La Tempête

Prospero, living on a remote island with his daughter Miranda and aided by the airy spirit Ariel, conjures a storm to bring his usurping brother and other nobles to the shore. Encounters with the native Caliban, comic drunken servants, and the shipwrecked party provoke tests of love and conscience: Ferdinand falls for Miranda, conspiracies among the visitors are uncovered, and schemes of betrayal are thwarted. The action resolves in reconciliation as Prospero renounces his magic and arranges a return to society. The work examines authority and mercy, the boundary between illusion and art, and uneasy relations between settlers and the island’s original inhabitant.