The Tempest: Study Guide
Characters & Plot
1. Q: Who is the rightful Duke of Milan in The Tempest?
Prospero.
2. Q: Why is Prospero on the island?
He was overthrown by his brother Antonio and set adrift at sea.
3. Q: Who is Miranda?
Prospero’s daughter.
4. Q: Who is Ariel?
A spirit servant of Prospero who helps him with magic.
5. Q: Who is Caliban?
The son of a witch and the island’s original inhabitant, enslaved by Prospero.
6. Q: What role does Alonso play in the play?
He is the King of Naples.
7. Q: How does the play begin?
With a storm (the tempest) that shipwrecks Alonso and his party on the island.
8. Q: What causes the shipwreck?
Prospero’s magic conjures the storm to bring his enemies to the island.
9. Q: What is the relationship between Ferdinand and Miranda?
They fall in love and become engaged.
10. Q: What is Caliban’s attitude toward Prospero?
He resents Prospero’s control and plans to kill him.
Themes
11. Q: What is a major theme related to power in The Tempest?
The use and abuse of power, and the choice between control and mercy.
12. Q: How does forgiveness play a role in the play?
Prospero forgives his enemies instead of taking revenge.
13. Q: What theme does the masque in Act 4 highlight?
The celebration of marriage, harmony, and abundance.
14. Q: What does the play say about the nature of reality?
Reality can be like a dream—fleeting and illusionary.
15. Q: How is colonialism explored in The Tempest?
Through Caliban’s enslavement and his view of Prospero as a colonizer.
16. Q: What does the play suggest about human nature?
It has both noble qualities and darker impulses like greed and revenge.
17. Q: What theme is explored through the shipwreck?
Chaos leading to renewal and reconciliation.
18. Q: How is magic portrayed in the play?
As a tool for control but also for enlightenment and transformation.
19. Q: What role does isolation play in the story?
The island serves as a place for reflection, growth, and change.
20. Q: How does The Tempest address the idea of freedom?
Through Ariel’s desire for liberty and Prospero’s eventual renunciation of
magic.
Important Events
21. Q: What does Prospero do when he first sees Ferdinand?
He tests Ferdinand’s character by making him carry logs.
22. Q: Who are Stephano and Trinculo?
Comedic servants who plot to kill Prospero.
23. Q: How does Prospero punish the conspirators?
He uses spirits to frighten and humiliate them.
24. Q: What is revealed in Prospero’s famous monologue about dreams?
That life is fleeting, like a play or a dream.
25. Q: How does Prospero show mercy at the end of the play?
He forgives his brother Antonio and King Alonso.
26. Q: What does Prospero do with his magic staff and book?
He breaks the staff and throws the book into the sea, giving up magic.
27. Q: How does Ariel help Prospero at the end?
Ariel frees the ship’s crew and prepares the ship for their departure.
28. Q: What happens between Miranda and Ferdinand?
They get engaged with the blessing of both fathers.
29. Q: How does Caliban react to Prospero’s forgiveness?
He repents and asks to be left in peace.
30. Q: How does the play end?
With Prospero planning to return to Milan and restore order.
Literary Devices & Symbolism
31. Q: What is the significance of the masque?
It symbolizes harmony, fertility, and social order.
32. Q: How is the storm symbolic?
It represents chaos, upheaval, and transformation.
33. Q: What does Prospero’s magic represent?
Human intellect, control over nature, and the limits of power.
34. Q: What kind of speech is Prospero’s “Our revels now are ended” speech?
A monologue reflecting on life’s transience.
35. Q: What literary device is used when Prospero talks directly to the audience at
the end?
An epilogue or breaking the fourth wall.
36. Q: How is the theme of illusion vs. reality shown?
Through magic, dreams, and the play’s theatrical elements.
37. Q: What does Caliban symbolize?
The colonized native or the “natural man” in conflict with civilization.
38. Q: How is forgiveness presented as a form of power?
Prospero’s choice to forgive shows strength and nobility.
39. Q: What does the island itself symbolize?
A microcosm of the world and a place of testing and renewal.
40. Q: What role does music play in the play?
It creates atmosphere, magic, and emotional depth.
Quotes & Interpretation
41. Q: What does Prospero mean when he says, “We are such stuff as dreams are
made on”?
