The Tempest
William Shakespeare · 1611
Prospero, a deposed duke and sorcerer, conjures a storm to shipwreck his enemies on his island. Shakespeare's last solo play reads like a farewell to the theater: the magician who controls everything finally breaks his staff and drowns his book. Postcolonial critics have turned it inside out, reading Caliban as the colonized subject. Both readings work.
The case against
Prospero holds every card from the first scene, which drains the drama; nothing can go wrong for him, so nothing really happens. The Act Four masque stops the play cold for goddesses and dancing reapers. Miranda has met three men and marries one. Forgiveness arrives because the genre requires it; nobody onstage earns it.
Drama · the Pro canon
The case for it and the rest of the canon open with Pro.
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