He is accompanied by his son, Ferdinand, his brother, Sebastian, and Antonio, the Duke of Milan. The play was one of the six Shakespearean plays (and eight others for a total of 14) acted at court during the winter of 1612–13 as part of the festivities surrounding the marriage of Princess Elizabeth with Frederick V, the Elector of the Palatinate of the Rhine. Shakespeare’s story of an exiled ruler who uses magic to restore his daughter to power argues that the powerful must show mercy.

A record exists of a performance of The Tempest on 1 November 1611 by the King's Men before James I and the English royal court at Whitehall Palace on Hallowmas night. Here is a brief The Tempest summary: Alonso, the king of Naples, is returning from his daughter’s wedding in Tunis. The Tempest Summary. The Tempest. Read a character analysis of Prospero, plot summary and important quotes. First performed in 1611, The Tempest explores the consequences of European settlement in the New World. A storm strikes a ship carrying Alonso, Ferdinand, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, Stephano, and Trinculo, who are on their way to Italy after coming from the wedding of Alonso’s daughter, Claribel, to the prince of Tunis in Africa. There is no further public performance recorded prior to the Restoration; but in hi… The Tempest. Prospero uses magic to conjure a storm and torment the survivors of a shipwreck, including the King of Naples and Prospero’s treacherous brother, Antonio. An old Milanese courtier, Gonzalo, is also on board. Prospero’s slave, Caliban, plots to rid himself of his master, but is thwarted by Prospero’s spirit-servant Ariel.