Life is fragile and fleeting, like a dream.
42. Q: Why does Prospero say, “The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance”?
He believes forgiveness is harder and more noble than revenge.
43. Q: How is the theme of justice explored?
Through Prospero’s balancing of punishment and mercy.
44. Q: What is the significance of Miranda’s innocence?
It contrasts with the corruption of the adult world.
45. Q: How does Shakespeare use comedy in the subplot?
To provide relief and highlight human folly.
46. Q: What does Ariel’s desire for freedom represent?
The human longing for liberation from servitude.
47. Q: How does the theme of reconciliation appear?
The play ends with enemies forgiving and making peace.
48. Q: What is the meaning behind Prospero’s renunciation of magic?
Acceptance of human limits and return to ordinary life.
49. Q: How does the play reflect Renaissance ideas?
It explores reason, humanism, and the tension between nature and culture.
50. Q: Why is The Tempest considered Shakespeare’s farewell play?
Because it reflects themes of closure, forgiveness, and letting go.
Act 1
1. What is the primary cause of the storm in Act 1, Scene 1?
a) Ariel’s anger
b) Prospero’s magic
c) Neptune’s wrath
d) Antonio’s treachery
2. Why does Prospero tell Miranda the story of their past in Act 1, Scene 2?
a) To warn her about Caliban
b) To explain why he caused the tempest
c) To prepare her for Ferdinand’s arrival
d) To justify his harsh treatment of Ariel
3. How did Prospero and Miranda end up on the island?
a) They were exiled by Alonso
b) Antonio usurped Prospero’s dukedom and set them adrift
c) They were shipwrecked
d) They fled from Naples
4. What is Caliban’s relationship to Prospero?
a) His servant by choice
b) His unwilling slave
c) His adopted son
d) His brother
5. What does Ariel demand from Prospero in Act 1?
a) Gold
b) Freedom
c) Revenge
d) A new master
Act 2
6. Who suggests killing Alonso in Act 2, Scene 1?
a) Sebastian
b) Antonio
c) Gonzalo
d) Ferdinand
7. What does Gonzalo imagine an ideal society would be like on the island?
a) A military state
b) A utopia with no rulers or labor
c) A wealthy trading hub
d) A religious sanctuary
8. Why does Antonio encourage Sebastian to kill Alonso?
a) To avenge Prospero
b) To make Sebastian king
c) To steal Alonso’s wealth
d) To escape the island
9. How does Ariel disrupt the conspiracy against Alonso?
a) By singing a warning
b) By waking Gonzalo
c) By creating an illusion of a beast
d) By making Antonio confess
10. What is Caliban doing when Trinculo first encounters him?
a) Cursing Prospero
b) Sleeping under a cloak
c) Fishing
d) Praying to Sycorax
Act 3
11. What task does Ferdinand perform for Prospero in Act 3?
a) Building a ship
b) Carrying logs
c) Hunting for food
d) Guarding Miranda
12. How does Miranda express her love for Ferdinand?
a) By proposing marriage
b) By disobeying Prospero
c) By offering to carry logs for him
d) By giving him a magical charm
13. What do Stephano and Trinculo plan to do with Caliban?
a) Sell him in Naples
b) Make him their servant
c) Kill Prospero and rule the island
d) Use him to find treasure
14. How does Ariel foil Caliban’s plot against Prospero?
a) By disguising himself as a harpy
b) By leading them into a swamp
c) By making them drunk
d) By impersonating Prospero
15. What does Alonso believe happened to Ferdinand?
a) He is alive on the island
b) He drowned in the storm
c) He was kidnapped by spirits
d) He betrayed them
Act 4
16. Why does Prospero warn Ferdinand about premarital relations with
Miranda?
