play before retiring, he actually does preserve the unities: the story takes place “in real time”, and entirely on or near Prospero’s island.

Given all the action that takes place in the space of those few hours, The Tempest is a surprisingly short play — in fact, it’s Shakespeare’s fourth shortest.

Vocabulary
ague – fever
alack – “Something terrible is happening”
allay – ease, solve a problem
bade – ordered, commanded
bark – ship
betid(betide) – have in the future
durst – dare
maid – virgin
Man in the Moon – just like the Japanese believe the face of the moon show a picture of two rabbits making mochi, the Elizabethans saw it as a picture of a man with a dog and a small bush.
ope – open
op’d – opened
(a) a plague/pox (on/upon) – The plague and the pox were both bad diseases. Saying “I hope (somebody) gets this bad disease” was a common way to curse.
sans – (from the French) without
trod – stepped on, walked
welkin – sky


ACT 1
SCENE 1
Alonso, the king of Naples, and Antonio, the Duke of Milan (remember, “MILL-en”) are on a boat in the middle of a storm. The sailors yell at them to get back below while they try to stop the ship from sinking. The nobles are angry at the sailors because they think the sailors aren’t paying them proper respect. Then the ship sinks.

SCENE 2
The storm is really caused by Prospero who lives on a nearby island and studies magic. He tells his daughter Miranda that twelve years ago he was the Duke of Milan, but his brother Antonio betrayed him and they were both marooned on the island. Prospero controls both the magical sprite Ariel and the evil monster Caliban.
Ariel charms Ferdinand to come to Prospero and Miranda. He is the son of Alonso, and he thinks that Alonso drowned in the shipwreck. He and Miranda fall in love at first sight. Prospero has a secret plan and pretends that he thinks Ferdinand is a spy.

ACT 2
SCENE 1
Alonso is with the others on another part of the island, and he thinks that Ferdinand drowned in the shipwreck. Adrian and Gonzalo try to cheer him up, but Antonio and Sebastian keep mocking them.
While the others are asleep, Antonio tells Sebastian that he will kill Alonso, which will make Sebastian the king of Naples. Ariel wakes up Gonzalo just in time, and Sebastian quickly has to think up a lie to explain why he had his sword out.

SCENE 2
Trinculo the king’s jester and Stephano the alcoholic butler both made it safely off the shipwreck. Caliban at first thinks they are Prospero’s spirits sent to hurt him, but after he tastes Stephano’s wine he believes that Stephano is magical and will set him free from Prospero.

ACT 3
SCENE 1
Ferdinand is working like a slave for Prospero, who is pretending not to like him. Ferdinand and Miranda pledge their love to each other. Secretly Prospero is delighted that his plan is succeeding.

SCENE 2
Trinculo, Stephano and Caliban are getting drunk and plotting to kill Prospero. Ariel overhears them and starts them fighting among themselves.

SCENE 3
Sebastian and Antonio keep looking for their chance to kill the king. Ariel appears before the king and other nobles to torment them for banishing Prospero.

ACT 4
SCENE 1
Prospero gives his consent for Ferdinand and Miranda to marry, and has Ariel assemble the other spirits to perform a masque for them. Trinculo, Stephano and Caliban try to kill Prospero but Ariel distracts them and Prospero uses magic to frighten them off.

ACT 5
SCENE 1
Prospero reunites Ferdinand with his father, and reveals himself as the rightful Duke of Milan. He also reveals that the ship never sank, but is harboured nearby with everyone safe. At the end, Prospero sets Ariel free from service and gives up magic.