The Tempest: Play and Film by Rebekah Josey

In the early 1600s, William Shakespeare wrote a play entitled The Tempest, which has kept many minds and imaginations pondering about human interaction and the world in which we live. In 1982, Paul Mazursky made the famous play into a film. Although the film was based on Shakespeare's play, it had its own unique interpretation of the story, presenting it in such a way that a contemporary audience could relate. Despite having many differences, both the play and the film both share the same fundamental characteristic: they are dramatic. The dramas of both the play and the film are similar, but have different contexts. The drama of Shakespeare's The Tempest is Prospero's illusion of Justice when it comes to avenging his rightful title, and how he must learn to forgive in spite of the wrong that was done against him. In Mazursky's Tempest, the drama is the fact that Phillip must learn to properly deal with his problems, and that he cannot simply run away from them.


Shakespeare's The Tempest depicts the difficult life of an old man named Prospero who is stripped of his title as Duke of Milan by his brother, Antonio. As a result, he is forced to escape to an almost deserted island accompanied only by his young daughter, Miranda. While he is on the island, Prospero's main concern is to get revenge on all the people who have done him wrong. However, Prospero seems to have somewhat of a double standard when it comes to justice. Although he acts as a victim of extreme injustice, he has no convictions for his unjust actions towards Ariel, who is a spirit on the island and a source of Prospero's magical abilities, as well as his cruel actions towards Caliban, the deformed son of an evil witch. He uses both of these characters to attempt to achieve his end goal. Shakespeare presents a very prominent part of human experience and existence, that is, the ability to forgive. He plays off the fact that humans have and are run by emotions. Near the end of play after Prospero has captured all of the people who have done him wrong, he inquires Ariel on their current state after some of them have had his spells cast upon them. This is an important turning point for the character of Prospero, because Ariel helps him realize that he should have compassion on them. Ariel tells Prospero that “if [he] now beheld them, [his] affections would become tender”(Act 5, Scene 1, line 18). Prospero then asks Ariel if his affections would change, and Ariel replies: “Mine would sir, if I were human” (5, 1, 20). Prospero then realizes that he must have compassion on these people, for Ariel is simply made of air and he is able to feel sorry for them. Therefore, Prospero decides the right thing to do is have compassion and let them go. In the end of the play, it is expected that since Prospero succeeded in getting the conspirators on his island, that he would follow through with his plot to seek revenge. However, the unexpected happens. Prospero decides to forgive the wrong that was done against him, and return home with everyone. So even though at first Prospero seems to have a double standard about justice, in the end, he ultimately decides to do the right thing and forgive.


Similarly, Mazursky's Tempest depicts a middle aged man, Phillip, who travels to an island with his young daughter. However, he ventures there by choice, trying to escape the problems and hassles of his mediocre life. This mid-life crisis causes him to become bitter towards the people he loves, including his wife and, at times, his daughter. After deciding to leave his wife, he travels to Greece, where he meets the beautiful young singer, Aretha, who portrays the character of Ariel from Shakespeare's play. On the spur of the moment they decide to go to a secluded island, where Phillip can hide from his wife and the other people in his life. The drama in this film is shown in how Phillip tries to unsuccessfully deal with his issues. In life, it is impossible to simply run away from your problems. Sooner or later, they will catch up to you. Mazursky demonstrates this fundamental aspect of life in how no matter where Phillip goes, his wife and the other people he is running from always end up coming in contact with him in one way or another. Likewise, in life, if you try to run away from your problems, they will eventually catch up to you. In the end however, Phillip is forced to face his issues, and deal with the problems of his life when his wife and the others come to the island. In doing so, he releases himself from the cage of bitterness he had built around him, and is able to emerge a happier and more fulfilled man.

Shakespeare's The Tempest and Mazursky's Tempest both contain dramatic representations of a story about human life. Shakespeare utilizes the fact that all humans have emotions and must learn to forgive to unfold his drama, while Mazursky showed us that one cannot simply run away from their problems, and that they must learn to deal with them properly and move on with life.