The Shakespeare Book

326

T

he ship carrying Alonso

and Antonio is caught in

a storm and wrecked on

a strange island. From the shore,

the wizard Prospero assures his

worried daughter Miranda that the

storm was conjured by his own

magic and that all aboard are safe.

Prospero then tells her how he

was once Duke of Milan, until his

usurping brother Antonio drove

him to sea in a storm 12 years

ago, when Miranda was an infant.

Washed up on the island, Prospero

used his knowledge to make

servants of the island’s magical

THE TEMPEST

spirit Ariel and the monster

Caliban, son of the witch Sycorax,

who is being punished for trying

to rape Miranda.

Alonso’s son Ferdinand

meets Miranda and they fall

in love, despite Prospero’s feigned

disapproval. Fearing that Ferdinand

drowned, Alonso and most of his

company are lulled to sleep by

Ariel. Antonio and Sebastian plot

to murder Alonso and the good

courtier Gonzalo, who dreams of

a commonwealth where all might

be happy. But Ariel wakes up

the company before Antonio

DRAMATIS

PERSONAE

Prospero Exiled Duke

of Milan, living on a

magical island where he

was shipwrecked with his

daughter, having been cast out

to sea by his brother, Antonio.

Miranda Prospero’s

15-year-old daughter, driven

into exile with him.

Antonio Prospero’s brother,

the usurping Duke of Milan.

Alonso King of Naples.

Sebastian Alonso’s

scheming brother.

Ferdinand Alonso’s son, who

falls in love with Miranda.

Gonzalo An honest

Neapolitan courtier, who

allowed Prospero to take his

books with him into exile.

Adrian and Francisco

Neapolitan lords

Trinculo Alonso’s jester.

Stefano Alonso’s drunken

butler.

Master and Boatswain

Sailors aboard the storm-

tossed ship.

Ariel A magical spirit of

air, trapped by the dead

witch Sycorax, but freed

by Prospero to serve him.

Caliban Sycorax’s monstrous

son, enslaved by Prospero.

He finds a new master

in Stefano.

Iris, Ceres, and Juno

Spirits appearing in the

masques as nymphs.

1.2

1.2

1.1

1.2

2.1

Prospero tells how the

spirit Ariel and the

beast Caliban

became his servants.

Antonio, Alonso, and his

son Ferdinand are cast

ashore on an apparently

deserted island.

Prospero reveals

to his daughter

Miranda how his

brother Antonio

acquired a taste for

power and exiled

them.

Antonio and Sebastian

plot to kill Alonso

while he sleeps, but Ariel

wakes him.

Ferdinand, enticed

from the others by

Prospero’s magic,

meets Miranda and

they fall in love.

Act 1 Act 2