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The Tempest (Shakespeare Project Lecture) (Patreon)

Published:
2025-02-21 21:38:06
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2026-06
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'Our revels now are ended. These our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air.'

Our journey through the works of William Shakespeare continues, and we have now reached the sublime peak of his very last solo work with the masterpiece that is The Tempest.

We’re discussing Shakespeare's retirement, the bard's originality, the symbolism of the characters, profound metafictionality, eco-criticism, colonialist critique, imagination, and much more.

Timestamps:

0:00 Shakespeare’s farewell to the theatre

2:00 how could the bard best his prior plays?

4:00 is this really Shakespeare’s final bow?

5:00 on collaboration with John Fletcher

7:00 Shakespeare’s most personal plays

8:00 the shipwreck that inspired the tale

10:00 on Shakespearean originality

13:00 what is the story of The Tempest?

15:00 my symbolic reading of this play

16:00 Prospero as playwright surrogate

17:00 Miranda as stand-in for audience

18:00 magic & illusion of stagecraft

20:00 Ariel as representation the Muse

21:00 Prospero’s focus on the time

22:00 Jacobean theatrical performances

24:00 Shakespeare’s decision to retire

25:00 symbolism in character of Caliban

27:00 ‘all the infections the sun sucks up’

29:00 ‘full fathom five thy father lies’

31:00 reading on the character Ferdinand

32:00 many layers of meaning in this play

33:00 eco-criticism & colonialist critique

36:00 Gonzalo’s utopic/deluded dreams

39:00 Montaigne’s essay ‘on the cannibals’

41:00 Sebastian & Antonio’s conspiracy

42:00 a little imagination is a dangerous thing

44:00 ‘I feel not this deity in my bosom’

45:00 characters go got away from Will

46:00 does the bard criticise the monarch?

47:00 Caliban makes Stephano his god

49:00 ‘a man or a fish? Dead or alive?’

50:00 the main gift of reading Shakespeare

51:00 why we are obsessed with utopia

53:00 how work is love made visible

54:00 the bard’s fatigue in his late plays

56:00 the love of Ferdinand & Miranda

57:00 dedication to meaningful work

59:00 the bard wrestles with his career

1:00:00 rage of Caliban seeing his face

1:01:00 the plot against Prospero’s life

1:03:00 the vivid Jacobean imagination

1:05:00 marriage blessed with a masque

1:06:00 ‘our revels now are ended…’

1:09:00 the staff broken & book drowned

1:12:00 Shakespeare begs to be released

1:14:00 the last word of the bard’s career

1:15:00 what did you make of The Tempest?

1:16:00 Shakespeare’s return to the theatre

Recommended Resources:

  • Arden Edition: As usual, the Arden edition of this play is excellent. The critical introduction and annotations are incredibly insightful.

  • Radio Adaptation: I personally adore Sir Ian McKellen's performance as Prospero in this 2004 audio drama from Naxos. For a magical evening, read and listen simultaneously. 

  • Music Appreciation: The Tempest is a visual and musical treat. The very best performances embrace the masques and music. You may enjoy Vaughn Williams' Full Fathom Five from 'Shakespeare Songs', Arthur Sullivan's Suite from the Incidental Music for the play, and Ernest Chausson's La Tempête.

  • Essay Appreciation: Along with stories from a real-life shipwreck, Shakespeare was inspired by Montaigne's essay 'Of Cannibals,' which is well worth reading and available to enjoy at the back of the Arden edition of The Tempest. If you're a newcomer to Montaigne, then you may wish to give our lecture on his Essays a listen.

  • Film Adaptation: There is the 2010 film version starring Helen Mirren as Prospero, or you may enjoy the 2013 filming of the RSC stage production at the Globe Theatre.

  • Series Appreciation: I'm very grateful for the book club reader recommendation of Zetsuen no Tempest (Blast of Tempest), which is a phenomenal anime and manga series beautifully inspired by The Tempest and Hamlet. I'm currently loving the story and would highly recommend it.

  • Our Journey Thus Far: If you want to jump into any specific play, you can check out the works we've enjoyed thus far as part of our read-through here.

Questions for You:

1) Why do you think the bard stopped writing? Did he really want to stop? And is The Tempest a fitting farewell to the theatre?

2) Can you see Shakespeare the man and artist in this play?

3) What line, passage, idea, or character most resonated with you? And what is your personal grading for The Tempest?

Happy reading, Bardolators!

Files

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Comments

Jane

The Tempest is an À + for me too ! How sad to arrive near the end of the Shakespeare journey but hey ho we can start all over again but maybe not in the same order. I may try the Histories again Richard 11 and the two Henry IVs and Richard 111. There is a new book about Richard and Henry -A dual biography by Helen Castor- and it is on the Women’s prize long list for non fiction 2025 I have it on order because how could you not ? https://amzn.eu/d/2M5gDcj Cheers to Ben for making this Shakespeare adventure accessible and possible with a jig at the end -I feel like dancing around :)

Vida
>>165683071

Hi Jane, I haven’t read The Henriad yet, so I appreciate the book recommendation.

Phil

If anyone is interested in carrying out a revealing experiment on themselves, I invite you to read Tolstoy’s essay on Shakespeare—from start to finish—and carefully observe how you react to his opinions and arguments. It is a very thought provoking essay that I actually enjoyed reading very much. The key is to read its entirety before dismissing it. I think the essay has value in gaining insight into our own psychology, and challenges how immune we might think we are to cognitive biases. If anyone does read it please let me know how you reacted.

