Summary of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Plot Overview1
O N A DARK WINTER NIGHT, a ghost walks the ramparts of Elsinore Castle in
Denmark. Discovered first by a pair of watchmen, then by the scholar Horatio, the
ghost resembles the recently deceased King Hamlet, whose brother Claudius has
inherited the throne and married the king’s widow, Queen Gertrude. When Horatio
and the watchmen bring Prince Hamlet, the son of Gertrude and the dead king, to
see the ghost, it speaks to him, declaring ominously that it is indeed his father’s
spirit, and that he was murdered by none other than Claudius. Ordering Hamlet to
seek revenge on the man who usurped his throne and married his wife, the ghost
disappears with the dawn.
Prince Hamlet devotes himself to avenging his father’s death, but, because he is
contemplative and thoughtful by nature, he delays, entering into a deep melancholy
and even apparent madness. Claudius and Gertrude worry about the prince’s erratic
behavior and attempt to discover its cause. They employ a pair of Hamlet’s friends,
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to watch him. When Polonius, the pompous Lord
Chamberlain, suggests that Hamlet may be mad with love for his daughter, Ophelia,
Claudius agrees to spy on Hamlet in conversation with the girl. But though Hamlet
certainly seems mad, he does not seem to love Ophelia: he orders her to enter a
nunnery and declares that he wishes to ban marriages.
A group of traveling actors comes to Elsinore, and Hamlet seizes upon an idea to
test his uncle’s guilt. He will have the players perform a scene closely resembling
the sequence by which Hamlet imagines his uncle to have murdered his father, so
that if Claudius is guilty, he will surely react. When the moment of the murder
arrives in the theater, Claudius leaps up and leaves the room. Hamlet and Horatio
agree that this proves his guilt. Hamlet goes to kill Claudius but finds him praying.
Since he believes that killing Claudius while in prayer would send Claudius’s soul to
heaven, Hamlet considers that it would be an inadequate revenge and decides to
wait. Claudius, now frightened of Hamlet’s madness and fearing for his own safety,
orders that Hamlet be sent to England at once.
Hamlet goes to confront his mother, in whose bedchamber Polonius has hidden
behind a tapestry. Hearing a noise from behind the tapestry, Hamlet believes the
king is hiding there. He draws his sword and stabs through the fabric, killing
Polonius. For this crime, he is immediately dispatched to England with Rosencrantz
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and Guildenstern. However, Claudius’s plan for Hamlet includes more than
banishment, as he has given Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sealed orders for the
King of England demanding that Hamlet be put to death.
In the aftermath of her father’s death, Ophelia goes mad with grief and drowns in
the river. Polonius’s son, Laertes, who has been staying in France, returns to
Denmark in a rage. Claudius convinces him that Hamlet is to blame for his father’s
and sister’s deaths. When Horatio and the king receive letters from Hamlet
indicating that the prince has returned to Denmark after pirates attacked his ship
en route to England, Claudius concocts a plan to use Laertes’ desire for revenge to
secure Hamlet’s death. Laertes will fence with Hamlet in innocent sport, but
Claudius will poison Laertes’ blade so that if he draws blood, Hamlet will die. As a
backup plan, the king decides to poison a goblet, which he will give Hamlet to drink
should Hamlet score the first or second hits of the match. Hamlet returns to the
vicinity of Elsinore just as Ophelia’s funeral is taking place. Stricken with grief, he
attacks Laertes and declares that he had in fact always loved Ophelia. Back at the
castle, he tells Horatio that he believes one must be prepared to die, since death
can come at any moment. A foolish courtier named Osric arrives on Claudius’s
orders to arrange the fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes.
The sword-fighting begins. Hamlet scores the first hit, but declines to drink from
the king’s proffered goblet. Instead, Gertrude takes a drink from it and is swiftly
killed by the poison. Laertes succeeds in wounding Hamlet, though Hamlet does not
die of the poison immediately. First, Laertes is cut by his own sword’s blade, and,
after revealing to Hamlet that Claudius is responsible for the queen’s death, he
dies from the blade’s poison. Hamlet then stabs Claudius through with the poisoned
sword and forces him to drink down the rest of the poisoned wine. Claudius dies,
and Hamlet dies immediately after achieving his revenge.
