Shakespeare’s last play

The Tempest was supposed to be Shakespeare’s last play. It is unlike any other Shakespeare play. It contains magic and supernatural things. In Shakespeare’s time, people believed in magic because they had poor education and could not explain natural events. The tempest is the symbol of change. In the Tempest, order has been upset by the overthrow of Prospero. The storm brings the people responsible to the island so that order can be restored. The beginning of ‘The Tempest’ starts with a great thunderstorm.

Hence The Tempest. “A tempestuos noise of thunder and lightning heard.

” So already Shakespeare is getting the audiences attention by starting off the play with a ship in the middle of a storm. During the storm, Boatswain talks to noble men with a polite manner, but after when he lose his temper, he curses and is blasphemous. “A plague upon this howling! Have you a mind to sink? ” His authority on the ship overrides the traditional hierarchy where the king is in charge.

All characters with a name, Shakespeare wants the audience to pay attention to because he shall use them further in the play. By giving them a name, he highlights that they are important.

The audience can now make deductions about characters. Alonso gives the audience the impression that he is worried, but is also kind and caring. “Good Boatswain, have care. ” Alonso is the king of Naples. Antonio and Sebastian however are rude and shall always put their safety before the kings. “Hang, cur, hang, you whoreson insolent noise maker! ” This shows inconsideration and rudeness. Gonzalo is happy and humorous. He is the peacemaker. He is also loyal to the king. “The king and prince at prayers, lets assist them, for our case is theirs. ”

The second scene is significant because it introduces the islands dwellers in more detail. It gives us a longer account of Prospero’s past. It tells us why there was a tempest, and why Prospero and Miranda are on the island. This gives the audience information about the background of the play and clarifies what happened in the first scene. Once the audience discovers that the storm is not natural and find out that Prospero created the storm, it then keeps them engrossed in the play. By doing this, Shakespeare makes the audience think what kind of a man Prospero really is. Prospero uses fewer words to create more meaningful images.