The Tempest and Shakespearean Comedy

When William Shakespeare wrote The Tempest, he followed his own model of how to write a comedy. One main theme of a Shakespearean comedy is: the comic individual. In the play, the protagonist, Prospero, is a fine example of the comic individual. The comic individual must must be the one at fault for their own downfall; as a result of their irrational actions, they lose something. Prospero, as a result of his neglect of his Dukedom, loses control of his city and is exiled to a small island, forced to live in seclusion. Prospero is very distracted by his books and his studies, as he describes in Act 1 Scene 2; he neglects his city and allows his brother to oust him from his post.

A second key element to a Shakespearean comedy is: the comic solution. Every comedy must come to a happy ending in which the deception of the comic individual is wiped away, and he is able to see, once again, his true job. In The Tempest, the comic solution comes in Act 5 Scene 1 when Alonso forgives Prospero and returns him to Duke status. At this point Prospero knows what he has done and know that he must be more vigilant as the Duke of Milan. He knows not to be distracted by his books or studies anymore and is returned to his senses. In the end, everyone is returned to Italy, Prospero has been returned, the King has been forgiven, and Ariel has been freed. Not tragedy occurs.

-Kevin Connor