2.65k reviews for:

The Tempest

William Shakespeare

3.64 AVERAGE

adventurous fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

2.5⭐️
adventurous dark reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Not sure whether it is 4/5 or 5/5, maybe somewhere inbetween.
It was fun. Thought it would take an iternity with my pace of reading to finish it, googling each and every phrase for a meaning, so decided to read it from the start in Russian instead. It was worth it.
Good story, a bit naive at the end, but still with a purpose. I woudn't let everyone go though, like Prospero did :D Just a little of bloodshed would have satistied the lack of "real" justice in this perfect story.
Liked the moment, when Prospero led everyone to his cave and there... Ferdinand and Miranda were playing chess... Love these guys XD

November 2021: Prospero is a dickhead.

I'm tempted to just let that be my review, but if I want to count this review towards my total at Cannonball Read, it has to be at least 250 words.

I haven't read this play in ten years. I've never seen it performed. It's never been my favorite, even though I've read it several times now. The best parts of it involve several of Shakespeare's most classic lines:
"Hell is empty and all the devils are here."

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."

"What's past is prologue."

"How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!"

"Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange"

"I'll break my staff, bury it certain fathoms in the earth, and deeper than did ever plummet sound, I'll drown my book!"

"Temperance is a delicate wench."

All right maybe that last one is just one of my favorites.

And also every scene with Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo is gold. I never appreciated when I read this in high school how funny those scenes were, even though they are laden with puns that went over my head because I don't live in Jacobean England.

Biggest takeaway here, as stated in the opening sentence, is that Prospero sucks, and Caliban deserved better. So did Ariel and Miranda. Prospero is an interfering, sanctimonious (THE LECTUREING ABOUT THE VIRGINITY!), patriarchal, controlling, manipulative, cruel, gaslighting monster. Part of the reason this play will never be my favorite is that I don't entirely think Shakespeare wanted us to criticize Prospero or feel sympathy for Caliban. I think he wrote it straight, and its ethics just do not agree with me at all.

Still, a short play. You can read it in about an hour.

February 2011: I'm not sure why I rated this so low (three stars) before. I guess the first two times through I was an idiot.
adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
fast-paced
funny lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
adventurous fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

i found it a bit boring to read, also a little harder to get into. i think it‘s more interesting studying it than reading it.