Customer Reviews

The Tempest (New Folger Library Shakespeare)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First, let me say I'm a great fan of Shakespeare, and there's no reason to offer a review of The Tempest here. If you want to know what The Tempest is about, there's plenty of places to find that out. This is a review of the Kindle edition of this edition of The Tempest.

I bought this edition, paying $4.95 for the Kindle version, because I thought that it would be the Folger Shakespeare Library version of The Tempest. It's not. The Folger editions of Shakespeare's plays are handy study aids. Each right hand page of text is accompanied with a left hand page of annotations, including illustrations contemporary with Shakespeare. The spelling has been updated but the language has not been changed.

This Kindle edition includes the memorial verses to Shakespeare found in the First Folio. These can be found in many places. It does not include the Folger's introductions to Shakespeare, or to this play in particular, nor does it include the essays that accompany the Folger editions of the plays.

I have already loaded my Kindle with the Complete Works, for which I paid, I believe, $0.99--a remarkable price for the greatest literature in the English language. There was no reason at all for me to pay $4.95 for something I already have available on my Kindle.

Buyer beware! The Product Description for this edition of The Tempest DOES NOT apply to the Kindle edition. Too bad.

The Folger Shakespeare Library presents the optimal format for reading Shakespeare's single plays. Each book provides the background and context of the play, a brief description of the theater as Shakespeare would have known it, and a brief bio of the writer himself. But the most useful feature is the notation on the page facing the text, explaining Shakespeare's usage of words and phrases. There is a wealth of scholarship embedded in these brief notes. An experienced reader of Shakespeare may skip them, to maintain the momentum of the play, but even we may tarry to ascertain his ken.

The Tempest is the birthplace of "there's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple," "he receives comfort like cold porridge," "what's past is prologue," "misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows," "Oh, brave new world*," and "his complexion is perfect gallows." It is Shakespeare's farewell to London, and it is imaginative and enlightening. It is also timeless, often giving rise to contemporary settings in its production.

Prospero's supernatural powers, permeating the action of the play, will take an additional effort at the "willing suspension of disbelief" which we always take to the theater. Yet we are not at all reluctant when, in his epilogue, he boldly asks us to applaud his players.

* This phrase, "...brave new world..." was penned in 1611, and should not seem so "new" to our modern ears as it does.

This edition is NOT the Folger Edition that has notes and definitions like the other reviewers have stated! It is just the text. I bought this for a class based on the reviews and was very disappointed. If you want the Folger Edition that these reviews are talking about, click on the link above their review. I now have to buy a different edition for the notes!!! Waste of money!!!

I bought this for one of my classes, and I like this as a text because of the notes are way down in the footnotes, but on the opposite page,

Many consider "The Tempest" to be the final play that Shakespeare wrote solo, which gives a certain bittersweet flavor to its story -- especially since the main character is a sorcerer who manipulates others to get the ending he desires. Shakespeare juggled a trio of main stories before tying them off in rare style, but it's Prospero and his final speech that are truly intriguing.

For many years, the exiled Duke of Milan Prospero has lived on a remote island with his young daughter Miranda. But when he discovers that his treacherous brother Antonio and his similarly treacherous friends are nearby on a sailing ship, he summons a storm that causes the ship to crash on the island.

And like a puppet-master, Prospero arranges this as he wants -- he sends his servant Ariel to haunt the men who betrayed him, he thwarts the machinations of his evil servant Caliban, and he pretends to treat Alonso's son Ferdinand badly while secretly matchmaking him with Miranda. In the end, everything will be as he desired.

"The Tempest" is a play with two different dimensions. On one hand, we have a simple story about a mage whose power allows him to manipulate everything in his little domain. And on the other, we have the story of a brilliant storyteller who arranges his own little worlds as he sees fit, and bids farewell to his role ("Now my charms are all o'erthrown/And what strength I have's mine own...")

And appreciated on its own, "The Tempest" is a brilliant play -- Shakespeare juggled the three main plotlines nicely, and brought a solid sense of resolution to the story. His rich dialogue is stunning ("But doth suffer a sea-change/Into something rich and strange/Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell..."), especially during Ariel's songs and Prospero's speeches. Even the insults are brilliant -- just try yelling "A pox o' your throat, you bawling, blasphemous, incharitable dog!" at someone you don't like.

Prospero is a rather unique character -- he rules over his little island with magical powers, sort of like a local demigod. Everything that happens on the island is because he wants it to be so, but he's a sad, benevolent figure rather than a tyrannical one. And Shakespeare sketches up an intriguing cast of characters, both mortal and immortal -- the ethereal, puckish Ariel and grotesque Caliban, the naive Miranda, and the contemptible trio of onetime conspirators.

"O brave new world, That has such people in't!" cries Miranda at the end of "The Tempest," and while not every character in it deserves a "brave new world," the play itself feels like a weekend trip into a magical world.

Thank goodness for the helpful notes Folger provides. I am not one for translations (it feels like cheating) and this edition created a very enjoyable read for me. The Tempest is one of Shakespeare's greats! You will LOVE Ariel!

