I suppose that it’s about time that I posted a book by Shakespeare on my52books; I am an English teacher, after all. Unfortunately, I’m an English teacher that isn’t terribly crazy about ole Will. I’m not anti-Shakespeare, mind you…I’m just not that into him.
The Tempest is one of his tragicomedies that tells the story of an exiled Duke living on an almost deserted island with his 14-year-old daughter Miranda, his half-monster slave Caliban, and a male fairy named Ariel. Hijinks follow.
This is a tale of revenge, love, and forgiveness, as Prospero causes those who caused him harm in Milan to crash onto the island Lost-style. The prince of Naples falls in love with the 14-year-old (the first man she “e’er sighed for”), Caliban gets drunk and follows another, and the brother acknowledges his Cain-esque sin. Everything is made right at the end.
The Tempest is a good entry point to Shakespeare, much easier than some others. The story is supposedly based on a shipwreck in America in the 1600’s. Hear more about that here: http://www.shakespeareinamericanlife.org/audio/SeaVenture.mp3.
In the meantime, I’ll continue teaching this play to the sophomores in my classes. They seem to like it so far, even if there is no Jack Shepherd or a love triangle involving Kate.
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