Education Standards
Act 1, Scene 2 - Video Summary
Act 3 Scene 1 - Video summary
Act 3 Scene 2 - Video summary
Act 3 Scene 3 - Video summary
Act 4, Scene 1 - Video Summary
Act 4, Scene 2 - Video Summary
Act 5, Scene 1 & Epilogue - Video Summary
Assessment - TEMPEST ESSAY TOPICS
The Tempest - Act 1
The Tempest - Act 2
The Tempest - Act 3 PPT
The Tempest - Act 4 and 5 PPT
The Tempest - Additional Activities and Resources (External Sources)
The Tempest by William Shakespeare _ Act 2, Scene 1
The Tempest by William Shakespeare _ Act 2, Scene 2
The Tempest - Introduction Overview
The Tempest (side by side transcript)
The Tempest - William Shakespeare (Gr. 12)
Overview
This is a teacher and students' resource pack for Shakespeare's The Tempest. The resource is for the F.E.T phase, grade 10-12. It contains summary notes and resources for constructive engagement by both students and teachers.
Introduction
This OER is meant to be an easily accessible resource for Grade 12 students who are studying Shakespeare's The Tempest. It contains resources that students may refer to for assistance to better understand the play.
This section provides background information/overview of the play and explains why we learn English, especially why we should study Shakespeare.
Click here for the table of contents, for easy navigation of the content:
Table of content:
- Section 1 - Introduction and Overview:
- PPT with overview and characters
- The Tempest side by side transcript
- Overview video
- Section 2 - Act 1, Summary and Resources:
- Act 1 Scene 1 Video
- Act 1 Scene 2 Video
- PPT with Act 1 notes
- Section 3 - Act 2, Summary and Resources:
- Act 2 Scene 1 Video
- Act 2 Scene 2 Video
- PPT with Act 2 notes
- Section 4 - Act 3, Summary and Resources:
- Act 3 Scene 1 Video
- Act 3 Scene 2 Video
- Act 3 Scene 3 Video
- PPT with Act 3 notes
- Section 5 - Act 4 and 5, Summary and Resources:
- Act 4 and 5 Videos
- PPT with Act notes
Act 1
Act 1 Scene 1:
A violent storm rages around a small ship at sea. The master of the ship calls for his boatswain to rouse the mariners to action and prevent the ship from being run aground by the tempest. Chaos ensues. Click here for act 1-scene 1 summary from Sparknotes.
Act 1 Scene 2:
Prospero and Miranda stand on the shore of the island, having just witnessed the shipwreck. Miranda entreats her father to see that no one on board comes to any harm. Prospero assures her that no one was harmed and tells her that it’s time she learned who she is and where she comes from. Miranda seems curious, noting that Prospero has often started to tell her about herself but always stopped. However, once Prospero begins telling his tale, he asks her three times if she is listening to him. Click here for act 1-scene 2 summary from Sparknotes.
Act 2
Act 2, Scene 1:
While Ferdinand is falling in love with Miranda, Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, and other shipwrecked lords search for him on another part of the island. Alonso is quite despondent and unreceptive to the good-natured Gonzalo’s attempts to cheer him up. Gonzalo meets resistance from Antonio and Sebastian as well. These two childishly mock Gonzalo’s suggestion that the island is a good place to be and that they are all lucky to have survived. Alonso finally brings the repartee to a halt when he bursts out at Gonzalo and openly expresses regret at having married away his daughter in Tunis. Francisco, a minor lord, pipes up at this point that he saw Ferdinand swimming valiantly after the wreck, but this does not comfort Alonso. Sebastian and Antonio continue to provide little help. Sebastian tells his brother that he is indeed to blame for Ferdinand’s death—if he had not married his daughter to an African (rather than a European), none of this would have happened. Click for the complete act2-scene 1 summary from Sparknotes.
