Tempest overview
Below is one comprehensive revision note that weaves together all the quotes you sent—from the supernatural to the very versions of reality in The Tempest. The note is organized by theme; within each section all the provided quotations (with their Act.Scene.Line references from the 2008 Norton edition) appear in full (verbatim), followed by concise contextual commentary, thematic observations, and points of significance. You can use this integrated note as both a study guide and a jumping‐off point for deeper analysis.
---
# Comprehensive Revision Notes on The Tempest
The Tempest is a richly layered play in which magic, nature, power, and human feeling intermingle. The following sections cover major thematic areas. Every quoted passage is provided along with commentary on its context, themes, and significance.
---
## I. The Supernatural
Overview:
Magic is the lifeblood of The Tempest. Prospero’s “art” governs the shipwreck, conjures spectacular visions, and even manipulates the fates of mortals. Yet there is an inherent duality in his power—its capacity to protect or terrify, to create illusions that both enthrall and unsettle.
- Quote 1 (Act 1.2, 33–38)
```
PROSPERO
The direful spectacle of the wreck, which touched
The very virtue of compassion in thee,
I have with such provision in mine art
So safely ordered that there is no soul—
No, not so much perdition as an hair,
Betid to any creature in the vessel
```
- Context & Themes:
Prospero reveals that the terrifying shipwreck was carefully arranged through his magic so that no one truly perished. This illustrates how his supernatural art is used benevolently despite its fearsome appearance.
- Quote 2 (Act 1.2, 212–219)
```
PROSPERO
Know thus far forth.
By accident most strange, bountiful Fortune,
Now my dear lady, hath mine enemies
Brought to this shore; and by my prescience
I find my zenith doth depend upon
A most auspicious star, whose influence
If now I court not but omit, my fortunes
Will ever after droop.
```
- Context & Themes:
Prospero credits fate—and by extension, divine or natural forces—for the gathering of his enemies. His magic is seen as part of a larger design in which celestial influences play a role.
- Quote 3 (Act 1.2, 343–347)
```
PROSPERO
It was a torment
To lay upon the damned, which Sycorax
Could not again undo. It was mine art,
When I arrived and heard thee, that made gape
The pine and let thee out.
```
- Context & Themes:
Here, Prospero recounts how his power managed to reverse part of Sycorax’s curse when he rescued Ariel. His boasting of such an ability reveals both his mastery (and vanity) over magical forces.
- Quote 4 (Act 1.2, 483–485)
```
FERDINAND
The ditty does remember my drowned father.
This is no mortal business, nor no sound
That the earth owes. I hear it now above me.
```
- Context & Themes:
Ferdinand’s observation connects the ghostly quality of the sounds with the idea that magic may carry hints of the divine. This reinforces the play’s blurred lines between mortal endeavors and supernatural presence.
- Quote 5 (Act 1.2, 568–574)
```
PROSPERO
What, I say,
My foot my tutor?—Put thy sword up, traitor,
Who mak'st a show, but dar'st not strike, thy
conscience
Is so possessed with guilt. Come from thy ward,
For I can here disarm thee with this stick
And make thy weapon drop.
```
- Context & Themes:
In demonstrating power over a rebellious subject, Prospero reinforces the idea that his magical art is a means of control—even when its actions seem theatrical.
- Quote 6 (Act 4.1, 131–136)
```
FERDINAND
This is a most majestic vision, and
Harmoniously charmingly. May I be bold
To think these spirits?
PROSPERO
Spirits, which by mine art
I have from their confines called to enact
My present fancies.
```
- Context & Themes:
The conjured spirits captivate Ferdinand, highlighting the transformative (yet limited) reach of Prospero’s power. It invites questions about what lies beyond human control.
- Quote 7 (Act 4.1, 165–175)
```
PROSPERO
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air;
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
```
- Context & Themes:
In his famous meditation, Prospero reflects on the ephemeral nature of both his magical creations and of life itself—a reminder that even great illusions vanish.