a) To test his loyalty
b) To uphold honor
c) To delay their marriage
d) To punish him
17. What mythological figures appear in Prospero’s masque?
a) Juno, Ceres, and Iris
b) Zeus, Hera, and Apollo
c) Venus, Mars, and Diana
d) Neptune, Thetis, and Triton
18. What interrupts the masque in Act 4?
a) Ariel’s song
b) Caliban’s attack
c) Prospero’s sudden anger
d) The arrival of Alonso
19. How does Prospero punish Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo?
a) Sends them to a dungeon
b) Forces them to dance endlessly
c) Makes them chase spirits
d) Turns them into animals
20. What does Prospero realize about Caliban at the end of Act 4?
a) He is beyond redemption
b) He is his true heir
c) He is a victim of his own nature
d) He must be freed
Act 5
21. What does Prospero decide to do at the beginning of Act 5?
a) Take revenge
b) Forgive his enemies
c) Leave the island forever
d) Keep ruling with magic
22. How does Alonso react when he sees Prospero?
a) He attacks him
b) He begs for forgiveness
c) He faints in shock
d) He denies knowing him
23. What does Prospero reveal to Alonso about Ferdinand?
a) He is dead
b) He is alive and with Miranda
c) He has left the island
d) He has married Ariel
24. What does Prospero do with his magic books at the end?
a) Burns them
b) Gives them to Miranda
c) Drowns them
d) Keeps them hidden
25. What is Prospero’s final request to the audience in the epilogue?
a) To remember his story
b) To forgive him as he forgave others
c) To applaud and set him free
d) To pray for his soul
Act 1: Deep Analysis Questions
1. In Act 1, Scene 1, how does Shakespeare use the storm (tempest) as a
metaphor for political upheaval, and what does the Boatswain’s defiance
of noblemen signify?
a) The storm symbolizes Prospero’s anger, and the Boatswain represents the
lower class rejecting aristocratic privilege.
b) The storm foreshadows Ariel’s rebellion, and the Boatswain’s actions
highlight the fragility of social hierarchy.
c) The storm mirrors Antonio’s betrayal, and the Boatswain’s insolence shows
nature’s indifference to human rank.
d) The storm represents divine punishment, and the Boatswain’s defiance
illustrates the chaos of usurpation.
2. Prospero’s lengthy exposition in Act 1, Scene 2 serves multiple purposes.
Which of the following is not one of them?
a) To justify his manipulation of Miranda’s memories.
b) To establish his rightful claim to Milan’s dukedom.
c) To contrast his magic with Sycorax’s sorcery.
d) To foreshadow Ariel’s eventual rebellion.
3. Caliban’s first speech ("This island’s mine…") reveals a complex
dynamic with Prospero. What does his claim to land ownership signify?
a) A legal argument against European colonization.
b) A tragic recognition of his enslavement despite prior inheritance.
c) A parody of Gonzalo’s utopian vision.
d) A plea for Miranda’s sympathy.
4. How does Ariel’s dialogue with Prospero in Act 1, Scene 2 reflect the
theme of power versus servitude?
a) Ariel’s gratitude for freedom contrasts with Caliban’s resentment.
b) Ariel’s obedience is conditional, highlighting Prospero’s manipulative
control.
c) Ariel’s ethereal language symbolizes the island’s magic.
d) Ariel’s reminders of past services pressure Prospero into granting liberty.
5. Ferdinand’s immediate love for Miranda in Act 1 could be interpreted as:
a) A genuine emotional connection orchestrated by Prospero’s magic.
b) A political alliance disguised as romance.
c) A parody of courtly love conventions.
d) A test of Miranda’s loyalty to her father.
Act 2: Thematic and Psychological Depth
6. Gonzalo’s utopian speech in Act 2, Scene 1 parodies which philosophical
work?
a) Thomas More’s Utopia
b) Machiavelli’s The Prince
c) Plato’s Republic
d) Montaigne’s Of Cannibals
7. Antonio’s persuasion of Sebastian to murder Alonso demonstrates:
a) The cyclical nature of betrayal, mirroring Antonio’s own usurpation of
Prospero.
b) The inefficacy of political ambition without magic.
c) Shakespeare’s critique of primogeniture.
d) The psychological fragility of shipwreck survivors.
8. Ariel’s intervention in Act 2, Scene 1 is pivotal because:
a) It reinforces Prospero’s omnipotence while sparing Alonso, complicating
revenge.
b) It reveals Ariel’s independent moral agency.
c) It foreshadows Caliban’s rebellion.
d) It parodies divine intervention in Greek tragedy.
