Loading...
Loading...
Loading…
Loading…
Everything you need for your GCSE English Literature exam. Scene-by-scene plot, 10 character profiles, 6 key themes with evidence, 20+ quotations with analysis, historical context, and essay planning.
Jump to section:
A violent tempest threatens to destroy a ship carrying Alonso (King of Naples), his son Ferdinand, Antonio (the usurping Duke of Milan), Sebastian, Gonzalo, and others. The Boatswain's authority over the nobles during the storm introduces the theme of power: rank means nothing against nature. The ship appears to break apart. This opening scene immediately establishes the play's central concerns with power, social hierarchy, and the natural world.
Key Moments
On the island, Prospero reveals to Miranda that he caused the storm using magic. He tells their history: twelve years ago, his brother Antonio usurped his dukedom with Alonso's help, setting Prospero and the infant Miranda adrift. They survived thanks to Gonzalo, who secretly provided supplies and Prospero's precious books. Prospero has spent twelve years mastering magic. He summons Ariel, a spirit bound to his service, who confirms everyone survived the shipwreck. Prospero also commands Caliban, the island's native inhabitant, whom he has enslaved. Ferdinand, separated from the others, meets Miranda and they fall in love instantly. Prospero pretends to distrust Ferdinand and imprisons him as part of his plan.
Key Moments
The shipwrecked nobles explore the island. Gonzalo optimistically imagines a utopian commonwealth without property, class, or labour; Antonio and Sebastian mock him. Ariel uses magic to put everyone except Antonio and Sebastian to sleep. Antonio tempts Sebastian to murder the sleeping Alonso and seize the throne of Naples, mirroring his own usurpation of Prospero. They draw swords, but Ariel wakes Gonzalo just in time, preventing the assassination.
Key Moments
Caliban encounters Trinculo (a jester) and Stephano (a drunken butler). Caliban, mistaking Stephano's wine for divine power, pledges to serve him and offers to show him the island's resources. He sings “No more dams I'll make for fish” in celebration of what he believes is liberation from Prospero. The comic subplot parodies the main plot's themes of power, colonialism, and servitude, showing how the desire for mastery repeats across social classes.
Key Moments
Ferdinand carries logs as punishment from Prospero but willingly endures the labour for Miranda's sake. Miranda offers to carry the logs for him, and they declare their love, agreeing to marry. Prospero, watching secretly, approves. The scene contrasts Ferdinand's willing service with Caliban's resentful slavery, suggesting that love transforms labour from oppression into devotion.
Key Moments
Caliban persuades the increasingly drunk Stephano to kill Prospero and become king of the island, with Miranda as his queen. Ariel, invisible, disrupts their plotting by imitating Trinculo's voice. Despite the comic tone, the scene seriously parallels Antonio's usurpation and the Sebastian plot, showing how the desire for power repeats at every social level. Caliban also delivers his most beautiful speech: “Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises.”
Key Moments
The weary nobles encounter a magical banquet laid by spirits. When they reach for the food, Ariel appears as a harpy and denounces Alonso, Antonio, and Sebastian as “three men of sin.” The banquet vanishes. Alonso, overcome with guilt, believes Ferdinand's death is divine punishment for helping Antonio usurp Prospero. Antonio and Sebastian remain defiant, refusing to repent.
Key Moments
Prospero blesses Ferdinand and Miranda's engagement with a masque (a court entertainment) performed by spirits playing Iris, Ceres, and Juno. The masque celebrates fertility, harvest, and harmony, but is abruptly interrupted when Prospero remembers Caliban's assassination plot. Prospero delivers his famous “Our revels now are ended” speech, reflecting on the transience of all things. He then summons spirit-hounds to chase and punish Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo.
Key Moments
Ariel reports that the nobles are imprisoned and distressed, especially Alonso. Prospero, moved by Ariel's compassion (“Mine would, sir, were I human”), chooses forgiveness over revenge: “The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance.” He releases the nobles from their spell. Alonso repents and restores Prospero's dukedom. Prospero reveals Ferdinand and Miranda playing chess. He frees Ariel, pardons Caliban, and renounces his magic, breaking his staff and drowning his book. In the Epilogue, he asks the audience to set him free with their applause.
Key Moments