- Quote 8 (Act 4.1, 190–205)
```
ARIEL
I told you, sir, they were red-hot with drinking,
So fun of valour that they smote the air
For breathing in their faces, beat the ground
For kissing of their feet; yet always bending
Towards their project. Then I beat my tabour,
At which, like unbacked colts, they pricked their
ears,
Advanced their eyelids, lifted up their noses
As they smelt music: so I charmed their ears
That, calf-like, they my lowing followed through
Toothed briers, sharp furzes, pricking gorse, and
thorns,
Which entered their frail shins. At last I left them
I' th' filthy-mantled pool beyond your cell,
There dancing up to th' chins, that the foul lake
O'erstunk their feet.
```
- Context & Themes:
Ariel’s detailed description captures his whimsical side and the physicality of enchantment, reinforcing the play’s playful yet potent use of magic.
- Quote 9 (Act 5.1, 42–59)
```
PROSPERO
You elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves,
And you that on the sands with printless foot
Do chase the ebbing Neptune and do fly him
When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime
Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,
Weak masters though you be, I have bedimmed
The noontide sun, called forth the mutinous winds,
And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault
Set roaring war; to the dread rattling thunder
Have I given fire and rifted Jove's stout oak
With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
Have I made shake and by the spurs plucked up
The pine and cedar; graves at my command
Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let 'em forth
By my so potent art.
```
- Context & Themes:
This summative speech catalogs Prospero’s manipulation of natural forces, asserting his command over both the elements and the supernatural.
- Quote 10 (Act 5.1, 59–66)
```
But this rough magic
I here abjure, and, when I have required
Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
[Prospero gestures with his staff]
To work mine end upon their senses that
This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And deeper than did ever plummet sound
I'll drown my book.
```
- Context & Themes:
In his final renunciation, Prospero vows to relinquish his magic—a moment loaded with both regret and hope for a return to natural order.
---
## II. Art and Culture
Overview:
Prospero’s magical displays are crafted like a grand performance. In scenes like the wedding masque, art and spectacle mingle with personal ambition, history, and the theater of power.
- Quote 1 (Act 4.1, 148–149)
```
Come, temperate nymphs, and help to celebrate
A contract of true love. Be not too late.
```
- Context & Themes:
Prospero summons a masque to celebrate Miranda and Ferdinand’s union—a performance that echoes both courtly revelry and real-life royal weddings. It highlights art’s role in sanctifying personal bonds.
- Quote 2 (Act 4.1, 40–45)
```
Go bring the rabble,
O'er whom I give thee power, here to this place.
Incite them to quick motion, for I must
Bestow upon the eyes of this young couple
Some vanity of mine art. It is my promise,
And they expect it from me.
```
- Context & Themes:
Here, Prospero orchestrates a public spectacle not only to please but to demonstrate the magnificence of his craft—blending art, pride, and power.
- Quote 3 (Act 4.1, 155–158)
```
I had forgot that foul conspiracy
Of the beast Caliban and his confederates
Against my life. The minute of their plot
Is almost come.
```
- Context & Themes:
Midway through the masque, Prospero is jostled back to reality by the reminder of conspiracy. This underscores how art (or the escapism of a masque) momentarily suspends real-world concerns.
- Quote 4 (Act 4.1, 165–175)
(Same text as Supernatural Quote 7 – reiterated for its meta-theatrical function.)
- Quote 5 (Act 1.2, 501–504)
```
It goes on, I see,
As my soul prompts it. [to Ariel] Spirit, fine spirit!
I'll free thee
Within two days for this.
```
- Context & Themes:
In an aside, Prospero takes pride in the seamless unfolding of his design—revealing his inner satisfaction at being both director and magician.
- Quote 6 (Act 1.2, 1–5)
```
MIRANDA:
If by your art, my dearest father, you have
Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.
The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch,
But that the sea, mounting to the welkin's cheek,
Dashes the fire out.
```
- Context & Themes:
Miranda marvels at how Prospero’s magic tempers even the violent forces of nature. Her observation reinforces art’s power to transform chaos into beauty.
- Quote 7 (Act 5.1, Stage Direction)
```
[Here Prospero discovers Ferdinand and Miranda, playing at chess.]
```
- Context & Themes:
This stage direction is a subtle reminder that despite promises to renounce his “art,” Prospero’s life remains a constant performance.
