Authors: William Shakespeare
Line Numbers
are editorial, for reference and to key the explanatory and textual notes.
Explanatory Notes
explain allusions and gloss obsolete and difficult words, confusing phraseology, occasional major textual cruxes, and so on. Particular attention is given to non-standard usage, bawdy innuendo, and technical terms (e.g. legal and military language). Where more than one sense is given, commas indicate shades of related meaning, slashes alternative or double meanings.
Textual Notes
at the end of the play indicate major departures from the Folio. They take the following form: the reading of our text is given in bold and its source given after an equals sign, with “F2” indicating that it derives from the Second Folio of 1632 and “Ed” that it derives from the subsequent editorial tradition. The rejected Folio (“F”) reading is then given. Thus for Act 4 Scene 1 line 57: “
4.1.57 abstemious
= F2. F = abstenious.” This means that the Folio compositor erroneously printed the word “abstenious” and the Second Folio corrected it to “abstemious.”
MAJOR PARTS:
(
with percentage of lines/number of speeches/scenes on stage
) Prospero (30%/115/5), Ariel (9%/45/6), Caliban (8%/50/5), Stephano (7%/60/4), Gonzalo (7%/52/4), Sebastian (5%/67/4), Antonio (6%/57/4), Miranda (6%/49/4), Ferdinand (6%/31/4), Alonso (5%/40/4), Trinculo (4%/39/4).
LINGUISTIC MEDIUM:
80% verse, 20% prose.
DATE:
1611. Performed at court, 1 November 1611; uses source material not available before autumn 1610.
SOURCES:
No known source for main plot, but some details of the tempest and the island seem to derive from William Strachey,
A True Reportory of the Wreck and Redemption of Sir Thomas Gates, Knight
(written 1610, published in
Purchas his Pilgrims
, 1625) and perhaps Sylvester Jourdain,
A Discovery of the Bermudas
(1610) and the Virginia Company’s pamphlet
A True Declaration of the Estate of the Colony in Virginia
(1610); several allusions to Virgil’s
Aeneid
and Ovid’s
Metamorphoses
(most notably the imitation in Act 5 Scene 1 of Arthur Golding’s 1567 translation of Medea’s incantation in Ovid’s 7th book); Gonzalo’s “golden age” oration in Act 2 Scene 1 based closely on Michel de Montaigne’s essay “Of the Cannibals,” translated by John Florio (1603).
TEXT:
First Folio of 1623 is the only early printed text. Based on a transcript by Ralph Crane, professional scribe working for the King’s Men. Generally good quality of printing.
PROSPERO
, the right Duke of Milan
MIRANDA
, his daughter
ALONSO
, King of Naples
SEBASTIAN
, his brother
ANTONIO
, Prospero’s brother, the usurping Duke of Milan
FERDINAND
, son to the King of Naples
GONZALO
, an honest old councillor
ADRIAN and FRANCISCO
, lords
TRINCULO
, a jester
STEPHANO
, a drunken butler
MASTER
, of a ship
BOATSWAIN MARINERS
CALIBAN
, a savage and deformed slave
ARIEL
, an airy spirit
Spirits commanded by Prospero playing roles of
IRIS
CERES
JUNO
NYMPHS
REAPERS
The Scene: an uninhabited island
running scene 1
A tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard. Enter a Shipmaster and a
Boatswain
MASTER
Boatswain!
BOATSWAIN
Here, master. What
cheer?
2
MASTER
Good
: speak to th’mariners. Fall to’t
yarely
3
, or we
run ourselves aground!
Bestir
4
, bestir!
Exit
Enter Mariners
BOATSWAIN
Heigh, my
hearts!
Cheerly
, cheerly, my hearts!
Yare
5
,
yare!
Take in the topsail.
Tend
to th’master’s whistle.—
Blow
6
,
till thou burst thy wind, if room enough.
