“Thought is free.”
The last play written entirely by Shakespeare, The Tempest is the famous story of revenge, forgiveness and of course magic. It follows the story of the old duke of Milan who has been usurped by his evil brother and cast out to live the rest of his days on a magical island with his infant daughter. Over the years he amasses his power and when the very nobles who once exiled him come close he sends out the famous storm to shipwreck them on his island. The classic Shakespearean antics begin, including drunken attempts at murder, disappearing feasts, and of course, love at first sight.
The Tempest was just like Shakespeare’s other works. A bit longer than it had to be, with confusing language, and many politically incorrect themes. Yet while many of his works make up for that with their moving stories or incredible characterization, The Tempest just doesn’t make the cut. The story wasn’t intriguing enough to warrant the tedious scenes and time necessary to decern the meaning of the difficult vocabulary. I doubt I would have finished it were I not assigned to for my Shakespeare unit. Having read so many notable plays all by the poet himself in such a short amount of time, it makes it abundantly clear when one of the plays just doesn’t hit the mark. Unfortunately, The Tempest was that one. 3 out of 5 Stars