- Quote 8 (Epilogue, 1–2)
```
Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have 's mine own
```
- Context & Themes:
Prospero’s brief, poignant epilogue gestures toward a final farewell to the magical art that has defined his power.
- Quote 9 (Epilogue, 3–8)
```
[...] Now 'tis true
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardoned the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell,
```
- Context & Themes:
This passage reflects the necessity of external validation (the audience, or the “spell” of society) to free him—even as his magical reign ends.
- Quote 10 (Epilogue, 9–20)
```
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands.
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free.
```
- Context & Themes:
Prospero’s final invocation turns the act of forgiveness into a public, almost ritualistic, release—merging art and audience in a meta-theatrical farewell.
---
## III. Freedom and Confinement
Overview:
Many characters in The Tempest find themselves caught in paradoxical bonds—liberated from one fate only to be constrained by another. The shifting balance between servitude and freedom lies at the heart of character transformation throughout the play.
- Quote 1 (Act 1.2, 294–300)
```
ARIEL
I prithee,
Remember I have done thee worthy service,
Told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings, served
Without or grudge or grumblings. Thou didst promise
To bate me a full year.
PROSPERO
Dost thou forget
From what a torment I did free thee?
```
- Context & Themes:
Ariel reminds Prospero of the price of liberation—a debt of service that turns freedom into a chain.
- Quote 2 (Act 1.2, 322–327)
```
PROSPERO
This blue-eyed hag was hither brought with child
And here was left by the sailors. Thou, my slave,
As thou report'st thyself, was then her servant,
And, for thou wast a spirit too delicate
To act her earthy and abhorred commands,
Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee.
```
- Context & Themes:
Prospero recounts Ariel’s past to justify his current control—revealing how harsh treatment and confinement pave the way for a new kind of servitude.
- Quote 3 (Act 1.2, 422–436)
```
MIRANDA
Abhorrèd slave,
Which any print of goodness wilt not take,
Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee,
Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each
hour
One thing or other. When thou didst not, savage,
Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like
A thing most brutish, I endow'd thy purposes
With words that made them known. But thy vile
race,
Though thou didst learn, had that in 't which good
natures
Could not abide to be with. Therefore wast thou
Deservedly confined into this rock,
Who hadst deserved more than a prison.
```
- Context & Themes:
Either voiced by Miranda (or, in some editions, by Prospero), this speech rationalizes the confinement of Caliban as a necessary consequence of an inherently “savage” nature.
- Quote 4 (Act 1.2, 437–439)
```
CALIBAN
You taught me language, and my profit on 't
Is, I know how to curse. The red plague rid you
For learning me your language!
```
- Context & Themes:
Caliban bitterly retorts that learning his masters’ language has only armed him with curses—a tool for resistance in his servitude.
- Quote 5 (Act 1.2, 447–450)
```
CALIBAN
No, pray thee.
[Aside.] I must obey. His art is of such power
It would control my dam's god, Setebos,
and make a vassal of him.
```
- Context & Themes:
In an aside, Caliban acknowledges the nearly overwhelming power of Prospero’s magic—a power that leaves him no choice but to submit.
- Quote 6 (Act 1.2, 555–561)
```
PROSPERO
[to Ferdinand] Follow me.
[To Miranda:] Speak not you for him. He's a traitor.
[To Ferdinand:] Come,
I'll manacle thy neck and feet together.
Sea-water shalt thou drink; thy food shall be
The fresh-brook muscles, withered roots, and husks
Wherein the acorn cradled. Follow.
```
- Context & Themes:
Prospero’s vivid threat of physical and magical confinement underscores his readiness to impose order and punishment.
- Quote 7 (Act 1.2, 597–600)
```
FERDINAND
Might I but through my prison once a day
Behold this maid. All corners else o' th' earth
Let liberty make use of. Space enough
Have I in such a prison.
```
- Context & Themes:
Despite physical confinement, Ferdinand finds his emotional freedom in the sight of Miranda—a bittersweet declaration of inner liberation.
- Quote 8 (Act 2.2, 129–130)
```
CALIBAN
I'll swear upon that bottle to be thy true
subject, or the liquor is not earthly.