Act 2, Scene 2:
Caliban enters with a load of wood, and thunder sounds in the background. Caliban curses and describes the torments that Prospero’s spirits subject him to: they pinch, bite, and prick him, especially when he curses. As he is thinking of these spirits, Caliban sees Trinculo and imagines him to be one of the spirits. Hoping to avoid pinching, he lies down and covers himself with his cloak. Trinculo hears the thunder and looks about for some cover from the storm. The only thing he sees is the cloak-covered Caliban on the ground. He is not so much repulsed by Caliban as curious. He cannot decide whether Caliban is a “man or a fish” (II.ii.24). He thinks of a time when he travelled to England and witnessed freak shows there. Caliban, he thinks, would bring him a lot of money in England. Thunder sounds again and Trinculo decides that the best shelter nearby is beneath Caliban’s cloak, and so he joins the man-monster there Click here for the complete act 1-scene 2 summary from Sparknotes.
Act 3
Act 3, Scene 1:
Back at Prospero’s cell, Ferdinand takes over Caliban’s duties and carries wood for Prospero. Unlike Caliban, however, Ferdinand has no desire to curse. Instead, he enjoys his labours because they serve the woman he loves, Miranda. As Ferdinand works and thinks of Miranda, she enters, and after her, unseen by either lover, Prospero enters. Miranda tells Ferdinand to take a break from his work, or to let her work for him, thinking that her father is away. Ferdinand refuses to let her work for him but does rest from his work and asks Miranda her name. She tells him, and he is pleased: “Miranda” comes from the same Latin word that gives English the word “admiration.” Ferdinand’s speech plays on the etymology: “Admired Miranda! / Indeed the top of admiration, worth / What’s dearest to the world!” (Act 3, scene 1 - lines37–39). Click here for complete act 3-scene 1 summary from Sparknotes.
Act 3, Scene 2:
Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano continue to drink and wander about the island. Stephano now refers to Caliban as “servant monster” and repeatedly orders him to drink. Caliban seems happy to obey. The men begin to quarrel, mostly in jest, in their drunkenness. Stephano has now assumed the title of Lord of the Island and he promises to hang Trinculo if Trinculo should mock his servant monster. Ariel, invisible, enters just as Caliban is telling the men that he is “subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island” (Act 3, scene 2 – line 40-41). Ariel begins to stir up trouble, calling out, “Thou liest” (Act 3, scene 2 – line 42). Caliban cannot see Ariel and thinks that Trinculo said this. He threatens Trinculo, and Stephano tells Trinculo not to interrupt Caliban anymore. Trinculo protests that he said nothing. Drunkenly, they continue talking, and Caliban tells them of his desire to get revenge against Prospero. Ariel continues to interrupt now and then with the words, “Thou liest.” Ariel’s ventriloquizing ultimately results in Stephano hitting Trinculo. Click here for complete act 3-scene 2 summary from Sparknotes.
Act 3, Scene 3:
Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, and their companion lords become exhausted, and Alonso gives up all hope of finding his son. Antonio, still hoping to kill Alonso, whispers to Sebastian that Alonso’s exhaustion and desperation will provide them with the perfect opportunity to kill the king later that evening. Click here for complete act 3-scene 3 summary from Sparknotes.
Act 4, and Act 5
Act 4, Scene 1:
Prospero gives his blessing to Ferdinand and Miranda, warning Ferdinand only that he take care not to break Miranda’s “virgin-knot” before the wedding has been solemnized (Act 4, scene 1 – lines 15–17). Ferdinand promises to comply. Prospero then calls in Ariel and asks him to summon spirits to perform a masque for Ferdinand and Miranda. Soon, three spirits appear in the shapes of the mythological figures of Juno (queen of the gods), Iris (Juno’s messenger and the goddess of the rainbow), and Ceres (goddess of agriculture). This trio performs a masque celebrating the lovers’ engagement. Click here for complete act 4-scene 1 summary from Sparknotes.
Act 5, Scene 1:
Ariel tells Prospero that the day has reached its “sixth hour” (6 p.m.), when Ariel is allowed to stop working. Prospero acknowledges Ariel’s request and asks how the king and his followers are faring. Ariel tells him that they are currently imprisoned, as Prospero ordered, in a grove. Alonso, Antonio, and Sebastian are mad with fear; and Gonzalo, Ariel says, cries constantly. Prospero tells Ariel to go release the men, and now alone on stage, delivers his famous soliloquy in which he gives up magic. He says he will perform his last task and then break his staff and drown his magic book. Click here for complete act 5-scene 1 summary from Sparknotes.