The Tempest - storyline

Question 1

Act 1 Scene 1: A ship at sea

Answer 1

• place: ship
• characters: gonzalo, sebastian, alonso, antonio, ferdinand, ship’s crew etc
• summary: there’s terrible storm and people are shouting & panicking (complete chaos), trying to stop the ship from sinking, Boatswain in control, ship eventually sinks

Question 2

Act 1 Scene 2: The island

Answer 2

• place: island
• characters: prospero, miranda -> ariel -> caliban -> ferdinand
• summary: starts by miranda & prospero arguing, prospero tellls her background story before they arrived in the island -> prospero summons ariel, ariel tries to be free but prospero reminds him of how sycorax imprisoned him in pine tree & how he freed him, ariel becomes submissive again -> prospero calls for caliban, caliban complains about how he is enslaved, caliban & miranda argues (caliban loves miranda) -> ariel & spirits starts singing and Ferdinand appears (amused & surprised, only can hear music) -> prospero & miranda walks in, sees ferdinand -> ferdinand & miranda falls in love and miranda defends ferdinand while prospero is hostile towards him -> ends by prospero telling ferdinand to follow him and miranda walks away in opposite direction

Question 3

act 2 scene 1: a remote part of the island

Answer 3

• place: a remote part of the island
• character: Gonzalo, alonso, antonio & sebastian
• summary: the four realize that they have survived -> Gonzalo talks about his ideal form of Utopia -> talks about Alonso’s son Ferdinand a bit and kind of assumes he could be dead -> Ariel comes and sets two lords and Alonson to sleep -> antonio suggests Sebastian to kill his brother alonso and be the king of naples -> the two decides to execute the plan

Question 4

act 2 scene 2: near caliban’s cave

Answer 4

• place: near caliban’s cave
• character: caliban, trinculo, stephano
• summary: caliban complains about prospero while carrying wood -> trinculo enters and caliban thinks its prospero so he hides -> trinculo hears storm and hides under the same blanket as caliban, describes the smell as “fishy” -> stephano enters and thinks the two people are one monster (funny scene) -> caliban decides to serve stephano as his new master

Question 5

act 3 scene 1: near Prospero’s cave

Answer 5

• place: near prospero’s cave
• characters: Ferdinand, miranda
• summary: ferdinand trying to carry the log as prospero ordered him to (struggling) -> miranda does it easy -> miranda & ferdinand talks about each other -> promises to get married

Question 6

act 3 scene 2: near caliban’s cave

Answer 6

• place: near caliban’s cave
• characters: stephano, trinculo, caliban, ariel
• summary: caliban gives a speech on ways to kill prospero violently -> new plan of ruling the island: stephano as king, miranda as queen and trinculo & caliban as his men -> 3 characters start singing -> ariel, who was listening to it all (and is planning to go tell prospero) plays music with same tune -> tranculo & stephano scared for a bit but caliban tells them the island is full of sounds -> after ariel exits, the sound fades and 3 characters decide to follow it

Question 7

act 3 scene 3: a remote part of the island

Answer 7

• place: a remote part of the island
• characters: Sebastian, alonso, antonio, gonzalo, ariel, prospero
• summary: alonso loses his hope of finding his son ferdinand -> antonio & Sebastian plans to kill alonso tonight -> spirits dance & meal table prepared -> as they try to eat, thunder erupts -> alonso, Sebastian & Antonio draws their swords out but ariel makes them too heavy -> ariel blames 3 characters of kicking prospero out & leaving him & his daughter in island -> tells alonso that this sin is why the powers of nature & sea took ferdinand away from him -> alonso tries to drown himself while Sebastian & Antonio tries to fight the spirits -> gonzalo heard voice of prospero and tells two lords to go stop the 3 characters from doing anything rash
  [prospero & ariel are invisible]

Question 8

act 4 scene 1: near prospero’s cave

Answer 8

• place: near prospero’s cave
• characters: prospero, ferdinand, miranda, ariel, spirits
• summary: prospero gives blessings to miranda & ferdinand, tells ferdinand to not break miranda’s “virgin-knot” before the official wedding -> prospero asks ariel to summon spirits to perform a masque for miranda & ferdinand -> Juno, Ceres, Iris performs masque celebrating the engagement (music, fancy costumes, projector used to change background & floor for royal production) -> some spirits perform country dance -> just after dance starts, prospero remembers caliban’s plot against him and suddenly ends the celebration -> after ferdinand & miranda leave, prospero quickly summons ariel -> ariel tells him how 3 characters are drunk & he distracted them music -> prospero thanks ariel & sets up trap together

Question 9

act 5 scene 1: near prospero’s cave

Answer 9

• place: near prospero’s cave
• characters: everyone
• summary: ariel tells prospero its his 6th hour (allowed to stop working), how he imprisoned the 4 men and gonzalo is crying -> prospero tells ariel to set the men free, famous speech on giving up magic (how he would break the staff / drown the book once his last task is over) -> ariel enters stage with 4 men, standing in a circle -> prospero praises gonzalo for loyalty & criticizes the others for their treachery -> prospero sends ariel to bring the clothes he wore as duke of Milan & to rescue boatswain & others from the ship -> prospero releases them from spell, forgives antonio but demands the dukedom back (antonio doesn’t respond), alonso asks about ferdinand and prospero tells him how he also lost his daughter, alonso in grief -> prospero then draws aside a curtain, revealing ferdinand & miranda playing chess, alonso happy -> alonso embraces the engagement and begs for apology -> prospero silences alonso, insisting the reconciliation is complete -> ariel arrives with boatswain & mariners, sent again to bring stephano’s group -> 3 drunken thieves sent to prospero’s cell to return clothes & clean in preparation for reveling in the evening -> prospero invites alonso’s group to stay for night & set out to naples in the morning where wedding would take place, afterwards prospero will return to Milan -> last charge Prospero gives to Ariel before setting him free is to make sure the trip home is made on “calm seas” with “auspicious gales”

Question 10

epilogue

Answer 10

• character: prospero
• summary: describes loss of his magic “Now my charms are all o’erthrown” -> audience has now imprisoned prospero on stage just like how he imprisoned ariel & caliban -> audience can only release him by applauding -> he says that, as his listeners would like to have their own crimes forgiven, they should forgive him, and set him free by clapping