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The Tempest
‘The Tempest’ is a play written by
William Shakespeare.
• You will be finding out lots about William Shakespeare.
He is the most famous playwright in the whole world
because people love his plays! He lived about 500 years
ago in Elizabethan times. ‘The Tempest’ was the last
play he wrote. He was alive from 1564 to 1616.
Who are the main characters in
The Tempest?
• Prospero is the main character. He was a king but his jealous
brother put a hole in his boat just before he went on a boat trip and
caused Prospero’s boat to sink. Prospero and his daughter
managed to hold on to some floating boxes and were washed up on
an island.
Prospero
• Prospero finds that a witch had lived on the island and made it ugly.
He has a lot of time on his hands so he learns how to do magic and
becomes a wizard. He transforms the island into one of beauty.
Miranda
• Prospero has a daughter who was very young when they arrived on
the island and doesn’t remember her life before she arrived there.
Ariel
• Ariel is a water-nymph spirit who helps Prospero. He freed her from
imprisonment when he arrived so she is in his debt. She longs to be
free. Ariel can do magic too.
Caliban
• The wicked witch, who made the island ugly, had a son who was
half monster and half human. He lived on his own on the island until
Prospero came along. At first they were friends and Prospero taught
him how to speak. However, Caliban resented Prospero taking over
his island and as Caliban became a threat, Prospero used his magic
to make him his slave.
• The story starts when Prospero has been imprisoned on the island
for twelve years. He notices a ship out at sea and recognises it as
belonging to his treacherous brother Antonio. So Prospero uses his
magic to create a tempest that causes the ship to sink and all the
people on board are washed up on different parts of the island,
weary but all alive. Prospero wants to make his revenge on…
…his brother Antonio
• Crafty, devious and greedy Antonio become king when everyone
thought Prospero had drowned.
• Antonio is the number one villain in the play. When he is washed up
on to the island Prospero can’t wait to get his revenge! Antonio has
a friend who helped him to put a hole in Prospero’s boat…
King Alonso
• King Alonso helped Antonio and has also been washed up on the
island. Alonso is sad because he thinks his son, Ferdinand, has
drowned.
However, Ferdinand has not drowned, he has been washed up too and
has fallen in love with Miranda.
Meanwhile, Caliban has met some other people who have been
washed up on shore from the ship: Trinculo, Alonso’s jester and
Stephano, king Alonso’s butler. They plot to kill Prospero but end up
getting drunk because Stephano finds some wine washed up on to the
shore. This is the funny part of the play!
Ariel sees that the drunken trio are plotting to kill Prospero so she
sends goblins after them!
Revenge
• With Ariel’s help Prospero gets revenge on
all his enemies…
Prospero forgives his enemies!
• Miranda and Ferdinand plan to marry
and Prospero decides that they can
rule his kingdom when they return
home. He gives his daughter a beautiful
mask. Finally he sets Ariel free!
Prospero gives up his magic as he
realises he is not God.