At this moment, a Norwegian prince named Fortinbras, who has led an army to
Denmark and attacked Poland earlier in the play, enters with ambassadors from
England, who report that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Fortinbras is
stunned by the gruesome sight of the entire royal family lying sprawled on the
floor dead. He moves to take power of the kingdom. Horatio, fulfilling Hamlet’s last
request, tells him Hamlet’s tragic story. Fortinbras orders that Hamlet be carried
away in a manner befitting a fallen soldier.
Summary of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Plot Overview2
T HE PLAY BEGINS with the brief appearance of a trio of witches and then moves to
a military camp, where the Scottish King Duncan hears the news that his generals,
Macbeth and Banquo, have defeated two separate invading armies—one from
Ireland, led by the rebel Macdonwald, and one from Norway. Following their
pitched battle with these enemy forces, Macbeth and Banquo encounter the
witches as they cross a moor. The witches prophesy that Macbeth will be made
thane (a rank of Scottish nobility) of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland. They
also prophesy that Macbeth’s companion, Banquo, will beget a line of Scottish kings,
although Banquo will never be king himself. The witches vanish, and Macbeth and
Banquo treat their prophecies skeptically until some of King Duncan’s men come to
thank the two generals for their victories in battle and to tell Macbeth that he has
indeed been named thane of Cawdor. The previous thane betrayed Scotland by
fighting for the Norwegians and Duncan has condemned him to death. Macbeth is
intrigued by the possibility that the remainder of the witches’ prophecy—that he
will be crowned king—might be true, but he is uncertain what to expect. He visits
with King Duncan, and they plan to dine together at Inverness, Macbeth’s castle,
that night. Macbeth writes ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her all that has
happened.
Lady Macbeth suffers none of her husband’s uncertainty. She desires the kingship
for him and wants him to murder Duncan in order to obtain it. When Macbeth
arrives at Inverness, she overrides all of her husband’s objections and persuades
him to kill the king that very night. He and Lady Macbeth plan to get Duncan’s two
chamberlains drunk so they will black out; the next morning they will blame the
murder on the chamberlains, who will be defenseless, as they will remember
nothing. While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth stabs him, despite his doubts and a
number of supernatural portents, including a vision of a bloody dagger. When
Duncan’s death is discovered the next morning, Macbeth kills the chamberlains—
ostensibly out of rage at their crime—and easily assumes the kingship. Duncan’s
sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee to England and Ireland, respectively, fearing that
whoever killed Duncan desires their demise as well.
Fearful of the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s heirs will seize the throne, Macbeth
hires a group of murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. They ambush Banquo
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on his way to a royal feast, but they fail to kill Fleance, who escapes into the night.
Macbeth becomes furious: as long as Fleance is alive, he fears that his power
remains insecure. At the feast that night, Banquo’s ghost visits Macbeth. When he
sees the ghost, Macbeth raves fearfully, startling his guests, who include most of
the great Scottish nobility. Lady Macbeth tries to neutralize the damage, but
Macbeth’s kingship incites increasing resistance from his nobles and subjects.
Frightened, Macbeth goes to visit the witches in their cavern. There, they show
him a sequence of demons and spirits who present him with further prophecies: he
must beware of Macduff, a Scottish nobleman who opposed Macbeth’s accession to
the throne; he is incapable of being harmed by any man born of woman; and he will
be safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Castle. Macbeth is relieved and
feels secure, because he knows that all men are born of women and that forests
cannot move. When he learns that Macduff has fled to England to join Malcolm,
Macbeth orders that Macduff’s castle be seized and, most cruelly, that Lady
Macduff and her children be murdered.
When news of his family’s execution reaches Macduff in England, he is stricken
with grief and vows revenge. Prince Malcolm, Duncan’s son, has succeeded in raising
an army in England, and Macduff joins him as he rides to Scotland to challenge
Macbeth’s forces. The invasion has the support of the Scottish nobles, who are
appalled and frightened by Macbeth’s tyrannical and murderous behavior. Lady
Macbeth, meanwhile, becomes plagued with fits of sleepwalking in which she
bemoans what she believes to be bloodstains on her hands. Before Macbeth’s
opponents arrive, Macbeth receives news that she has killed herself, causing him to
sink into a deep and pessimistic despair. Nevertheless, he awaits the English and
fortifies Dunsinane, to which he seems to have withdrawn in order to defend
himself, certain that the witches’ prophecies guarantee his invincibility. He is
struck numb with fear, however, when he learns that the English army is advancing
on Dunsinane shielded with boughs cut from Birnam Wood. Birnam Wood is indeed
coming to Dunsinane, fulfilling half of the witches’ prophecy.