Teresa

The Tempest was the first production I saw at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Prospero angers me each and every time I reread the play. He "cast the government" on his brother and then seems so surprised that Antonio "turns the hearts" of the people. Obviously, what Antonio did wasn't right; however, the fact that Prospero wants to wrap himself in "secret studies" and allow someone else to do the daily governing irks me. Then my distaste only grows as Prospero has to use magic to control everyone in his life. He doesn't stand on his own merit or intelligence but employs magic to control the ever-faithful Ariel, the beastly (but promising) Caliban, Ferdinand, Miranda, and those he brings to the island. Just when I am about done with Protagonist it seems that love softens his heart and forgiveness takes the place of vengeance. The "rarer act is in virtue" and when he forgives his brother it shows such growth and grace especially since Antonio doesn't even say he is sorry (nor is he sorry). I like to think of Prospero as a god figure. Maybe a bit Old Testament at first but before the play ends, grace, forgiveness, and mercy are extended to all. The message of redemption or a "sea change" is a hopeful one. This play definitely earns an A+.

Phil

I love Pythagoras’ argument against eating flesh! Here is an incredibly powerful and compelling passage that blows me away! O unnatural murderer! if you persist in the assertion that nature has made you to devour your fellow creatures—beings of flesh and blood, living and feeling like yourself—stifle if you can that horror with which nature makes you regard these horrible feasts and slay the animals yourself! Slay them, I say, with your own hands, without knife or mallet; tear them with your nails like the lion and the bear, take this ox and rend him in pieces, plunge your claws into his hide; eat this lamb while it is yet alive, devour its warm flesh, drink its soul with its blood. You shudder! You dare not feel the living throbbing flesh between your teeth? Ruthless man; you begin by slaying the animal and then you devour it, as if to slay it twice. It is not enough. You turn against the dead flesh, it revolts you, it must be transformed by fire, boiled and roasted, seasoned and disguised with ornaments; you must have butchers, cooks, turnspits because these are the men who will rid the murder of its horrors, who will dress the dead bodies so that the taste deceived by these disguises will not reject what is strange to it. And so you feast on corpses, the very sight of which would sicken you!

Christopher Tiernan

Another great lecture. I'm intrigued by one of Benjamin's comments where he noted characters that "got away from Shakespeare." I get it and yet I don't. The playwright still holds the pen, right? How then does a character escape the author? Thoughts?

Patchanon M.

Oh hey, that’s me, I’m the one who recommended to Ben Zetsuen no Tempest, I haven’t even finished The Winter’s Tale lol

Marine Pigneur

I now finished the Tempest and want to share some feelings before letting the lecture lull my heart. I have laughed myself to death over this play and, just as often, it squeezed my heart like a ripe fruit! I did not know how skillfully Shakespeare could swear and between the sailors and Caliban swearing like a fishmonger’s wife, I could not remain serious a second! A special honorable mention for the line of Alonso “How cam’st thou in this pickle?” I laughed for a full minute. It felt like Monty Python delivering the famous line of Molière “Que diable allait-il faire dans cette galère ?” from Les Fourberies de Scapin. The enchantment of the island and the overall magic atmosphere reminded me of the ballet Peer Gynt and some uncanny interpretation I saw on stage few years ago. The absolute highlight though must be how close Shakespeare fell to us: he is everywhere! His interaction with Ariel seems an artist to muse ambiguous relationship. Ariel is in servitude but seeks love in the middle of a hateful servitude. Prospero loves him and employs so many loving terms that you feel the depth of the bond. Ultimately: “My Ariel- chick, to the elements be free, and fare though well…” I could feel Ariel disappear in the air, feel both the relief and the loss, the relief of Prospero too… and the depth of his loss and subsequent nakedness. At the very end, Prospero-Shakespeare is entirely alone facing us. Several times, we feel that this play is his last: “I’ll break my staff, Bury it certain fathoms in the earth, and deeper than did ever plummet sound I’ll drown my book.” It is a confession too, on the frailty of the world he created for us: “Our revels now are ended… These our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits, and are melted into air, into thin air. […] We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep”. And this final farewell : “Now my charms are o’erthrown, and what strength I have’s mine own, which is much faint. […] 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 […] Let your indulgence set me free.” I clapped in my hands so much that the dust of this great man must have heard me from the depth of the earth in which he now reposes. I finished this play with a sense of loss, and at the same time a strong sense of connection. I am pure emotion now, barely able to write coherent sentences, humbled by the skill I just witnessed, moved to tears from the bottom of my heart. This man single-handedly made it worth it for me to learn English.

Marine Pigneur

Ben, I am glad you read the song of Ariel: "Full fathom five thy father lies, Of his bones are coral made: Those are pearls that were his eyes" This song seemed to me extracted directly from Ovid's metamorphoses and I love it all the more for it!

Andy Stephen

A confession to make… this was my first read through of The Tempest and I used the Arden edition that I got when I got into Shakespeare a bit when I did higher English at school in 1999. For some reason, it’s always been a play I had some unknown attraction to (the names, Thomas Ades’ wonderful opera etc) but never got round to reading or watching. Anyway, I read along with the Naxos/Ian McKellan recording and I got so into it that I went back and started it all over again. It really was wonderful. McKellan makes Prospero a really complex character in that reading - goes from tyrannical to caring, he convinces in his forgiveness. I’ve been amassing an Arden collection over the last couple years to add to the ones I had collected at school (The Tempest, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth) to dive into the Shakespeare project properly but this was a great experience

Terri Matter
>>166350392

Beautiful tribute Marine! I am behind on the Shakespeare project, with two still to go. I have a feeling, with this play, that I have reached the final culmination of Shakespeare's artistry. A truly wonderful play, that does feel like a farewell. The loss we are left with goes deep.

Linda Collins

Absolutely brilliant lecture!! After reading all these thoughtful comments, I don’t have much to add. I’m still new to Shakespeare, and each play is an entirely fresh experience for me. I did want to say, though, how much I found myself identifying with Prospero. More books. Less work!!