The Tempest stands as the most lyrical, profound and fascinating of Shakespeare’s late comedies. This edition belongs to the Wordsworth Classics’ Shakespeare’s Series, presenting a newly-edited sequence of William Shakespeare’s works whose textual editing takes account of recent scholarship while offering a careful reappraisal, edited, introduced and annotated by Cedric Watts, M.A., Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of English, University of Sussex.
Exiled from Italy for years alongside his daughter Miranda, Prospero turns to his magical powers to overcome his former enemies. Having ultimately chosen mercy, he relinquishes that magic – his ‘art’ – and readies himself to return to the mainland.
Often described as Shakespeare’s ‘farewell to the stage’ ahead of his retirement, The Tempest was long read by critics chiefly for its romantically beautiful qualities, as a work of pure imaginative fantasia. More recently, though, it has come to be seen as a potently political drama offering controversial perspectives on colonialism and racism. Staged again and again and filmed in strikingly different ways, the play continues to leave its mark on poets and novelists alike.
ISBN 13: 9781853262036
Author: William Shakespeare