In the battle, Macbeth hews violently, but the English forces gradually overwhelm
his army and castle. On the battlefield, Macbeth encounters the vengeful Macduff,
who declares that he was not “of woman born” but was instead “untimely ripped”
from his mother’s womb (what we now call birth by cesarean section). Though he
realizes that he is doomed, Macbeth continues to fight until Macduff kills and
beheads him. Malcolm, now the King of Scotland, declares his benevolent intentions
for the country and invites all to see him crowned at Scone.
Summary of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream
Plot Overview3
T HESEUS, DUKE OF ATHENS, is preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta, queen of the
Amazons, with a four-day festival of pomp and entertainment. He commissions his
Master of the Revels, Philostrate, to find suitable amusements for the occasion.
Egeus, an Athenian nobleman, marches into Theseus’s court with his daughter,
Hermia, and two young men, Demetrius and Lysander. Egeus wishes Hermia to
marry Demetrius (who loves Hermia), but Hermia is in love with Lysander and
refuses to comply. Egeus asks for the full penalty of law to fall on Hermia’s head if
she flouts her father’s will. Theseus gives Hermia until his wedding to consider her
options, warning her that disobeying her father’s wishes could result in her being
sent to a convent or even executed. Nonetheless, Hermia and Lysander plan to
escape Athens the following night and marry in the house of Lysander’s aunt, some
seven leagues distant from the city. They make their intentions known to Hermia’s
friend Helena, who was once engaged to Demetrius and still loves him even though
he jilted her after meeting Hermia. Hoping to regain his love, Helena tells
Demetrius of the elopement that Hermia and Lysander have planned. At the
appointed time, Demetrius stalks into the woods after his intended bride and her
lover; Helena follows behind him.
In these same woods are two very different groups of characters. The first is a
band of fairies, including Oberon, the fairy king, and Titania, his queen, who has
recently returned from India to bless the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. The
second is a band of Athenian craftsmen rehearsing a play that they hope to
perform for the duke and his bride. Oberon and Titania are at odds over a young
Indian prince given to Titania by the prince’s mother; the boy is so beautiful that
Oberon wishes to make him a knight, but Titania refuses. Seeking revenge, Oberon
sends his merry servant, Puck, to acquire a magical flower, the juice of which can
be spread over a sleeping person’s eyelids to make that person fall in love with the
first thing he or she sees upon waking. Puck obtains the flower, and Oberon tells
him of his plan to spread its juice on the sleeping Titania’s eyelids. Having seen
Demetrius act cruelly toward Helena, he orders Puck to spread some of the juice
on the eyelids of the young Athenian man. Puck encounters Lysander and Hermia;
thinking that Lysander is the Athenian of whom Oberon spoke, Puck afflicts him
with the love potion. Lysander happens to see Helena upon awaking and falls deeply
in love with her, abandoning Hermia. As the night progresses and Puck attempts to
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undo his mistake, both Lysander and Demetrius end up in love with Helena, who
believes that they are mocking her. Hermia becomes so jealous that she tries to
challenge Helena to a fight. Demetrius and Lysander nearly do fight over Helena’s
love, but Puck confuses them by mimicking their voices, leading them apart until
they are lost separately in the forest.
When Titania wakes, the first creature she sees is Bottom, the most ridiculous of
the Athenian craftsmen, whose head Puck has mockingly transformed into that of
an ass. Titania passes a ludicrous interlude doting on the ass-headed weaver.