To the storm
Enter Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Ferdinand, Gonzalo and others
ALONSO
Good boatswain,
have
8
care. Where’s the master?
Play the
9
men.
BOATSWAIN
I pray now, keep below.
ANTONIO
Where is the master, boatswain?
BOATSWAIN
Do you not hear him? You
mar
12
our labour. Keep
your cabins! You do assist the storm.
GONZALO
Nay, good, be patient.
BOATSWAIN
When the sea is.
Hence!
What cares these
roarers
15
for the name of king? To cabin! Silence! Trouble us not.
GONZALO
Good, yet remember whom thou hast aboard.
BOATSWAIN
None that I more love than myself. You are a
counsellor
19
: if you can command these elements to silence,
and
work the peace of the present
, we will not
hand
20
a rope
more: use your authority. If you cannot, give thanks you have
lived so long, and make yourself ready in your cabin for the
To the Mariners
mischance of the hour, if it so
hap.
23
— Cheerly,
To the Courtiers
good hearts!— Out of our way, I say.
Exeunt [Boatswain with Mariners, followed by Alonso
,
Sebastian, Antonio and Ferdinand
]
GONZALO
I have great comfort from this fellow: methinks
he
25
hath no drowning
mark
26
upon him: his complexion is perfect
gallows. Stand fast, good Fate, to his hanging: make the
rope
27
of his destiny our
cable
28
, for our own doth little advantage. If
he be not born to be hanged, our case is miserable.
Exit
Enter Boatswain
BOATSWAIN
Down with the topmast!
30
Yare! Lower, lower! Bring
her
to try with main course.
31
(A cry within)
A plague upon
this howling! They are louder than the weather or
our office.
32
Enter Sebastian, Antonio and Gonzalo
Yet again? What do you here? Shall we give
o’er
33
and drown?
Have you a mind to sink?
SEBASTIAN
A
pox
35
o’your throat, you bawling, blasphemous,
incharitable dog!
BOATSWAIN
Work you then.
ANTONIO
Hang,
cur!
38
Hang, you whoreson, insolent noise-
maker! We are less afraid to be drowned than thou art.
GONZALO
I’ll
warrant him for drowning
40
, though the ship were
no stronger than a nutshell and as leaky as an
unstanched
41
wench.
BOATSWAIN
Lay her ahold
, ahold!
Set her two courses off to
43
sea
again! Lay her off!
Enter Mariners, wet
MARINERS
All lost! To prayers, to prayers! All lost!
BOATSWAIN
What,
must our mouths be cold?
46
GONZALO
The king and prince at prayers: let’s assist them, for
our case is as theirs.
SEBASTIAN
I’m out of patience.
ANTONIO
We are
merely
50
cheated of our lives by drunkards.
This
wide-chopped
51
rascal: would thou mightst lie drowning,
the washing of
ten tides!
52
GONZALO
He’ll be
hanged yet
53
,
Though every drop of water swear against it
[Exeunt Boatswain and Mariners]
A confused noise within
[VOICES OFF-STAGE]
Mercy on us! —
We split
56
, we split! —
Farewell, my wife and children! — Farewell, brother! — We
split, we split, we split!
ANTONIO
Let’s all sink wi’th’king.
SEBASTIAN
Let’s take leave of him.
Exeunt [Antonio and Sebastian]
GONZALO
Now would I give a thousand
furlongs
61
of sea for an
acre
of barren ground:
long heath
,
brown furze
62
, anything.
The wills above be done! But I would
fain
63
die a dry death.
Exit
running scene 2
MIRANDA
If by your
art
1
, my dearest father, you have
Put the wild waters in this roar,
allay
2
them.
The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking
pitch
3
,
But that the sea, mounting to th’
welkin’s
4
cheek,
Dashes the
fire
5
out. O, I have suffered
With those that I saw suffer: a
brave
6
vessel —
Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her —
Dashed all to pieces. O, the cry did knock
Against my very heart. Poor souls, they perished.
