Act Five scene one
Unity of time
• How does Shakespeare create a sense of
events coming to a head? (Look back at Act
One, scene two lines 240-1)
Prospero’s Power
• What are the symbols of Prospero’s power in
the play?
• What other methods does Shakespeare use to
emphasise his power at the start of this
scene?
AO2 – analysis of
language, structure and
form
The sea-change (ref Act One scene
two line 401)
• In what ways has Prospero undergone a “seachange”?
• What evidence can you find from the scene that
Prospero genuinely believes that “the rarer action
is in virtue than in vengeance” (line 27-8)?
• How does Shakespeare remind us that Prospero’s
anger still exists and is quite close to the surface
(e.g. line 75)?
• How might the image of the shore (79-82)
reinforce the symbolic importance of the sea
change?
AO2 – analysis of language,
structure and form
Prospero promises to give up his
magic arts – lines 33 - 57
 Read and annotate the passage carefully. How
does Shakespeare create a sense of gravitas
(seriousness) in this speech?
 Read the critical essay Prospero – a Renaissance
magus
 Discuss in pairs: based on the arguments put
forward in the essay and your understanding of
the play, is Prospero a force for good or evil?
AO3 – alternative interpretations of
Prospero
Reactions to Prospero – lines 104 171
• How does Shakespeare show that Alonso’s
penitence is real?
• How does Shakespeare show that Antonio and
Sebastian are unrepentant?
• How does Shakespeare remind us that Antonio’s
crime is greater than Sebastian’s?
• Does their behaviour prevent the play from
having a satisfactory comic ending? (You might
like to consider the role of Don John in Much Ado
About Nothing here)
AO2 – analysis of language, structure
and form
What is the symbolic importance of
the game of chess?
Ideas to consider:
- What is the object of chess? Is this moment a symbol
of the capture of Alonso?
- Does it imply that Miranda and Ferdinand’s union is
purely strategic?
- Is it a metaphor for the difficult series of manoeuvres
that Prospero has successfully pulled off?
- Is it an image of Miranda and Ferdinand as the rulers of
a new and better society?
- Is it an image of domestic harmony and sexual
equality?
AO2 -Analysis of language, structure
and form
AO3 – alternative interpretations
Unity of Place
• What is the symbolic importance of having all
the characters on stage for the first time?
• What is the strategic importance of the union
between Miranda and Ferdinand? (e.g. 205 –
6)
AO2 – analysis of language,
structure and form
AO4 – context
The restoration of order
• What do you notice about the way the boatswain
speaks to the nobles (lines 229 – 239)?
• How is the symbolic of the wider themes of the
play?
• Find a quotation from Act 1 scene 1 which
juxtaposes with the boatswain’s respectful
speech
• How does Alonso put Stephano and Trinculo back
in their place? Why is this importance for the
symbolic restoration of order?
AO2
AO4
This thing of darkness I/ Acknowledge
mine (line 275 – 6)
W H Auden produced a poetic commentary on The Tempest
called The Sea and the Mirror.
Auden represented Caliban as Prospero’s mirrored face or
secret self hidden beneath the veneers of civilised behaviour.
Several productions, including an RSC one in 1982, have
presented Caliban and Ariel as opposing sides of Prospero’s
psyche.
Read Jeremy Todd’s review of The Sea and the Mirror. What
light does it shed on the symbolic significance of Caliban and
Ariel?
AO3 – alternative interpretations
Ariel’s freedom
• Look at the line (241) in which Prospero frees
Ariel. Why do you think Ariel doesn’t reply?
• Director Sam Mendes had Ariel spit at
Prospero after he had been granted his
freedom. Although reviews of the production
were largely positive, many critics reacted
negatively to the spitting. Why do you think
this is? Do you agree?
AO3 – alternative
interpretations
The end of the scene
• What is Prospero’s final use of magic? How
does this contrast with the opening of the
play?
• Why is it significant that Ariel is still on stage?
• Look at Prospero’s term of address (“My Ariel,
chick”). How do you respond to it?
• Why is it important that the scene ends with
all the noble characters on stage?
AO2 – analysis of language,
structure and form
The Epilogue
• In what ways does the epilogue relate
Prospero’s art to the dramatist’s skill?
Go through the epilogue and annotate all the
words and phrases that could apply to either
Prospero or Shakespeare.
Homework Essay
By the end of The Tempest, magic and wonder
have given way to a human resolution.
Evaluate this view by exploring the dramatic
effects of the play.