Eventually, Oberon obtains the Indian boy, Puck spreads the love potion on
Lysander’s eyelids, and by morning all is well. Theseus and Hippolyta discover the
sleeping lovers in the forest and take them back to Athens to be married—
Demetrius now loves Helena, and Lysander now loves Hermia. After the group
wedding, the lovers watch Bottom and his fellow craftsmen perform their play, a
fumbling, hilarious version of the story of Pyramus and Thisbe. When the play is
completed, the lovers go to bed; the fairies briefly emerge to bless the sleeping
couples with a protective charm and then disappear. Only Puck remains, to ask the
audience for its forgiveness and approval and to urge it to remember the play as
though it had all been a dream.
Summary of William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet
Plot Overview4
I N THE STREETS OF VERONA another brawl breaks out between the servants of the
feuding noble families of Capulet and Montague. Benvolio, a Montague, tries to stop
the fighting, but is himself embroiled when the rash Capulet, Tybalt, arrives on the
scene. After citizens outraged by the constant violence beat back the warring
factions, Prince Escalus, the ruler of Verona, attempts to prevent any further
conflicts between the families by decreeing death for any individual who disturbs
the peace in the future.
Romeo, the son of Montague, runs into his cousin Benvolio, who had earlier seen
Romeo moping in a grove of sycamores. After some prodding by Benvolio, Romeo
confides that he is in love with Rosaline, a woman who does not return his
affections. Benvolio counsels him to forget this woman and find another, more
beautiful one, but Romeo remains despondent.
Meanwhile, Paris, a kinsman of the Prince, seeks Juliet’s hand in marriage. Her
father Capulet, though happy at the match, asks Paris to wait two years, since
Juliet is not yet even fourteen. Capulet dispatches a servant with a list of people
to invite to a masquerade and feast he traditionally holds. He invites Paris to the
feast, hoping that Paris will begin to win Juliet’s heart.
Romeo and Benvolio, still discussing Rosaline, encounter the Capulet servant bearing
the list of invitations. Benvolio suggests that they attend, since that will allow
Romeo to compare his beloved to other beautiful women of Verona. Romeo agrees
to go with Benvolio to the feast, but only because Rosaline, whose name he reads on
the list, will be there.
In Capulet’s household, young Juliet talks with her mother, Lady Capulet, and her
nurse about the possibility of marrying Paris. Juliet has not yet considered
marriage, but agrees to look at Paris during the feast to see if she thinks she could
fall in love with him.
The feast begins. A melancholy Romeo follows Benvolio and their witty friend
Mercutio to Capulet’s house. Once inside, Romeo sees Juliet from a distance and
instantly falls in love with her; he forgets about Rosaline completely. As Romeo
watches Juliet, entranced, a young Capulet, Tybalt, recognizes him, and is enraged
that a Montague would sneak into a Capulet feast. He prepares to attack, but
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Capulet holds him back. Soon, Romeo speaks to Juliet, and the two experience a
profound attraction. They kiss, not even knowing each other’s names. When he
finds out from Juliet’s nurse that she is the daughter of Capulet—his family’s
enemy—he becomes distraught. When Juliet learns that the young man she has
just kissed is the son of Montague, she grows equally upset.
As Mercutio and Benvolio leave the Capulet estate, Romeo leaps over the orchard
wall into the garden, unable to leave Juliet behind. From his hiding place, he sees
Juliet in a window above the orchard and hears her speak his name. He calls out to
her, and they exchange vows of love.
Romeo hurries to see his friend and confessor Friar Lawrence, who, though
shocked at the sudden turn of Romeo’s heart, agrees to marry the young lovers in
secret since he sees in their love the possibility of ending the age-old feud
between Capulet and Montague. The following day, Romeo and Juliet meet at Friar
Lawrence’s cell and are married. The Nurse, who is privy to the secret, procures a
ladder, which Romeo will use to climb into Juliet’s window for their wedding night.
The next day, Benvolio and Mercutio encounter Tybalt—Juliet’s cousin—who, still
enraged that Romeo attended Capulet’s feast, has challenged Romeo to a duel.
Romeo appears. Now Tybalt’s kinsman by marriage, Romeo begs the Capulet to hold
off the duel until he understands why Romeo does not want to fight. Disgusted
with this plea for peace, Mercutio says that he will fight Tybalt himself. The two
begin to duel. Romeo tries to stop them by leaping between the combatants. Tybalt
stabs Mercutio under Romeo’s arm, and Mercutio dies. Romeo, in a rage, kills
Tybalt. Romeo flees from the scene. Soon after, the Prince declares him forever
banished from Verona for his crime. Friar Lawrence arranges for Romeo to spend
his wedding night with Juliet before he has to leave for Mantua the following
morning.