Had I been any god of power, I would
Have sunk the sea within the earth,
or ere
11
It should the good ship so have swallowed, and
The
fraughting souls
13
within her.
PROSPERO
Be
collected
14
:
No more
amazement.
15
Tell your piteous heart
There’s no harm done.
MIRANDA
O, woe the day!
PROSPERO
No harm:
I have done nothing but in care of thee —
Of thee, my dear one, thee, my daughter — who
Art ignorant of what thou art: nought knowing
Of
whence I am
, nor that I am
more better
22
Than Prospero, master of a
full poor cell
23
,
And thy
no greater father.
24
MIRANDA
More to know
25
Did never
meddle with
26
my thoughts.
PROSPERO
’Tis time
I should inform thee further. Lend thy hand
And pluck my magic garment from me. So:
Lays down
his magic cloak
Lie there, my art. Wipe thou thine eyes, have comfort.
The direful spectacle of the wreck, which touched
The very virtue of compassion in thee,
I have with such
provision
33
in mine art
So safely ordered that there is no soul —
No, not so much
perdition
35
as an hair
Betid
36
to any creature in the vessel
Which thou heard’st cry, which thou saw’st sink. Sit down,
Miranda sits
For thou must now know further.
MIRANDA
You have often
Begun to tell me what I am, but stopped
And left me to a
bootless inquisition
41
,
Concluding ‘Stay: not yet.’
PROSPERO
The hour’s now come,
The very minute bids thee
ope
44
thine ear:
Obey, and be attentive. Canst thou remember
A time before we came unto this cell?
I do not think thou canst, for then thou wast not
Out
48
three years old.
MIRANDA
Certainly, sir, I can.
PROSPERO
By what? By any other house or person?
Of any thing the image, tell me, that
Hath kept with thy remembrance.
52
MIRANDA
’Tis far off,
And rather like a dream than an
assurance
54
That my remembrance
warrants.
55
Had I not
Four or five women once that
tended
56
me?
PROSPERO
Thou hadst; and more, Miranda. But how is it
That this lives in thy mind? What see’st thou else
In the dark
backward
and
abysm
59
of time?
If thou rememb’rest
aught
60
ere thou cam’st here,
How thou cam’st here thou mayst.
MIRANDA
But that I do not.
PROSPERO
Twelve year since, Miranda, twelve year since,
Thy father was the Duke of Milan and
A prince of power.
MIRANDA
Sir, are not you my father?
PROSPERO
Thy mother was a
piece
67
of virtue, and
She said thou wast my daughter; and thy father
Was Duke of Milan, and his only heir
And princess,
no worse issued.
70
MIRANDA
O the heavens!
What foul play had we, that we came from thence?
Or
blessèd
73
wast we did?
PROSPERO
Both, both, my girl.
By foul play — as thou say’st — were we heaved thence,
But blessedly
holp
76
hither.
MIRANDA
O, my heart bleeds
To think
o’th’teen
that I have
turned you to
78
,
Which is
from
79
my remembrance. Please you, further.
PROSPERO
My brother and thy uncle, called Antonio —
I pray thee,
mark
81
me — that a brother should
Be so
perfidious
82
— he whom next thyself
Of all the world I loved, and to him put
The
manage
84
of my state, as at that time
Through all the
signories
85
it was the first,
And Prospero the
prime
86
duke, being so reputed
In dignity, and for the
liberal arts
87
Without a parallel; those being all my study,
The government I cast upon my brother
And to my
state
grew
stranger
, being
transported
90
And rapt in secret studies. Thy false uncle —
Dost thou attend me?
MIRANDA
Sir, most heedfully.
