The Tempest Literary Elements

drama; comedy

English

The play is set on an unnamed Mediterranean island in the fifteenth century.

There is no singular narrator in the play, though Prospero is in control of much of the events that occur. He is also the last one to speak, inviting the audience to applaud him for his hard work.

The tone of the play is playful and manipulative. The mood of the play is wonderful and restorative.

The central protagonist of the play is Prospero. The central antagonist of the play is Antonio, though Caliban can also be considered a minor antagonist.

The major conflict occurs before the play actually begins: Prospero, whose dukedom has been usurped by his brother Antonio, has been exiled to unnamed island. Using his magical powers, he manipulates the other characters in order to win back his position.

In Act Three, Ariel appears as a harpy and chides the three traitors. This is the first instance in the play where it becomes clear that Prospero seeks justice for what was done to him.

When Prospero remembers how he was more interested in his books than in his dukedom, he foreshadows the choice he must make at the end of the play: renounce his magic, or forfeit his position that he has just won back from his brother.

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Because of the setting of the play, there are multiple allusions to English colonization throughout. Indeed, Prospero is considered a "colonizer" of the island, and Caliban a native inhabitant. Their antagonism toward each other alludes to the problems that colonization introduces, specifically for the English empire.

Important imagery in the play includes water, magic, hands, and confusion.

The central paradox of the play is that it is Prospero's exile that will eventually render his grandchildren kings of Naples.

Many see Prospero as a parallel for Shakespeare himself, or at least for the figure of playwright or other artistic creator.

The boatswain at the beginning of the play compares the tempest to a powerful soldier, suggesting that the storm is a relentless and dangerous force.

The Tempest lends itself well to the stage, as Prospero's magic and Ariel's charms were a great opportunity to manipulate the setting to reflect what certain characters were seeing and feeling. While the early modern English stage would have likely relied on a suspension of the audience's disbelief, contemporary performances of the play enjoy the advantage of theater technology to capture the enchantment and mystery of the island.