The Tempest (Folger Shakespeare Library)

A barren island lost in the sea, a harsh prison, is the place in which Shakespeare creates a world rich in mythology, nobility and revenge. A revenge that I thought it was going to end in a certain way but ended in another way in a human and natural ending. It is so exciting to read, in its short extension the words convey much information charged with intense emotions, as if it were an old nordic saga. For example Prospero is always asking in a salty way if he is being heard and understood, it is evident he has been terribly wronged in the past, and that it was due to his own innocence of character, he is not going to allow it to happen again. And so with all the characters, the more we get to know of them the more complex they are. The magic is superb, Shakespeare is a genius in which this presence of magic doesn't overpower the story (as it happens with many cinema directors that sacrifice the plot relying instead in CGI) instead it gives it a timeless taste, a classic taste. Think in his contemporary Cervantes for example, the Don Quixote is glorious but, as it is set in a country under the strict social presence of the Catholic Church (I say it in a respectful way, I understand in those years the Church had pressure to avoid a loss of members) he could write about fantasy only in a mocking way and even at the beginning a priest burns most of the fantasy books for being not correct. In "The Tempest" there is not judgement of the fantasy, the world seems so real in the way the supernatural is accepted as religious persons accept the idea of miracles in their lives. I don't like theater, I would not like to see the descriptions of magical deeds of this story through imitations from a theater, nor the vast feelings that the island conveys in me to a small scenery. Shakespeare maybe is my best discovery of the year and I am happy to have him with his own words fueling my imagination to astonishing heights. About the AmazonClassics Edition is perfect, I don't want any other edition that could be spoiled with introductions by intellectuals that tend to think the reader already know the book or, even worse, that we are interested in their opinions about themselves. The AmazonClassics Edition has the text in its purity, with a professional formatting and a modern typography that makes it an example of a proper kindle edition. So if you choose this edition possibly you are choosing the best edition available.

This Kindle edition of Shakespeare's late (some think final) play, "The Tempest," is in fact two books in one, both illustrated, both from around the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. The text of the book has no pretensions to be a scholarly contribution, or an aide to students, or even a guide for would-be actors or directors. It is just an attractive presentation of a one of Shakespeare's most tightly-constructed plays, with a supplement. Since I just reviewed the "Norton Critical Edition" of the play, with its textual notes, glosses to the text, and selected source-texts and critical essays, I found this a welcome change. The first of the two is a 1901 illustrated edition, the work of Robert Anning Bell: about eighty full, half, and quarter-page illustrations and page decorations. with the text of the then-current "Cambridge Edition." This is reproduced with some loss; the text combined with pictures is omitted, and a separate digital text provided; half the front end-paper is missing; facing pages no longer face each other. However, the reproduction of the art is crisp and clean. The cover art has been colored, which definitely adds to the clarity. Since the text of "The Tempest" is in unusually good condition, the lack of annotations or glossary is a relatively minor concern. However, unless you've read the play before, having an annotated or glossed edition handy might be useful. Those curious about the differences between the print and Kindle versions can check using two digitalized copies (in different states of repair, and slightly sepia-toned) on the Library of Congress site (archive.org); search under the illustrator's name, it is a lot easier than sorting through pages of Shakespeare! Bell's illustrations from time to time remind me of Aubrey Beardsley's illustrations to Malory's "Morte D'Arthur" and of the Waite-Ryder Tarot deck. The general description of the style as art nouveau, without reference to specific influences, is reasonable. His version of the half-human (we are told) Caliban looks something like a Skrull (old foes of The Fantastic Four, as Marvel fans may recall), and something like a marooned Vulcan (which I don't think needs an explanation yet). The second part is a set of eight full-page illustrations to the play by the famous illustrator Walter Crane, originally published by Dent in 1894. The Kindle versions of these are supposed to be in high resolution, and they show up crisp and clear on my monitor. What purports to be a separate Kindle edition of these illustrations by Crane was apparently transferred from Project Gutenberg, and, somehow, the art is actually missing -- it just has the selected texts Crane chose to illustrate. (Of course, that version is free, so your only loss will be a little time and frustration.) Crane, best known today for his groundbreaking illustrations for children's books, does a good job with the Shakespearean setting and characters. In his case, I think I see reflections of the Pre-Raphaelites, in particular Burne-Jones -- but an art historian may see it as a matter of period styles. Crane's illustrations also appeared in a 1908 edition by Oliver Smeaton (Henry Holt, New York), and possibly elsewhere. For those not already familiar with the play, it is one of the few Shakespeare works without a recognizable source for the main plot, although there is documentation for many details in the voyage literature of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. Most of the other parallels which have been suggested are too general to tie to the play, or just too distant. The mysterious magician, his beautiful daughter, the handsome young hero, the magician's attendant spirits -- all the commonplaces of traditional fairytales and romances and of the commedia dell'arte, too. (G. Wilson Knight even found some parallels in the Ming Dynasty novel "Journey to the West," otherwise known as "Monkey," to the relations of Prospero to Ariel and Caliban; see his "The Crown of Life," pages 229-230.) Of course, this works the other way, as well. For some time I've consider "The Tempest" to be a fore-runner, if not an ancestor, of much genre fantasy. It is all there; the elaborate back-story, the conniving courtiers, the magician's seemingly arbitrary actions, the touchingly naive heroine, and the magical apparatus. Leaving aside the constraints of the stage, and the glorious language, the main difference I can see is that in "The Tempest" there is serious question of whether evil should be punished, or if the evil-doers should be forgiven, and vengeance, and the evils it generates, be forsaken.

Very good book - story. The play is covered in the right side pages and helpful hints on what is being said is on the left side pages. The hints and explanations help in understanding the play's plot.