PROSPERO
Being once
perfected
how to grant
suits
94
,
How to deny them, who t’advance and who
To
trash for over-topping
,
new created
96
The creatures that were mine, I say, or
changed ’em
97
,
Or else
new formed ’em
; having both the
key
98
Of officer and office, set all hearts i’th’state
To what tune pleased his ear,
that
100
now he was
The
ivy which had hid my princely trunk
101
And sucked my
verdure
102
out on’t.— Thou attend’st not.
MIRANDA
O good sir, I do.
PROSPERO
I pray thee, mark me:
I, thus neglecting
worldly ends
105
, all dedicated
To
closeness
106
and the bettering of my mind
With that, which
but
by being so
retired
107
,
O’er-prized all popular rate
108
, in my false brother
Awaked an evil nature, and my trust,
Like a
good parent
, did
beget of
110
him
A
falsehood in its contrary
111
, as great
As my trust was, which had indeed no limit,
A confidence
sans
bound. He being thus
lorded
113
,
Not only with what my revenue yielded,
But what my power might
else exact
: like
one
115
Who having
into
truth, by telling of
it
116
,
Made such a sinner of his memory
To credit his own lie, he did believe
He was indeed the duke,
out o’th’substitution
119
And executing
th’outward face
120
of royalty
With all prerogative: hence his ambition growing —
Dost thou hear?
MIRANDA
Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.
PROSPERO
To have no
screen
124
between this part he played,
And
him
125
he played it for, he needs will be
Absolute Milan.
126
Me — poor man — my library
Was dukedom large enough: of
temporal royalties
127
He thinks me now incapable.
Confederates
128
—
So
dry
he was for
sway
129
— wi’th’King of Naples
To give him annual
tribute
130
, do him homage,
Subject his coronet to his crown
131
, and bend
The dukedom
yet
132
unbowed — alas, poor Milan —
To most ignoble stooping.
MIRANDA
O the heavens!
PROSPERO
Mark his
condition
and th’
event
135
, then tell me
If this might be a brother.
136
MIRANDA
I should sin
To think
but
138
nobly of my grandmother:
Good wombs have borne bad sons.
PROSPERO
Now the condition.
This King of Naples, being an enemy
To me
inveterate
,
hearkens
142
my brother’s suit,
Which was, that
he
,
in lieu o’th’premises
143
Of homage, and I know not how much
tribute
144
,
Should
presently extirpate
145
me and mine
Out of the dukedom, and confer fair Milan,
With all the honours, on my brother: whereon,
A treacherous army levied, one midnight
Fated to th’purpose, did Antonio open
The gates of Milan, and i’th’dead of darkness
The
ministers
for th’purpose hurried
thence
151
Me and thy crying self.
MIRANDA
Alack, for pity!
I, not rememb’ring how I cried out then,
Will cry it o’er again: it is a
hint
155
That wrings mine eyes to’t.
PROSPERO
Hear a little further,
And then I’ll bring thee to the present business
Which now’s upon’s: without the which, this story
Were most
impertinent.
160
MIRANDA
Wherefore did they not
That hour destroy us?
PROSPERO
Well demanded, wench:
My tale provokes that question. Dear, they
durst
164
not,
So dear the love my people bore me: nor set
A mark so bloody on the business: but
With colours fairer,
painted
167
their foul ends.
In
few
, they hurried us aboard a
barque
168
,
Bore us some leagues to sea, where they prepared
A rotten carcass of a
butt
170
, not rigged,
Nor tackle, sail, nor mast: the very rats
Instinctively have quit it. There they
hoist
172
us,
To cry to th’sea that roared to us; to sigh
To th’winds, whose pity sighing back again,
Did us but
loving wrong.
175
MIRANDA
Alack, what trouble
Was I then to you!
PROSPERO
O, a
cherubin
178
Thou wast that did preserve me. Thou didst smile,
Infusèd with a fortitude from heaven,
When I have
decked
the sea with
drops full salt
181
,
Under my burden groaned,
which
182
raised in me
An
undergoing stomach
183
, to bear up
Against what should ensue.