```
- Context & Themes:
Caliban’s desperate pledge to a new master reflects the tragic cyclic nature of subjugation, where even hope becomes a bond.
- Quote 9 (Act 2.2, 154–155)
```
CALIBAN
I'll show thee every fertile inch o' th' island,
And I will kiss thy foot. I prithee, be my god.
```
- Context & Themes:
His offer of complete allegiance exposes not only his yearning for liberation but also his resigned submission in a system of shifting power.
- Quote 10 (Act 2.2, 186–193)
```
CALIBAN [sings]
No more dams I'll make for fish,
Nor fetch in firing
At requiring,
Nor scrape trencher, nor wash dish .
'Ban, 'ban, Ca-caliban
Has a new master. Get a new man.
Freedom, high-day! High-day, freedom! Freedom,
high-day, freedom!
```
- Context & Themes:
In his bitter song, Caliban jubilantly proclaims that freedom is defined by a change of master—even if that freedom is only figurative.
- Quote 11 (Act 3.2, 133–135)
```
STEFANO
Flout 'em and cout 'em
And scout 'em and flout 'em!
Thought is free.
```
- Context & Themes:
This jaunty ditty underscores the idea that while bodies may be restricted, the mind can remain unbound.
- Quote 12 (Act 4.1, 48–53)
```
ARIEL
Before you can say 'come' and 'go,'
And breathe twice and cry 'so, so,'
Each one, tripping on his toe,
Will be here with mop and mow.
Do you love me, master? No?
PROSPERO
Dearly, my delicate Ariel.
```
- Context & Themes:
Ariel’s obedient yet playful response highlights the complexities of a master–servant bond, where affection and coercion intermingle.
- Quote 13 (Epilogue, 1–20)
```
PROSPERO
Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have 's mine own,
Which is most faint. Now, 'tis true
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell,
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands.
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free.
```
- Context & Themes:
Prospero’s final appeal is a complex mixture of mercy, majesty, and the desire for liberation—a bittersweet closure to his long reign of magical constraint.
---
## IV. Man and the Natural World
Overview:
Nature in The Tempest is both a playground and a mirror to human society. It can embody the ideal of uncorrupted abundance or the wild, uncontrollable force that defies human order.
- Quote 1 (Act 2.1, 162–180)
```
GONZALO
I' th' commonwealth I would by contraries
Execute all things; for no kind of traffic
Would I admit; no name of magistrate;
Letters should not be known; riches, poverty,
And use of service, none; contract, succession,
Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none;
No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil;
No occupation; all men idle, all,
And women too, but innocent and pure;
No sovereignty—
SEBASTIAN
Yet he would be king on 't.
ANTONIO
The latter end of his commonwealth forgets
the beginning.
GONZALO
All things in common nature should produce
Without sweat or endeavor; treason, felony,
Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need of any engine
Would I not have; but nature should bring forth
Of its own kind, all foison, all abundance,
To feed my innocent people.
```
- Context & Themes:
Gonzalo envisions a utopian society rooted in the natural world, free from the corruptions of commerce and human ambition—a clear echo of Montaigne’s “noble savage.”
- Quote 2 (Act 1.2, 177–179)
```
PROSPERO
To cry to the sea that roared to us, to sigh
To th' winds whose pity, sighing back again,
Did us but loving wrong.
```
- Context & Themes:
Prospero personifies the sea and the wind, suggesting that nature itself participates in the drama of human life and responds with its own moods.
- Quote 3 (Act 1.2, 412–418)
(Revisited in multiple sections; see Freedom and Confinement.)
- Quote 4 (Act 1.2, 422–436)
(Miranda’s denunciation of Caliban—here, it also raises questions about whether “civilizing” can truly overcome one’s natural state.)
- Quote 5 (Act 1.2, 474–482)
```
ARIEL
Full fathom five thy father lies.
Of his bones are coral made.
Those are pearls that were his eyes.
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell.
Burden, within: Ding dong.
Hark, now I hear them: ding dong bell.
```
- Context & Themes:
Ariel’s song transforms death into a process of natural and mysterious metamorphosis—a beautiful meditation on loss and renewal.