9. Caliban’s encounter with Trinculo and Stephano satirizes:
a) European colonialism’s exploitation of indigenous peoples.
b) The comedic trope of the “noble savage.”
c) The breakdown of social order in Jacobean England.
d) The futility of alcohol as a tool of control.
10. Sebastian and Antonio’s conspiracy is left unresolved in Act 2. What
narrative purpose does this serve?
a) To create suspense for Prospero’s confrontation in Act 5.
b) To highlight Gonzalo’s naivety as a foil.
c) To contrast with Ferdinand and Miranda’s subplot.
d) To underscore the island’s role as a moral testing ground.
Act 3: Symbolism and Character Motivations
11. Ferdinand’s labor (carrying logs) in Act 3 symbolizes:
a) A ritualistic purification for his union with Miranda.
b) Prospero’s cruelty as a parallel to Sycorax.
c) The Marxist critique of oppressive labor.
d) A parody of Hercules’ mythological trials.
12. Miranda’s proposal to Ferdinand (“I am your wife if you will marry me”)
challenges:
a) Patriarchal norms of courtship in Jacobean society.
b) Prospero’s illusion of control over their relationship.
c) The allegorical purity of their love.
d) Caliban’s earlier claim to Miranda.
13. Caliban’s worship of Stephano as a “god” critiques:
a) Religious hypocrisy in colonial encounters.
b) The fragility of authority based on fear.
c) The comedic trope of the “drunken master.”
d) Ariel’s role as an invisible manipulator.
14. Ariel’s invisible taunting of the conspirators in Act 3, Scene 2 mirrors:
a) The Furies’ pursuit in Greek tragedy.
b) The psychological torment of guilt.
c) Prospero’s surveillance of Miranda and Ferdinand.
d) The island’s sentient landscape.
15. The masque in Act 4 is interrupted because:
a) Prospero remembers Caliban’s plot, symbolizing the intrusion of reality into
illusion.
b) Juno and Ceres refuse to bless an illegitimate union.
c) Ariel rebels against Prospero’s demands.
d) Ferdinand expresses doubt about Miranda’s fidelity.
Acts 4–5: Resolution and Meta-Theatricality
16. Prospero’s “Our revels now are ended” speech (Act 4, Scene 1) reflects:
a) A meta-theatrical commentary on the ephemeral nature of drama.
b) A nihilistic rejection of his magic.
c) A direct address to James I about divine right.
d) A farewell to Miranda.
17. Alonso’s grief in Act 5 is resolved through:
a) A quasi-religious repentance orchestrated by Prospero.
b) The discovery of Ferdinand alive, symbolizing divine mercy.
c) Gonzalo’s Stoic philosophy.
d) Ariel’s song, which erases his guilt.
18. Caliban’s final words (“I’ll be wise hereafter”) suggest:
a) A hollow repentance under coercion.
b) A genuine transformation through suffering.
c) A parody of Prospero’s forgiveness.
d) A rejection of Stephano’s influence.
19. Prospero’s epilogue is unique because it:
a) Breaks the fourth wall, asking the audience for forgiveness.
b) Reveals Ariel’s fate after freedom.
c) Confirms Miranda’s marriage as political allegory.
d) Ends with a rhyming couplet, unlike other plays.
20. The Tempest’s ending leaves Caliban’s fate ambiguous to emphasize:
a) The unresolved legacy of colonialism.
b) His symbolic role as the island’s true owner.
c) A comedic loophole for sequels.
d) Prospero’s failure to fully repent.
Bonus: Thematic and Contextual Questions
21. Which historical event is The Tempest often linked to?
a) The Gunpowder Plot
b) The colonization of Virginia
c) The Spanish Armada
d) The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots
22. The play’s structure aligns with:
a) Aristotle’s unities of time, place, and action.
b) Medieval morality plays.
c) Senecan revenge tragedy.
d) Petrarchan sonnet cycles.
23. Prospero’s magic staff symbolizes:
a) The fragility of human power.
b) A phallic assertion of dominance.
c) The intersection of art and tyranny.
d) The Biblical Aaron’s rod.
24. Miranda’s famous line (“O brave new world!”) is ironic because:
a) She misunderstands human corruption.
b) It echoes Caliban’s earlier optimism.
c) It foreshadows her death in the epilogue.
d) Prospero manipulates her perception.
