Skip to main content

The Tempest: Shakespeare's farewell?

Posted , updated 
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Actor John Bell
The Tempest: Shakespeare's farewell?

SUBJECTS:  Arts, English

YEARS:  7–8, 9–10


The Tempest 5.1 Explainer


'The Tempest' is believed by some to be Shakespeare's final play.

With this in mind, could Prospero in some ways represent Shakespeare himself?

If so, Prospero's epilogue at the end of the play takes on a new and poignant resonance.

John Bell discusses the themes of giving up and letting go with Bell Shakespeare's James Evans.

They also discuss whether this scene could mark Shakespeare's retirement from the theatre.


Teachers

Visit Bell Shakespeare's website

Discover programs, workshops and more performances at one of Australia's great theatre companies.

Download a PDF with the full synopsis for each play.

Full plot summaries of Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, The Tempest, and Romeo and Juliet.


Acknowledgements

Created by ABC Splash in collaboration with Bell Shakespeare.


Production Date: 2014


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Posted , updated