In her room, Juliet awaits the arrival of her new husband. The Nurse enters, and,
after some confusion, tells Juliet that Romeo has killed Tybalt. Distraught, Juliet
suddenly finds herself married to a man who has killed her kinsman. But she
resettles herself, and realizes that her duty belongs with her love: to Romeo.
Romeo sneaks into Juliet’s room that night, and at last they consummate their
marriage and their love. Morning comes, and the lovers bid farewell, unsure when
they will see each other again. Juliet learns that her father, affected by the
recent events, now intends for her to marry Paris in just three days. Unsure of
how to proceed—unable to reveal to her parents that she is married to Romeo, but
unwilling to marry Paris now that she is Romeo’s wife—Juliet asks her nurse for
advice. She counsels Juliet to proceed as if Romeo were dead and to marry Paris,
who is a better match anyway. Disgusted with the Nurse’s disloyalty, Juliet
disregards her advice and hurries to Friar Lawrence. He concocts a plan to reunite
Juliet with Romeo in Mantua. The night before her wedding to Paris, Juliet must
drink a potion that will make her appear to be dead. After she is laid to rest in the
family’s crypt, the Friar and Romeo will secretly retrieve her, and she will be free
to live with Romeo, away from their parents’ feuding.
Juliet returns home to discover the wedding has been moved ahead one day, and
she is to be married tomorrow. That night, Juliet drinks the potion, and the Nurse
discovers her, apparently dead, the next morning. The Capulets grieve, and Juliet is
entombed according to plan. But Friar Lawrence’s message explaining the plan to
Romeo never reaches Mantua. Its bearer, Friar John, gets confined to a
quarantined house. Romeo hears only that Juliet is dead.
Romeo learns only of Juliet’s death and decides to kill himself rather than live
without her. He buys a vial of poison from a reluctant Apothecary, then speeds
back to Verona to take his own life at Juliet’s tomb. Outside the Capulet crypt,
Romeo comes upon Paris, who is scattering flowers on Juliet’s grave. They fight,
and Romeo kills Paris. He enters the tomb, sees Juliet’s inanimate body, drinks the
poison, and dies by her side. Just then, Friar Lawrence enters and realizes that
Romeo has killed Paris and himself. At the same time, Juliet awakes. Friar
Lawrence hears the coming of the watch. When Juliet refuses to leave with him, he
flees alone. Juliet sees her beloved Romeo and realizes he has killed himself with
poison. She kisses his poisoned lips, and when that does not kill her, buries his
dagger in her chest, falling dead upon his body.
The watch arrives, followed closely by the Prince, the Capulets, and Montague.
Montague declares that Lady Montague has died of grief over Romeo’s exile.
Seeing their children’s bodies, Capulet and Montague agree to end their longstanding feud and to raise gold statues of their children side-by-side in a newly
peaceful Verona.
Summary of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
Plot Overview5
I N THE KINGDOM OF ILLYRIA, a nobleman named Orsino lies around listening to music,
pining away for the love of Lady Olivia. He cannot have her because she is in
mourning for her dead brother and refuses to entertain any proposals of marriage.
Meanwhile, off the coast, a storm has caused a terrible shipwreck. A young,
aristocratic-born woman named Viola is swept onto the Illyrian shore. Finding
herself alone in a strange land, she assumes that her twin brother, Sebastian, has
been drowned in the wreck, and tries to figure out what sort of work she can do. A
friendly sea captain tells her about Orsino’s courtship of Olivia, and Viola says that
she wishes she could go to work in Olivia’s home. But since Lady Olivia refuses to
talk with any strangers, Viola decides that she cannot look for work with her.
Instead, she decides to disguise herself as a man, taking on the name of Cesario,
and goes to work in the household of Duke Orsino.