- Quote 6 (Act 1.2, 498–500)
```
MIRANDA
I might call him
A thing divine, for nothing natural
I ever saw so noble.
```
- Context & Themes:
Miranda affirms that even in nature there exists a nobility—challenging the notion that civilization is the sole repository of virtue.
- Quote 7 (Act 3.2, 148–156)
```
CALIBAN
Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open, and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked
I cried to dream again.
```
- Context & Themes:
Caliban’s lyrical description reveals the island’s enchanting nature—a place where even the clamor becomes a source of wonder.
- Quote 8 (Act 5.1, 98–104)
```
ARIEL
Where the bee sucks. there suck I:
In a cowslip's bell I lie.
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the bat's back I do fly
After summer merrily.
Merrily, merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bow.
```
- Context & Themes:
In this farewell song, Ariel expresses his connection to the natural world—a gentle counterpoint to the rigidity of courtly culture.
---
## V. Compassion and Forgiveness
Overview:
While the play features cycles of retribution and harsh discipline, moments of genuine compassion and mercy also emerge. These passages often reveal the possibility of transformation and the struggle between vengeance and forgiveness.
- Quote 1 (Act 1.2, 5–13)
```
MIRANDA
O, I have suffered
With those that I saw suffer! A brave vessel,
Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her,
Dash'd all to pieces. O, the cry did knock
Against my very heart! Poor souls, they perished.
Had I been any god of power, I would
Have sunk the sea within the earth or ere
It should the good ship so have swallowed, and
The fraughting souls within her.
```
- Context & Themes:
Miranda’s grief over the shipwreck victimizes her inherent empathy, posing a gentle contrast to Prospero’s harsher methods.
- Quote 2 (Act 1.2, 349–351)
```
PROSPERO
If thou more murmur'st, I will rend an oak
And peg thee in his knotty entrails till
Thou hast howled away twelve winters.
```
- Context & Themes:
Prospero’s threat exemplifies his initial inability to forgive—displaying a side of tyranny that contrasts sharply with emerging mercy.
- Quote 3 (Act 1.2, 385–394)
```
CALIBAN
As wicked dew as e'er my mother brushed
With raven's feather from unwholesome fen
Drop on you both. A southwest blow on you
And blister you all o'er.
PROSPERO
For this, be sure, to-night thou shalt have cramps,
Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up. Urchins
Shall, for that vast of night that they may work,
All exercise on thee. Thou shalt be pinched
As thick as honeycomb, each pinch more stinging
Than bees that made 'em.
```
- Context & Themes:
A tit-for-tat of curses and threats exemplifies how anger can trap both sides in cycles of punishment.
- Quote 4 (Act 1.2, 412–418)
```
PROSPERO
Thou most lying slave,
Whom stripes may move, not kindness, I have used
thee,
Filth as thou art, with human care, and lodged thee
In mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate
The honor of my child.
```
- Context & Themes:
Here, Prospero declares that some transgressions leave no room for forgiveness—the harshness underscoring the complexity of his moral judgment.
- Quote 5 (Act 2.1, 131–135)
```
SEBASTIAN
Sir, you may thank yourself for this great loss,
That would not bless our Europe with your daughter,
But rather lose her to an African,
Where she at least is banished from your eye,
Who hath cause to wet the grief on 't.
```
- Context & Themes:
Sebastian’s callous remark underscores the absence of compassion in his worldview—a stark counterpoint to Miranda’s empathy.
- Quote 6 (Act 3.2, 92–93)
```
CALIBAN
Beat him enough. After a little time
I'll beat him too.
```
- Context & Themes:
Caliban’s readiness to return violence reflects how cruelty feeds further cruelty in the absence of mercy.
- Quote 7 (Act 3.3, 87–101)
```
HARPY
For that's my business to you—that you three
From Milan did supplant good Prospero,
Exposed unto the sea, which hath requit it,
Him and his innocent child, for which foul deed,
The powers—delaying, not forgetting—have
Incensed the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures,
Against your peace. Thee of thy son, Alonso,
They have bereft; and do pronounce by me
Ling'ring perdition, worse than any death
Can be at once, shall step by step attend
You and your ways; whose wraths to guard you
from—
Which here, in this most desolate isle, else falls
Upon your heads—is nothing but heart's sorrow
And a clear life ensuing.
