Surrounding History of The Tempest

History of the Play

Records indicate that the first performance of The Tempest was on November 1, 1611 before King James I and VI. The play was "again performed during the winter of 1612-13 to celebrate the marriage of Princess Elizabeth, the daughter of King James I. But this play was not printed until it appeared for the first time in the 1623 Folio" (Metzger).

For the entirety of its' existence, The Tempest has been hard to categorize. Under the criteria of Shakespearean comedies, the wedding that takes place at The Tempest leads many to categorize the play as a comedy, but " there are many serious undertones that diminish the comedic tone. Instead, most modern anthologies of Shakespeare's works list this play as a romance" (Metzger). Additionally, although The Tempest is one of William Shakespeare's shortest plays, it still maintains the five-act structure that most Elizabethan theatre works held to. According to CliffNotes, this five-act structure corresponds to division in the action and follows these divisions:

"The first act is the Exposition, in which the playwright sets forth the problem and introduces the main characters. The second act is the Complication, in which the entanglement or conflict is developed. The third act is the Climax; and as the name suggests, this is when the action takes a turning point and the crisis occurs. The fourth act is called the Falling Action, which signals the beginning of the play's resolution. The fifth act is called the Catastrophe, wherein the conclusion occurs. As the name suggests, this act brings closure to the play, a resolution to the conflict, and the plans for a wedding" (Metzger).

There is another aspect of The Tempest that makes it one of Shakespeare's more unique works is the fact that it adheres to the Three Unities. Originally used by Aristotle in his poetics, he argued that "unity of action was essential for dramatic structure" and should occur within one day and limited to one place, making it easier "for the audience to believe the events unfolding on stage" (Metzger). Shakespeare rarely used the three unities, only using this in two plays, The Tempest and The Comedy of Errors. In The Tempest, "All the events occur on the island and within one brief three-hour period" (Metzger).

Shakespeare's Goodbye?

The Tempest serves as William Shakespeare's last work written completely by him, but he is credited as having "collaborated on at least two other plays after The Tempest: The Two Noble Kinsmen and Henry VIII in 1613, both probably written with John Fletcher" (SparkNotes Editors William Shakespeare and The Tempest Background). In fact, a performance of Henry VIII is the "occasion for the actual dissolution of the Globe. A cannon fired during the performance accidentally ignited the thatch, and the theater burned to the ground" (SparkNotes Editors William Shakespeare and The Tempest Background).

Despite Shakespeare working on a few more works after The Tempest, many, including myself, find that Shakespeare may have used the play and the character of Prospero as a way to say goodbye to the theater. The Tempest highlights Prospero, a great magician, and his giving up his art - magic. We can even "interpret Prospero’s reference to the dissolution of “the great globe itself” (IV.i.153) as an allusion to Shakespeare’s theatre" (SparkNotes Editors William Shakespeare and The Tempest Background). Shakespeare officially retired in 1611 and returned to his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon where he died in 1616.