The Tempest (c.1610-11)

The Tempest (c.1610-11)

Author: William Shakespeare  |  Page Count: 128

"Hell is empty, and all the devils are here."

Reading Shakespeare for pleasure, outside of an academic environment, takes considerable pressure off a reader. You won't be asked to give an opinion or answer difficult questions. Maybe you don't need to know what every little nuance in the text represents, or you care little about sociopolitical context and postcolonial concerns. Sometimes all you ask is a good story be told in a language that's praised for its beauty, and there's nothing wrong with wanting that.

The Tempest isn't a play that gets chosen often by people who just want to dip a toe, but it's one that I return to time and again. Many of the themes within its pages he's used before, but in a different way.

A shipwreck gets the players to where they need to be, as in Twelfth Night (c.1601–02). Someone who's been wronged seeks revenge (too many too mention). The fantastical is there, but it's less comical than his other famous work that uses it, A Midsummer Night's Dream (c.1590–96). There's still a lot of laughs to be had, however, because it does after all have elements of tragicomedy, but there's a lot of weight to it, too. It's also a romance, proving that one thing can be many if the author intends it.

It's been suggested that the valedictory epilogue from the play's most memorable character, Prospero the magician, also the father figure, is in essence the author's own farewell to his audience and to the stage at large. It's believed that Shakespeare retired to Stratford some time afterwards, around 1613. We'll never know for sure, but there's no doubt that it's one of the most well-written scenes in the entire play, suggesting it was of utmost importance to the bard.

PS. Many readers will be aware of this already, but it's worth repeating for the benefit of those that don't yet know. The famous line, "We are such stuff as dreams are made of..." that has made its way into popular culture is a misquote. The actual line as it appears in the play (found in Act 4, Scene 1, spoken by Prospero) is as follows:

Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff

As dreams are made on; and our little life

Is rounded with a sleep. Sir, I am vex'd;

- The painting used for the cover of the featured Wordsworth edition is Miranda — The Tempest (1916), painted by John William Waterhouse. -