Viola (disguised as Cesario) quickly becomes a favorite of Orsino, who makes
Cesario his page. Viola finds herself falling in love with Orsino—a difficult love to
pursue, as Orsino believes her to be a man. But when Orsino sends Cesario to
deliver Orsino’s love messages to the disdainful Olivia, Olivia herself falls for the
beautiful young Cesario, believing her to be a man. The love triangle is complete:
Viola loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia, and Olivia loves Cesario—and everyone is
miserable.
Meanwhile, we meet the other members of Olivia’s household: her rowdy drunkard
of an uncle, Sir Toby; his foolish friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, who is trying in his
hopeless way to court Olivia; Olivia’s witty and pretty waiting-gentlewoman, Maria;
Feste, the clever clown of the house; and Malvolio, the dour, prudish steward of
Olivia’s household. When Sir Toby and the others take offense at Malvolio’s
constant efforts to spoil their fun, Maria engineers a practical joke to make
Malvolio think that Olivia is in love with him. She forges a letter, supposedly from
Olivia, addressed to her beloved (whose name is signified by the letters M.O.A.I.),
telling him that if he wants to earn her favor, he should dress in yellow stockings
and crossed garters, act haughtily, smile constantly, and refuse to explain himself
to anyone. Malvolio finds the letter, assumes that it is addressed to him, and, filled
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with dreams of marrying Olivia and becoming noble himself, happily follows its
commands. He behaves so strangely that Olivia comes to think that he is mad.
Meanwhile, Sebastian, who is still alive after all but believes his sister Viola to be
dead, arrives in Illyria along with his friend and protector, Antonio. Antonio has
cared for Sebastian since the shipwreck and is passionately (and perhaps sexually)
attached to the young man—so much so that he follows him to Orsino’s domain, in
spite of the fact that he and Orsino are old enemies.
Sir Andrew, observing Olivia’s attraction to Cesario (still Viola in disguise),
challenges Cesario to a duel. Sir Toby, who sees the prospective duel as
entertaining fun, eggs Sir Andrew on. However, when Sebastian—who looks just
like the disguised Viola—appears on the scene, Sir Andrew and Sir Toby end up
coming to blows with Sebastian, thinking that he is Cesario. Olivia enters amid the
confusion. Encountering Sebastian and thinking that he is Cesario, she asks him to
marry her. He is baffled, since he has never seen her before. He sees, however,
that she is wealthy and beautiful, and he is therefore more than willing to go along
with her. Meanwhile, Antonio has been arrested by Orsino’s officers and now begs
Cesario for help, mistaking him for Sebastian. Viola denies knowing Antonio, and
Antonio is dragged off, crying out that Sebastian has betrayed him. Suddenly,
Viola has newfound hope that her brother may be alive.
Malvolio’s supposed madness has allowed the gleeful Maria, Toby, and the rest to
lock Malvolio into a small, dark room for his treatment, and they torment him at
will. Feste dresses up as "Sir Topas," a priest, and pretends to examine Malvolio,
declaring him definitely insane in spite of his protests. However, Sir Toby begins to
think better of the joke, and they allow Malvolio to send a letter to Olivia, in which
he asks to be released.
Eventually, Viola (still disguised as Cesario) and Orsino make their way to Olivia’s
house, where Olivia welcomes Cesario as her new husband, thinking him to be
Sebastian, whom she has just married. Orsino is furious, but then Sebastian
himself appears on the scene, and all is revealed. The siblings are joyfully reunited,
and Orsino realizes that he loves Viola, now that he knows she is a woman, and asks
her to marry him. We discover that Sir Toby and Maria have also been married
privately. Finally, someone remembers Malvolio and lets him out of the dark room.
The trick is revealed in full, and the embittered Malvolio storms off, leaving the
happy couples to their celebration.
Summary of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest
6
Plot Overview
A STORM STRIKES A SHIP carrying Alonso, Ferdinand, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo,
Stephano, and Trinculo, who are on their way to Italy after coming from the
wedding of Alonso’s daughter, Claribel, to the prince of Tunis in Africa. The royal
party and the other mariners, with the exception of the unflappable Boatswain,
begin to fear for their lives. Lightning cracks, and the mariners cry that the ship
has been hit. Everyone prepares to sink.