25. The play’s genre is best described as:
a) Tragicomedy
b) Romance
c) Satire
d) Allegory
Act 1: Power, Colonization, and Magic
1. Prospero’s manipulation of the storm in Act 1 can be read as:
a) A critique of European colonial violence, using chaos to assert dominance.
b) A purely theatrical device with no deeper political meaning.
c) A reflection of Shakespeare’s disdain for sailors.
d) An allegory for divine retribution in medieval morality plays.
2. Miranda’s line, “O, I have suffered / With those that I saw suffer!” (Act 1,
Scene 2) suggests:
a) Her empathy is performative, crafted by Prospero’s narrative control.
b) She embodies the “noble savage” trope, contrasting with Caliban.
c) Her trauma mirrors Ariel’s entrapment, linking subjugated characters.
d) She secretly resents Prospero’s isolationist rule.
3. Caliban’s assertion, “This island’s mine by Sycorax my mother,”
challenges Prospero’s authority by:
a) Invoking matrilineal inheritance, undermining European patriarchal law.
b) Exposing Prospero’s hypocrisy as a usurped duke turned colonizer.
c) Parodying Gonzalo’s utopian claims of communal ownership.
d) Revealing Ariel’s true lineage as Sycorax’s heir.
4. Ariel’s bondage to Prospero differs from Caliban’s enslavement because:
a) Ariel’s labor is intellectual (magic), while Caliban’s is physical, reflecting
racial hierarchies.
b) Ariel willingly serves Prospero out of gratitude, not fear.
c) Caliban could escape if he repents, but Ariel cannot.
d) Prospero sees Ariel as a son but Caliban as a tool.
5. Ferdinand’s instant love for Miranda mirrors:
a) Colonial narratives of “discovering” and claiming virgin land.
b) The Stockholm syndrome of captive and captor.
c) Shakespeare’s parody of Romeo and Juliet’s haste.
d) Prospero’s staged performances to test loyalty.
Act 2: Betrayal, Utopia, and Folly
6. Gonzalo’s utopian speech parodies Montaigne’s Of Cannibals by:
a) Mocking European superiority while ignoring indigenous agency.
b) Proposing a socialist paradise that Prospero later enacts.
c) Predicting Caliban’s rebellion against colonial rule.
d) Echoing Antonio’s Machiavellian realpolitik.
7. Antonio’s persuasion of Sebastian to kill Alonso mirrors his own betrayal
of Prospero, illustrating:
a) The cyclical violence of usurpation, where betrayers fear betrayal.
b) Shakespeare’s belief in hereditary corruption.
c) The island’s supernatural influence on human morality.
d) A meta-commentary on Jacobean court intrigues.
8. Ariel’s interruption of the murder plot with a song (“While you here do
snoring lie…”) serves to:
a) Highlight the absurdity of political ambition through lyrical mockery.
b) Foreshadow Prospero’s forgiveness in Act 5.
c) Signal Ariel’s secret alliance with Caliban.
d) Parody the Greek chorus’s role in tragedy.
9. Trinculo’s description of Caliban as a “fish” and “monster” reflects:
a) Early modern racial taxonomy, dehumanizing indigenous bodies.
b) A metaphor for the island’s untamable nature.
c) Stephano’s drunken hallucinations.
d) Ariel’s shapeshifting tricks.
10. Sebastian’s quip, “He receives comfort like cold porridge,” critiques:
a) Gonzalo’s idealism as ineffectual against human greed.
b) Alonso’s passivity as a leader.
c) The lack of culinary sophistication on the island.
d) Prospero’s magic as merely illusory comfort.
Act 3: Labor, Love, and Rebellion
11. Ferdinand’s log-carrying symbolizes:
a) A Puritan work ethic that Prospero imposes to test worthiness.
b) The colonial extraction of resources from native bodies (Caliban parallels).
c) A parody of Hercules’ labors, undermining Ferdinand’s heroism.
d) Miranda’s covert manipulation to prove his love.
12. Miranda’s proposal to Ferdinand subverts gender norms by:
a) Echoing Elizabeth I’s rhetoric of autonomy while still serving Prospero’s
agenda.
b) Revealing her secret collusion with Ariel.
c) Parodying Petrarchan sonnets’ passive female idols.
d) Demonstrating her magical powers over men.
