This book challenges a longstanding and deeply ingrained belief in Shakespearean studies that The Tempest--long supposed to be Shakespeare's last play--was not written until 1611. In the course of investigating this proposition, which has not received the critical inquiry it deserves, a number of subsidiary and closely related interpretative puzzles come sharply into focus. These include the play's sources of New World imagery; its festival symbolism and structure; its relationship to William Strachey's True Reportory account of the 1609 Bermuda wreck of the Sea Venture (not published until 1625)--and the tangled history of how and why scholars have for so long misunderstood these matters. Publication of some preliminary elements of the authors' arguments in leading Shakespearean journals (starting in 2007) ignited a controversy that became part of the critical history. This book presents the case in full for the first time.

Understand Shakespeare's play immediately with engaging images that reinforce the text and aid preparation for the CSEC English B examination. - Build understanding of the play through images and text that work together - Check understanding of the text by answering the guided reading questions at the end of each scene. - Build literary knowledge with the section on comedy which explains the way Shakespeare uses comic effect in this play and others. - Improve and practise essay-writing skills using CSEC-style essay questions and a sample essay. - Consolidate learning and exam preparation with detailed and rigorous study notes.

A comprehensive study guide offering in-depth explanation, essay, and test prep for William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, speculated to be one of the last plays he ever wrote as well as the most compressed. As a dramatic work of the early-seventeenth-century, it has heavy elements of masque, which includes singing, dancing, supernatural machinery, and a general feeling of unreality. Moreover, The Tempest covers themes regarding the soul and the human spirit’s capacity for growth. This Bright Notes Study Guide explores the context and history of Shakespeare’s classic work, helping students to thoroughly explore the reasons it has stood the literary test of time. Each Bright Notes Study Guide contains: - Introductions to the Author and the Work - Character Summaries - Plot Guides - Section and Chapter Overviews - Test Essay and Study Q&As The Bright Notes Study Guide series offers an in-depth tour of more than 275 classic works of literature, exploring characters, critical commentary, historical background, plots, and themes. This set of study guides encourages readers to dig deeper in their understanding by including essay questions and answers as well as topics for further research.

Act by act, scene by scene, this guide creates a total immersion experience in the plot development, characters, and language of The Tempest.