The Tempest

William Shakespeare, 1623

GCSE and A-level set text AQA GCSE Edexcel GCSE OCR A-level Eduqas A-level

A storm brings a ship's company within reach of an island ruled by Prospero's art.

Read the book Study guide

Length: 10 scenes
Reading time: About 1 hr 13 min
Words: 17,274

About the book

The play opens aboard a ship in immediate danger, where rank offers little help against the demands of seamanship. On an island, Miranda watches the suffering with distress and asks her father Prospero to restrain the power she believes he has used.

Shakespeare moves rapidly from noisy collective action to an intimate exchange between parent and child. The change introduces questions about authority, knowledge and control that extend beyond the storm. Reading the play means attending to who commands an event, who experiences its consequences and who is allowed to understand its purpose.

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This edition

Text from Standard Ebooks, who proofread and typeset it and dedicate their edition to the public domain. William Shakespeare died more than 70 years ago, so the work is out of copyright in the UK. Includes the original dramatis personae.

The Tempest

Contents