The next scene begins much more quietly. Miranda and Prospero stand on the shore
of their island, looking out to sea at the recent shipwreck. Miranda asks her father
to do anything he can to help the poor souls in the ship. Prospero assures her that
everything is all right and then informs her that it is time she learned more about
herself and her past. He reveals to her that he orchestrated the shipwreck and
tells her the lengthy story of her past, a story he has often started to tell her
before but never finished. The story goes that Prospero was the Duke of Milan
until his brother Antonio, conspiring with Alonso, the King of Naples, usurped his
position. Kidnapped and left to die on a raft at sea, Prospero and his daughter
survive because Gonzalo leaves them supplies and Prospero’s books, which are the
source of his magic and power. Prospero and his daughter arrived on the island
where they remain now and have been for twelve years. Only now, Prospero says,
has Fortune at last sent his enemies his way, and he has raised the tempest in
order to make things right with them once and for all.
After telling this story, Prospero charms Miranda to sleep and then calls forth his
familiar spirit Ariel, his chief magical agent. Prospero and Ariel’s discussion reveals
that Ariel brought the tempest upon the ship and set fire to the mast. He then
made sure that everyone got safely to the island, though they are now separated
from each other into small groups. Ariel, who is a captive servant to Prospero,
reminds his master that he has promised Ariel freedom a year early if he performs
tasks such as these without complaint. Prospero chastises Ariel for protesting and
reminds him of the horrible fate from which he was rescued. Before Prospero came
to the island, a witch named Sycorax imprisoned Ariel in a tree. Sycorax died,
leaving Ariel trapped until Prospero arrived and freed him. After Ariel assures
Prospero that he knows his place, Prospero orders Ariel to take the shape of a sea
nymph and make himself invisible to all but Prospero.
Miranda awakens from her sleep, and she and Prospero go to visit Caliban,
Prospero’s servant and the son of the dead Sycorax. Caliban curses Prospero, and
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Prospero and Miranda berate him for being ungrateful for what they have given
and taught him. Prospero sends Caliban to fetch firewood. Ariel, invisible, enters
playing music and leading in the awed Ferdinand. Miranda and Ferdinand are
immediately smitten with each other. He is the only man Miranda has ever seen,
besides Caliban and her father. Prospero is happy to see that his plan for his
daughter’s future marriage is working, but decides that he must upset things
temporarily in order to prevent their relationship from developing too quickly. He
accuses Ferdinand of merely pretending to be the Prince of Naples and threatens
him with imprisonment. When Ferdinand draws his sword, Prospero charms him and
leads him off to prison, ignoring Miranda’s cries for mercy. He then sends Ariel on
another mysterious mission.
On another part of the island, Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, and other
miscellaneous lords give thanks for their safety but worry about the fate of
Ferdinand. Alonso says that he wishes he never had married his daughter to the
prince of Tunis because if he had not made this journey, his son would still be alive.
Gonzalo tries to maintain high spirits by discussing the beauty of the island, but his
remarks are undercut by the sarcastic sourness of Antonio and Sebastian. Ariel
appears, invisible, and plays music that puts all but Sebastian and Antonio to sleep.
These two then begin to discuss the possible advantages of killing their sleeping
companions. Antonio persuades Sebastian that the latter will become ruler of
Naples if they kill Alonso. Claribel, who would be the next heir if Ferdinand were
indeed dead, is too far away to be able to claim her right. Sebastian is convinced,
and the two are about to stab the sleeping men when Ariel causes Gonzalo to wake
with a shout. Everyone wakes up, and Antonio and Sebastian concoct a ridiculous
story about having drawn their swords to protect the king from lions. Ariel goes
back to Prospero while Alonso and his party continue to search for Ferdinand.
Caliban, meanwhile, is hauling wood for Prospero when he sees Trinculo and thinks
he is a spirit sent by Prospero to torment him. He lies down and hides under his
cloak. A storm is brewing, and Trinculo, curious about but undeterred by Caliban’s
strange appearance and smell, crawls under the cloak with him. Stephano, drunk
and singing, comes along and stumbles upon the bizarre spectacle of Caliban and
Trinculo huddled under the cloak. Caliban, hearing the singing, cries out that he will
work faster so long as the “spirits” leave him alone. Stephano decides that this
monster requires liquor and attempts to get Caliban to drink. Trinculo recognizes
his friend Stephano and calls out to him. Soon the three are sitting up together
and drinking. Caliban quickly becomes an enthusiastic drinker, and begins to sing.