This was Shakespeare's final piece of work. He created the character of Prospero in the image of himself. Being the main character, he was toppled in a coup set in his homeland of Milan, was a God-like magician capable of initiating storms and other kinds of magic. By coincidence he saw his enemies in a ship riding towards his island. Where he lived with his daughter Miranda and the native "savage" Caliban.He brought his enemies on his island. And in turn he made them do many interesting things on the island. yet in the end it was all nice and happy, unlike the tragic mood of "Hamlet" or "Romeo and Juliet".

The language was great as usual with all of Shakespeare's great works. Prospero's last lines said also became Shakespeare's last words in terms of writing was concerned. There were plenty of comedy scenes in the play involving the mean spirited native Caliban, who was a servant of Prospero and attempted to rape his daughter, Miranda and later tried to kill him. As the plot went, all became comedies as Prospero saw through everything, the good and the evil, the well planned and the silly.

As many of his contemporaries during the time. Shakespeare despised the natives and saw them as savages. This became clear with Caliban. I found Shakespeare's depictions of him relentless and cruel, almost as if he was describing a pig.

But, overall, the story was very interesting. If you like Shakespeare, then you are sure to like this.

This is a good version of this book and it was in new condition and it was very well priced. Used for school and was the same as most other versions

Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, but due to a long-ago plot by his brother Antonio, he's been kicked out of his homeland and is now living on a primitive island in the middle of nowhere. He and his 15-year-old daughter Miranda have been on this island for over a decade, and Prospero decides that it's time to bring his daughter back to her rightful place in the world. Fortunately, he has managed to use magic to shipwreck a bunch of important people on his island (The King of Naples, his son Prince Ferdinand, Prospero's own backstabbing brother Antonio), and Prospero manipulates events until he creates a happy ending for himself and his daughter.

Side character note: Miranda's a character who is mostly just a super-pure sweetie without a lot of depth. She sees this crazy storm and immediately goes to her dad to express pity for the people who might have been shipwrecked. She also becomes a sympathetic and devoted audience member when her father decides to tell her about her own history. Miranda's always pitying and sympathizing and generally being likable, but her character seems to lack any fire. Her interaction with Ferdinand is of the adorable love-at-first-sight variety, and it's only Prospero's intervention that keeps them from getting together immediately. Even with Prospero's efforts, he's only able to delay Ferdinand's proposal of marriage until Act III, so Miranda definitely gets a Mary Sue sort of romance.

Note on The Divine Right of Kings: Prospero isn't a king, but his claim to authority sounds like a variation on the old theory of the divine right of kings--a monarch ruled because of God's will, and if you ever deposed the rightful, lawful king, terrible things would happen to you because you had upset the natural order. When I hear Prospero telling his backstory of how his brother Antonio overthrew him, it actually sounds like Prospero thinks he should have remained duke only because of his providential right to rule. Prospero says that he was a man of study, devoted to the "liberal arts", and that he let his brother handle all the business of governing Milan. It doesn't even sound like Prospero was ruling his dukedom at all--every difficult part of the office was performed by his brother. So yes, Antonio is still a bad guy, and the King of Naples is bad for conspiring with him, but Prospero seems to be lacking moral character, because he didn't tend to his responsibilities. On the island, however, his ruling style changes a bit and he kind of over-rules, which leads me to my next point...

Note on Colonialism: There are some readings of The Tempest that emphasize Prospero's colonizing of the island, and I can really see these "conqueror" themes once I look for them. He has a spirit named Ariel who serves him, and though Prospero did save Ariel from a painful imprisonment inside a tree, he uses this rescue as a means to make Ariel serve him. In their first scene together, Prospero praises Ariel for doing all the servant-work assigned to him, then switches to berating and emotionally manipulating Ariel by bringing up his painful past. And if Prospero is a less monstrous master to Ariel than Sycorax was, is that really saying so much? He's still a "master", dictating Ariel's life and utilizing his skills as if he were just another resource. Prospero treats his slave Caliban the son of Sycorax even worse than Ariel, though some would argue that Caliban deserves it because he's a would-be rapist. But it seems that any way you look at it, Prospero ends up doing a lot of lording and commanding and asserting his own innate superiority--he even faux-enslaves Ferdinand. I find that distasteful to read, though I'm sure Prospero seemed more sympathetic to the audiences of his day.

The Tempest ignites my curiosity and I love its language, though its far from my favorite Shakespearean play. I think my opinion of it would be improved by watching a live performance or a film version, since my only current experience with film adaptations of The Tempest was the time I watched the "Shakespaw" episode of Wishbone in 6th grade. Since it featured a Jack Russell terrier playing Ariel, it's safe to say that it wasn't the most faithful rendition.

The Tempest is thought to be Shakespeare's final play. As such there is much in it that calls to mind earlier works. To me the Tempest is reminiscent of A MidSummers Night Dream. The themes of separation, betrayal and forgiveness and restoration are prominent. It is relatively short but contains summation of themes that are found throughout Shakespeare's works.
I have always enjoyed the Folger Library edition of the plays. The use of explanatory notes on the facing pages is incredibly helpful and allows the narrative to be followed with out the need to page back and forth when a phrase requires a quick refresher. If you are looking to find a well edited and accessible paperback version of the Tempest I highly recommend this one.