SUMMARY

Alonso, the king of Naples, is returning from his daughters wedding in Tunis. He is accompanied by his
son, Ferdinand, his brother, Sebastian, and Antonio, the Duke of Milan. An old Milanese courtier,
Gonzalo, is also on board. The ship gets wrecked into the sea, or the tempest and
Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, and his fifteen year-old daughter, Miranda, watch the shipwreck
from an island and He tells her, for the first time, a story about how they arrived on the island. Twelve
years prior to the shipwreck, when he was the Duke of Milan, his brother Antonio, had seized the throne
from him, but with Gonzalos help he escaped in a small boat with Miranda who was an infant at the
time. They had ended up on the island and Prospero had turned the only inhabitant, Caliban, a half
human half monster being, into his slave. There are also spirits on the island. One of them, Ariel, had
been imprisoned in a tree trunk by Calibans mother, Sycorax. Prospero used his magic abilities to rescue
Ariel and made him his servant.
Then the ships passengers wash up on shore unharmed and Alonso believes his Ferdinand is dead but he
actually landed on another part of the island. Ferdinand encounters Miranda and they fall in love at first
sight. He is the first man, apart from her father and Caliban that she has ever seen. Prospero puts
Ferdinand to work manually, controlling all his movements with magic. Miranda begs her father to free
the magic from Ferdinand.
Ariel brings the shipwrecked crew to the cell. Prospero renounces his magic and reveals himself. And
finally he forgives his brother and prepares to return to Milan to resume his dukedom. Miranda and
Ferdinand are engaged. And thats how it ends!
MAIN CHARACTERS
Prospero- The protagonist of the play, father of Miranda and also ex Duke of Milan
Miranda daughter of Prospero who has been sheltered all her life. She eventually marries Ferdinand
Ariel- Prosperos spirit helper who leads the shipwrecked crew to Prosperos cell
Ferdinand- son and heir of Alonso who is willing to do anything to be with Miranda
Alonso- King of Naples and father of Ferdinand who aided Antonio to seize Prosperos throne
IMPORTANT QUOTES EXPLAINED
1. Caliban sees Prospero as a cruel man while Prospero claims that he has cared for and
educated Caliban.
THEMES
The Tempest tells a fairly straightforward story involving an unjust act which Prospero is overthrown
by his brother, and Prospero wants justice by restoring himself to power. But, the idea of justice that
the play works toward seems highly subjective, since this idea represents the view of one character
who controls the fate of all the other characters. Hes basically using his magical powers to control
the shipwrecked crew mates. And also takes his anger out by making Caliban ad Ariel servants.