The Tempest is a play by Shakespeare that is considered a comedy by some and a romance by others. Tempest by Paul Mazursky, is a film adaptation of The Tempest that has the happy ending of a comedy, but less intense romance than the play. There are many similarities and differences between the play and the film.
The main character in Shakespeare's play is a powerful wizard named Prospero, who is living in exile on an island with his daughter Miranda. In the beginning of the play, the ship that carries Prospero's brother Antonio and the King of Naples (Alonso), who betrayed Prospero in order to steal his dukedom, is headed towards the island. Prospero believes that he is the reason they are headed towards the island, and he conjures a tempest to wreck their ship without killing any of its passengers.
The main character in Mazursky's film is a troubled man named Phillip who lives on an island as well. Phillip goes to to the island to keep his daughter Miranda from Antonia and Alonzo. The ship that heads towards Phillip carries his former boss Alonzo and his wife Antonia. When he sees the ship headed towards the island he believes they have come to take away Miranda. Phillip was betrayed when Antonia cheated on him with Alonzo. From his isolated time on the island, Phillip becomes very close with nature. Phillip's close relationship with nature seems to have given him the illusion that he is somehow a part of it. When the ship approaches and the tempest starts in the film, Phillip seems to think he is the cause of it and that he can control it. When Phillip regains his senses and realizes he does not want to harm anyone, the tempest calms and goes away.
The play and the film are about forgiveness. When Prospero and Phillip are faced with their betrayers after their long time spent on the island, they both realize forgiveness is necessary to move on and to go home with their daughters. Prospero and Phillip indulged their obsessions while on the island. Prospero becomes obsessed with his books and magic on the island and loses touch with humanity, until he is reminded by the spirit Ariel and corrects his ways. Phillip is perhaps more troubled than Prospero was. Phillip goes through a mid-life crisis before arriving at the island and seems to not know what to do in his life; he says he wants to “wander”. While on the island, Phillip becomes obsessed with the idea of paradise, but doing so isolates him from humanity and the outside world. Ridding themselves of those obsessions and “freeing” the people on the island can only come through forgiveness. When Phillip forgives Antonia and Alonzo, he is able to move on in his life and achieve the peace he was looking for, and he is able to go back to civilization and to his home.
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