```
- Context & Themes:
The Harpy’s curse highlights that there are consequences too dire for complete forgiveness, addressing the impossibility of fully absolving grievous wrongdoing.
- Quote 8 (Act 4.1, 291–295)
```
PROSPERO
At this hour
Lie at my mercy all mine enemies.
Shortly shall all my labours end, and thou
Shalt have the air at freedom. For a little
Follow, and do me service.
```
- Context & Themes:
Prospero’s declaration of mercy is tinged with a desire to retain power until the very end—an ambiguous step toward forgiveness.
- Quote 9 (Act 5.1, 14–31)
```
ARIEL
The King,
His brother and yours, abide all three distracted,
And the remainder mourning over them,
Brimful of sorrow and dismay; but chiefly
Him that you termed, sir, the good old Lord
Gonzalo.
His tears run down his beard like winter's drops
From eaves of reeds. Your charm so strongly works
'em
That if you now beheld them, your affections
Would become tender.
PROSPERO
Dost thou think so, spirit?
ARIEL
Mine would, sir, were I human.
PROSPERO
And mine shall.
Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling
Of their afflictions, and shall not myself,
One of their kind, that relish all as sharply
Passion as they, be kindlier moved than thou art?
```
- Context & Themes:
This exchange shows that even servants (or spirits) may covet human empathy—urging Prospero to acknowledge and embrace a more tender humanity.
- Quote 10 (Act 5.1, 142–147)
```
PROSPERO [aside to Sebastian and Antonio.]
But you, my brace of lords, were I so minded,
I here could pluck his highness' frown upon you
And justify you traitors. At this time
I will tell no tales.
SEBASTIAN [aside]
The devil speaks in him.
```
- Context & Themes:
Prospero hints at his power to punish traitors even as he exhibits a measured mercy—a duality that confounds his enemies.
- Quote 11 (Act 5.1, 148–154)
```
PROSPERO [aside to Sebastian]
No.
[To Antonio.]
For you, most wicked sir, whom to
call brother
Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive
Thy rankest fault, all of them, and require
My dukedom of thee, which perforce I know
Thou must restore.
```
- Context & Themes:
In his final act of forgiveness, Prospero absolves Antonio conditionally—demanding the return of his dukedom as the price for mercy.
---
## VI. The Divine
Overview:
Divine imagery pervades the play, whether in the desperate prayers of shipwrecked mariners or in the language Prospero uses to frame his own magical accomplishments. The divine is both invoked as the source of fate and questioned in contrast to man-made magic.
- Quote 1 (Act 1.1, 52)
```
MARINERS
All lost! To prayers, to prayers! All lost!
```
- Context & Themes:
The mariners call upon divine help in the midst of the storm—ironically unaware that their plight is engineered by Prospero’s magic.
- Quote 2 (Act 1.2, 182–188)
```
PROSPERO
O, a cherubin
Thou wast that did preserve me. Thou didst smile,
Infusèd with a fortitude from heaven,
When I have decked the sea with drops full salt,
Under my burden groaned, which raised in me
An undergoing stomach, to bear up
Against what should ensue.
```
- Context & Themes:
Prospero recalls a moment when Miranda’s angelic quality bolstered his strength—hinting that even his magic draws on what might be seen as divine favor.
- Quote 3 (Act 1.2, 189–190)
```
MIRANDA
How came we ashore?
PROSPERO
By providence divine.
```
- Context & Themes:
A simple exchange that blurs the line between fate, chance, and magic—raising the question of whether their safe landing is truly miraculous.
- Quote 4 (Act 2.1, 1–9)
```
GONZALO [to Alonso]
Beseech you, sir, be merry. You have cause,
So have we all—of joy, for our escape
Is much beyond our loss.
Our hint of woe
Is common; every day some sailor's wife,
The masters of some merchant and the merchant
Have just our theme of woe; but for the miracle—
I mean our preservation—few in millions
Can speak like us. Then wisely, good sir, weigh
Our sorrow with our comfort.
