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Shakespeare's The Tempest, is thought to be his last complete play, and by an identification of Shakespeare with Pro-spero, as his farewell to the dramatist's art. Of Shakespeare's thirty-seven plays, only The Tempest and Love's Labor's Lost are generally regarded as wholly the author's creations, with no other known sources.1 One is tempted to look for an expression of Shakespeare's unconscious reasons for choosing, soon after writing it, to give up the theatre.
The Tempest begins with a storm at sea that shipwrecks the King of Naples (Alonso), his son (Ferdinand), his brother (Sebastian), his attendant (Gonzalo) and various Lords and servants. In the second scene of Act I we learn that the fierce storm and shipwreck which appeared to be the actions of an impersonal nature, are the work of Prospero, the overthrown and banished Duke of Milan, who possesses magical powers and resides on the unnamed island near which the shipwreck occurs. With him live his daughter Miranda, a spirit Ariel, who is the corporeal instrument of Prospero's magic, and an evil servant, Caliban. When Miranda asks him directly why he raised the storm, Prospero's answer is oblique, saying only that it is a critical time for him to act. Prospero then wills his daughter to sleep.
In this second scene, Shakespeare gives the audience much information about Prospero, including how he came to the island, and his relationship to Miranda, Ariel and Caliban. The facts are told primarily by Prospero to Miranda, after she falls asleep. This information not only sets the stage for the drama to come, but says much about the psychological issues confronting Prospero and, by inference, Shakespeare.