Product Description

The most poetic and magical of Shakespeare's comedies, this play contrasts lyrical fantasy surrounding the spirit Ariel and the savage Calaban, with a tale of political intrigue focused around Prospero, the banished Duke of Milan, now a wizard living on a remote island.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22572 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
One of Shakespeare's most famous but also enigmatic plays, for many years the story of Prospero's exile from his native Milan, and life with his daughter Miranda on an unnamed island in the Mediterranean, was seen as an autobiographical dramatisation of Shakespeare's departure from the London stage. The Epilogue, spoken by Prospero, claims that "now my charms are all o'erthrown", appeared to reflect Shakespeare's own renunciation of his magical dramatic powers as he retired to Stratford. But The Tempest is far more than this, as recent commentators have pointed out. The dramatic action observes the classical unities of time, place and action, as Prospero uses his "rough magic" to lure his wicked usurping brother, Antonio, and King Alonso of Naples to his island retreat to torment them before engineering his return to Milan.

However, the play is full of extraordinary anomalies and fantastic interludes, including Gonzalo's fantasy of a utopian commonwealth, Prospero's magical servant Ariel, and the "poisonous slave" Caliban. The creation of Caliban has particularly fascinated critics, who have noticed in his creation a colonial dimension to the play. In this respect Caliban can be seen as an American Indian or African slave, who articulates a particularly powerful strain of anti-colonial sentiment, telling Prospero that "this island's mine, by Sycorax my mother,/ Which thou tak'st from me". This has led to an intense reassessment of the play from a post-colonial perspective, as critics and historians have debated the extent to which the play endorses or criticises early English colonial expansion. --Jerry Brotton

From the Back Cover
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on."

Shakespeare's last play is a mystical drama of estrangement and reconciliation.

Deposed from his dukedom in Milan and cast out to sea with his daughter, Miranda, Prospero has a miraculous power over the island on which they have made their home. As the play begins, Prospero has used his art to bring about another shipwreck. This time his usurping brother and his colleagues are cast ashore, but through the power of magic, love and forgiveness, chaos is gradually transformed into order.

This edition of the text contains notes, a glossary and an introduction.

About the Author
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright of the 16th and 17 centuries, now widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the word's pre-eminent dramatist.William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright of the 16th and 17 centuries, now widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the word's pre-eminent dramatist.

Customer Reviews

Great play, but be wary of the edition
I keep finding myself writing this at the moment: this is a wonderful work, but do think twice before buying this edition of the play, as if you need something to study, you'll be left rather high and dry here.

The other reviewer on this page has some trouble getting their head around why people get so excited about "The Tempest", and cannot see a clear "story" as in "Romeo and Juliet". But then, that's partly the point: that is an early play, sticking closely to its models and offering relatively little to doubt or to trouble the viewer. "The Tempest" may or may not be Shakespeare's last play (it seems to be the last play he wrote alone; he did collaborate on some other plays), but it is certainly a late work, written at a time when he was so well versed in what the theatre could do, and in the dramatic forms it had to offer, he seems almost to have pushed the boundaries of drama to their absolute limits. One sees here, three plots (at least) running simultaneously, with one central character, each one exploring different issues, and each one employing different dramatic methods. If one were to want an overview of the theatre in England at the beginning of the sixteenth century, one could do a lot worse than starting here.

"The Tempest" may be an odd play as far as its narrative goes, but it is wonderful in its poetry. It contains many glorious passages, sometimes coming from the mouths of the most unlikely characters, and for that reason it is worth reading.

The only reason I've not awarded this book five stars, though, is because this edition is not suited to all readers. Many students will find this very frustrating because there are next to no explanatory notes, and the provision of glosses is niggardly. If you're studying the play in any depth, you may well find a Cambridge, Arden or Oxford edition suits you better. If you want a chance to read the play in a cheap, disposable edition, this will do you well.

Perhaps a lot of fuss about nothing?
I studied this for my A-levels, which either increases my enjoyment of a book due to greater understanding, or removes some of the magic. For me The Tempest was difficult to quantify, was it merely an allegory for Shakespeare's life, a masterpiece; Shakespeare's only truly original work, or just bland. There are some interesting pieces, mostly the relations between characters, Caliban and Prospero for example. The themes which are raised are the most successful part of the play, particularly the nature/nurture debate, and the question of to what degree human behaviour is governed by habitat. However the plot is thin. Some people arrive on an island, two fall in love and they all get off it again. I found it hard to care what happeened to any of them, though this is not necessarily a fault. Read it as a story along the lines of Romeo and Juliet and you will be disappointed, however if you let it prompt you to ponder about life it is infinitely successful.