Prospero puts Ferdinand to work hauling wood. Ferdinand finds his labor pleasant
because it is for Miranda’s sake. Miranda, thinking that her father is asleep, tells
Ferdinand to take a break. The two flirt with one another. Miranda proposes
marriage, and Ferdinand accepts. Prospero has been on stage most of the time,
unseen, and he is pleased with this development.
Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban are now drunk and raucous and are made all the
more so by Ariel, who comes to them invisibly and provokes them to fight with one
another by impersonating their voices and taunting them. Caliban grows more and
more fervent in his boasts that he knows how to kill Prospero. He even tells
Stephano that he can bring him to where Prospero is sleeping. He proposes that
they kill Prospero, take his daughter, and set Stephano up as king of the island.
Stephano thinks this a good plan, and the three prepare to set off to find
Prospero. They are distracted, however, by the sound of music that Ariel plays on
his flute and tabor-drum, and they decide to follow this music before executing
their plot.
Alonso, Gonzalo, Sebastian, and Antonio grow weary from traveling and pause to
rest. Antonio and Sebastian secretly plot to take advantage of Alonso and
Gonzalo’s exhaustion, deciding to kill them in the evening. Prospero, probably on the
balcony of the stage and invisible to the men, causes a banquet to be set out by
strangely shaped spirits. As the men prepare to eat, Ariel appears like a harpy and
causes the banquet to vanish. He then accuses the men of supplanting Prospero and
says that it was for this sin that Alonso’s son, Ferdinand, has been taken. He
vanishes, leaving Alonso feeling vexed and guilty.
Prospero now softens toward Ferdinand and welcomes him into his family as the
soon-to-be-husband of Miranda. He sternly reminds Ferdinand, however, that
Miranda’s “virgin-knot” (IV.i.15) is not to be broken until the wedding has been
officially solemnized. Prospero then asks Ariel to call forth some spirits to
perform a masque for Ferdinand and Miranda. The spirits assume the shapes of
Ceres, Juno, and Iris and perform a short masque celebrating the rites of marriage
and the bounty of the earth. A dance of reapers and nymphs follows but is
interrupted when Prospero suddenly remembers that he still must stop the plot
against his life.
He sends the spirits away and asks Ariel about Trinculo, Stephano, and Caliban.
Ariel tells his master of the three men’s drunken plans. He also tells how he led the
men with his music through prickly grass and briars and finally into a filthy pond
near Prospero’s cell. Ariel and Prospero then set a trap by hanging beautiful
clothing in Prospero’s cell. Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban enter looking for
Prospero and, finding the beautiful clothing, decide to steal it. They are
immediately set upon by a pack of spirits in the shape of dogs and hounds, driven
on by Prospero and Ariel.
Prospero uses Ariel to bring Alonso and the others before him. He then sends Ariel
to bring the Boatswain and the mariners from where they sleep on the wrecked
ship. Prospero confronts Alonso, Antonio, and Sebastian with their treachery, but
tells them that he forgives them. Alonso tells him of having lost Ferdinand in the
tempest and Prospero says that he recently lost his own daughter. Clarifying his
meaning, he draws aside a curtain to reveal Ferdinand and Miranda playing chess.
Alonso and his companions are amazed by the miracle of Ferdinand’s survival, and
Miranda is stunned by the sight of people unlike any she has seen before.
Ferdinand tells his father about his marriage.
Ariel returns with the Boatswain and mariners. The Boatswain tells a story of
having been awakened from a sleep that had apparently lasted since the tempest.
At Prospero’s bidding, Ariel releases Caliban, Trinculo and Stephano, who then
enter wearing their stolen clothing. Prospero and Alonso command them to return
it and to clean up Prospero’s cell. Prospero invites Alonso and the others to stay for
the night so that he can tell them the tale of his life in the past twelve years.
After this, the group plans to return to Italy. Prospero, restored to his dukedom,
will retire to Milan. Prospero gives Ariel one final task—to make sure the seas are
calm for the return voyage—before setting him free. Finally, Prospero delivers an
epilogue to the audience, asking them to forgive him for his wrongdoing and set him
free by applauding.