As part of the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge, I needed to read a play and what better play to read than “The Tempest” having recently read and adored Margaret Atwood’s retelling in “Hag-Seed.” I have an even greater appreciation of “Hag-Seed” having read the original again. It had been more than twenty years since I’ve read Shakespeare. I found it simultaneously difficult to navigate the Old English and thematically extremely relevant to modern day. There is so much complexity within this brief play, that it is no wonder that people study Shakespeare to such lengths! This play takes place on an Island where the magician, Prospero, and his daughter Miranda have been living the last 12 years, since Prospero’s exile from his position as Duke of Milan. The only other person on the Island during this time is Calaban, son of the evil witch, Sycorax, who used to live there as well. Ariel is a fairy who does the bidding of Prospero. Calaban is also enslaved to Prospero, having attempted to rape Miranda. Prospero creates a tempest which bring his enemies by shipwreck to his Island. He scatters them across the Island such that Ferdinand the King’s son is separated from all others and will encounter Miranda, both falling in love with each other under Ariel’s spell. Gonzalo, Alonso, Antonio, and Sebastian are landed together. During their time on the Island, Antonio and Sebastian plot against the king’s (Alonso’s) life, assuming that Ferdinand has perished. Caliban, Trinculo and Stephano develop an alliance that intends to murder Prospero, so that they can take over the island. Finally, all come together. Prospero, with urging from Ariel, forgives all and all is calm. Prospero, a thinly disguised Shakespeare, asks for applause to end his imprisonment. There is much duality of humanity and the world represented within this play. Themes of good versus evil, magical vs earthly, land versus sea, honest versus dishonest, free versus imprisoned, sober versus drunk pervade this play. I loved the infusion of music, poetry and magic within this play. There is obvious brilliance to the themes and the structure of the play. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and found many unique characteristics setting it apart from some of Shakespeare’s other works that I’ve read.

This is a genuinely good work of drama, which I had to read for my Intro. to Drama class. This is one of those works of Shakespeare that has been done in a multitude of forms and variations, so it is quite likely that everyone has a rough idea of the story. Still, you really cannot replace the original. It's a bit odd, but quite good fun as well. The characters are memorable, and reading the story helps a great deal in understanding the numerous references to it that can be found elsewhere (not to mention, it's good entertainment). As to the edition itself, I found it to be greatly helpful in understanding the action in the play. It has a layout which places each page of the play opposite a page of notes, definitions, explanations, and other things needed to understand that page more thoroughly. While I didn't always need it, I was certainly glad to have it whenever I ran into a turn of language that was unfamiliar, and I definitely appreciated the scene-by-scene summaries. Really, if you want to or need to read Shakespeare, an edition such as this is really the way to go, especially until you get more accustomed to it.

This is a worthwhile edition of "The Tempest" in spite of its flaws, omissions, and limitations. The "Note from Series Editors" lays out clearly its unique features and gives some helpful hints on how to get the most out of them. The CD included provides at least two and sometimes three versions of ten passages taken from four productions, ranging from a 1962 recording with Donald Wolfit to a recent recording with Ian McKellan. The illustrations are numerous and include photographs taken from a score of modern productions, though a few of these are so small that it's impossible to see much detail. Though Derek Jacobi narrates the CD, his critically acclaimed Prospero is here represented only by a single photo in the book; he is never heard as Prospero. Richard Preiss, the text editor, in his introductory essay on the history of the play in the theatre, refers to John Gielgud as 'the greatest modern interpreter of the role', yet there is not even a single appearance of Sir John either audially or visually. And not one of the many songs in the play is on the CD. The layout of the book is very attractive. The text of the play is on right-hand pages, the glosses, production notes, and illustrations on the left. Different typefaces are used for stage directions (italic), character names and speech headings (all caps), and speeches (plain); along with plenty of white space, this makes the text easy on the eye. Preiss explains in a note "About the Text" that all versions of this play are ultimately based on the version in the Shakespeare Folio (1623). I noticed several misprints and some omissions of a word or two, the most serious of which is the omission of two short speeches between what in this edition are lines 70 - 71 of Act Two, Scene One: GONZALO This Tunis, sir, was Carthage. [ADRIAN Carthage? GONZALO I assure you, Carthage.] ANTONIO His word is more than the miraculous harp. Most of the commentary is clear and helpful, but at least one note on the words 'So, you're paid' in this scene is so completely muddled that it would take up too much space in this review to unmuddle it. There is also a gaff in the narration on the CD. Sir Derek is made to refer to the character of Ferdinand as 'the usurping Duke of Milan's son' - he's actually listed correctly in the Dramatis Personae as 'son to the King of Naples.' Preiss's essay on stage history is only one of several included to supplement the commentary on the play. There is an essay on the rehearsal of the play by inmates as part of the Shakespeare Behind Bars program, supplemented by excerpts from interviews with two of the inmates who played Prospero and Miranda on the CD. There is also a survey of the play's influence on the arts and popular culture. Some pretty obscure items are included here, like an opera by Havely, and some pretty dubious ones, like 'Gilligan's Island', while, perhaps inevitably, some more interesting or relevant items are not. Also included is a brief account of Shakespeare's life and times, and a discussion on 'Speaking Shakespeare.' On the CD is a recording of a voice coach working with an actor on a soliloquy from the play. But whatever it's shortcomings, this edition of 'The Tempest' is informative and even entertaining and has much to offer to anyone interested in getting to know the play or getting to know it better.

Shakespeare, the greatest writer of the English language. The Tempest is one of his shortest easier to follow plays. I highly recommend!

Book looked brand new!! Used it for school.