13. Caliban’s worship of Stephano’s “celestial liquor” satirizes:
a) The Christian Eucharist as a tool of colonial control.
b) Trinculo’s failure as a jester to provide real solace.
c) Prospero’s reliance on Ariel’s “airy” magic over earthly power.
d) The commodification of indigenous spirituality.
14. Ariel’s role as an invisible tormentor in Act 3, Scene 2 parallels:
a) The Freudian superego, punishing guilty consciences.
b) Prospero’s surveillance of Miranda and Ferdinand.
c) The Harpy scene in The Aeneid, where monsters punish greed.
d) Jacobean spy networks under James I.
15. The masque’s abrupt end underscores:
a) The fragility of art when confronted with real-world violence (Caliban’s
plot).
b) Juno’s disapproval of Miranda’s mixed-class marriage.
c) Ferdinand’s secret infidelity.
d) Ariel’s rebellion against Prospero’s tyranny.
Acts 4–5: Illusion, Repentance, and Freedom
16. Prospero’s “Our revels now are ended” speech (4.1) aligns with:
a) The theatrum mundi trope, comparing life to a fleeting play.
b) A rejection of Neoplatonic idealism in favor of Machiavellian realism.
c) A coded critique of James I’s lavish court masques.
d) Ariel’s demand for freedom as the “actor” behind the illusions.
17. Alonso’s repentance in Act 5 is incomplete because:
a) He never acknowledges Antonio’s crimes, only his own grief.
b) Prospero manipulates him through staged miracles (Ferdinand’s survival).
c) Gonzalo’s interventions prevent true self-reflection.
d) Shakespeare rejects Catholic contrition as theatrical.
18. Caliban’s final line, “I’ll be wise hereafter,” is ironic because:
a) His “wisdom” is coerced, not earned, mirroring colonial conversions.
b) He secretly plots to reclaim the island after Prospero leaves.
c) It echoes Prospero’s earlier hollow promises to Ariel.
d) Stephano remains on the island as a lingering threat.
19. The epilogue’s plea for applause (“Let your indulgence set me free”)
conflates:
a) Prospero’s surrender of magic with Shakespeare’s retirement from the
stage.
b) Ariel’s freedom with the audience’s moral absolution.
c) Colonial guilt with theatrical catharsis.
d) All of the above.
20. The unresolved fate of the island’s natives (Caliban/Ariel) suggests:
a) Shakespeare’s ambivalence about colonialism’s legacy.
b) A sequel hook for The Tempest Part II.
c) The triumph of art over political accountability.
d) Prospero’s magic was an illusion; the island never existed.
Thematic & Contextual Mastery
21. The play’s unity of time (3 hours) mirrors:
a) The length of a Jacobean court masque.
b) The Biblical Last Judgment’s abruptness.
c) The time it takes to drown in a shipwreck.
d) Prospero’s lifespan under Sycorax’s curse.
22. Prospero’s books symbolize:
a) The dangerous knowledge of Renaissance humanism.
b) Colonial archives used to justify domination.
c) Shakespeare’s own sources for the play.
d) All of the above.
23. Miranda’s “brave new world” is ironic because she:
a) Doesn’t recognize the corrupt men who exiled Prospero.
b) Quotes Caliban’s earlier line unknowingly.
c) Will die soon, as hinted in the epilogue.
d) Is actually addressing Ariel in disguise.
24. Postcolonial readings interpret the tempest as:
a) The violence of first contact between Europe and the “New World.”
b) A metaphor for the Gunpowder Plot’s chaos.
c) Prospero’s psychic breakdown over Miranda’s puberty.
d) A parody of King Lear’s storm scene.
25. The play’s genre as a “romance” is contested because:
a) Its happy ending ignores Caliban’s suffering.
b) It mixes comic and tragic elements without resolution.
c) Prospero’s magic defies classical unities.
d) All of the above.
Answer Key (Shuffled)
1. A
2. C
3. B
4. A
5. A
6. A
7. A
8. A
9. A
10. A
11. B
12. A
13. A
14. C
15. A
16. A
17. A
18. A
19. D
20. A
21. A
22. D
23. A
24. A
25. D