```
- Context & Themes:
Gonzalo credits their survival to a miraculous preservation—a subtle nod to divine benevolence.
- Quote 5 (Act 2.2, 120–122)
```
CALIBAN [aside]
These be fine things, an if they be not
sprites. That's a brave god and bears celestial liquor.
I will kneel to him. He crawls out from under the
cloak.
```
- Context & Themes:
Caliban’s puzzled reverence shows how, when confronted with the mysterious or unknown, even a captive may attribute divinity.
- Quote 6 (Act 3.1, 81–91)
```
FERDINAND
O heaven, O earth, bear witness to this sound,
And crown what I profess with kind event
If I speak true; if hollowly, invert
What best is boded me to mischief. I,
Beyond all limit of what else i' th' world,
Do love, prize, honor you.
MIRANDA
I am a fool
To weep at what I am glad of.
PROSPERO [aside]
Fair encounter
Of two most rare affections. Heavens rain grace
On that which breeds between 'em!
```
- Context & Themes:
Ferdinand’s appeal to both heaven and earth to bless his love intermingles mortal passion with the hope of divine grace—even as Prospero quietly observes the “fair encounter.”
- Quote 7 (Act 3.2, 140–143)
```
STEFANO
If thou be'st a
man, show thyself in thy likeness. If thou be'st a
devil, take 't as thou list.
TRINCULO
O, forgive me my sins!
```
- Context & Themes:
In their misguided bravado, Stefano and Trinculo confront the possibility of evil, only to recoil into penitence—reminding us that divine morality lingers despite magical disruptions.
- Quote 8 (Act 4.1, 14–24)
```
PROSPERO
Then, as my gift and thine own acquisition
Worthily purchased take my daughter. But
If thou dost break her virgin-knot before
All sanctimonious ceremonies may
With full and holy rite be ministered,
No sweet aspersion shall the heavens let fall
To make this contract grow; but barren hate,
Sour-eyed disdain and discord shall bestrew
The union of your bed with weeds so loathly
That you shall hate it both. Therefore take heed,
As Hymen's lamps shall light you.
```
- Context & Themes:
Prospero insists that the union of Miranda and Ferdinand must be sanctioned by holy rites—a reminder that even a magically arranged marriage must bow to divine tradition.
- Quote 9 (Act 4.1, 137–139)
```
FERDINAND
Let me live here ever.
So rare a wondered father and a wise
Makes this place paradise.
```
- Context & Themes:
Ferdinand’s declaration envisions the island as a paradise, fashioned by the wisdom (almost divine) of Prospero—a hint at an Edenic ideal.
- Quote 10 (Act 5.1, 224–232)
```
FERDINAND
Sir, she is mortal,
But by immortal Providence she's mine.
I chose her when I could not ask my father
For his advice, nor thought I had one.
She is daughter to this famous Duke of Milan,
Of whom so often I have heard renown,
But never saw before, of whom I have
Received a second life; and second father
This lady makes him to me.
```
- Context & Themes:
Ferdinand attributes his union with Miranda to immortal Providence—a blending of fate, magic, and personal choice.
- Quote 11 (Act 5.1, 239–244)
```
GONZALO
I have inly wept,
Or should have spoke ere this. Look down, you
gods,
And on this couple drop a blessèd crown,
For it is you that have chalked forth the way
Which brought us hither.
```
- Context & Themes:
Gonzalo’s appeal to the gods underscores a hope that, despite man’s manipulation of fate, a higher order still blesses and directs the outcomes.
---
## VII. Versions of Reality
Overview:
Reality in The Tempest is fluid, shaped by dreams, perceptions, and cultural narratives. The play constantly challenges the idea of a fixed truth—revealing that what appears real is often colored by individual experience and the enchantments at work.
- Quote 1 (Act 1.2, 56–58)
```
MIRANDA
'Tis far off
And rather like a dream than an assurance
That my remembrance warrants.
```
- Context & Themes:
Miranda confesses that her memory is as fleeting as a dream—a fitting sentiment in a world where magic obscures the line between waking and dreaming.
- **Quote 2 (Act 2.1, 49–