***Shakespeare's Tempest tells us that it is better served by sensible thinking, sound action, by wise and forgiving attitude of the ones who command it and triumphs. Such tempests will see wholesome and happy ending, leaving no trace of hostility.***

TEMPEST is not among the widely popular of Shakespeare's plays. It does not have famed characters, nor does it have drama.

Caliban with his deformed body adds some degree of fancy. Prospero's daughter Miranda heightens it with the contrast of her beauty. Tempest is all about storm, shipwreck, survivors, a desolate island peopled by its master, the exiled Duke of Milan, Prospero, his daughter Miranda, and the slave Caliban. The magical character Ariel is a frequent, but not a principal player in the play, although he is the instrument of magic, which Prospero puts to work. It is a wonderful fairy tale play. The story of the wrongful deportation of Prospero, the Duke of Milan, along with his daughter Miranda. The wrongdoing is righted by raising a tempest in the sea, which brings the offenders, Antonio, the traitorous brother of Prospero, Antonio's benefactor, the King of Naples, Alonso, his brother Sebastian, son Ferdinand and Gonzales, a nobleman of Naples to the desolate island. They are laid at the mercy of Prospero; the dukedom is duly restored. The justice effected has a fairy tale ending, when Miranda and Ferdinand fall in love. Fury eases into felicity.

Shakespeare is dear to the readers for the characters he created. Hamlet, Romeo-Juliet, Macbeth, Othello and many others. Many of his plays have historical context. He adds drama to the historical facts. Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Cleopatra, Richard the second, Henry the fifth, Henry the eighth, such plays are born. On the other side, he created plays with historical background. Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, giving us dear literary characters like Hamlet the Prince of Denmark, Othello the Moor, Macbeth the general, Shylock,

the moneylender and the tragic lovers in Romeo and Juliet. Tragic settings find favour through the ages and across the divides, because our hearts go out to fallen heroes and wronged lovers.

Shakespeare is more than his tragic plays. The popular comedies are the other parts of his genius. They do not however sum up his worth. He also wrote many plays, mixing his story with fairy tale. The characters may not breathe fury; perishing in tragic endings, or enacting comical roles, yet their substance make a useful reading. They present the fatuity of the wrongs we commit for our personal ends. A trusted counsel in wisdom, and above all the fairy tale ways of justice.

I choose Shakespeare's 'Tempest', for this reason. It tells of the genesis of a tempest when right is wronged by bad masters in ingratitude, and blind greed. The fury in the tempest of foul play grows in maturity, as the wronged waits with wisdom for it to right the wrong. I find the content in it rational; at least there is a lesson to learn from. That wisdom lends soundness to our thinking, discretion to our attitude. Prospero, the Duke of Milan was given to his books and preferred wisdom to authority. He let his brother to look after the statecraft. It was a trust granted out of inner strength. He was not a slave to his dukedom. We learn it from Caliban when he expresses in drunken candidness, "First to possess his books ; for without/ them/ He's but a sot, as I am, nor hath not/ One spirit to command; ".

Antonio, his brother with his unfettered use of office would take counsel only from his authority. Wisdom was not a book from which he would read, for authority suited his traitorous ends better. It was more useful to him in granting favours, in winning over men who suited him by advancing them, discarding those who would hold him back. His eyes beheld the prize of the dukedom of Milan.

Prospero gives a vivid description when he speaks to Miranda how he trustingly handed over the statecraft to his brother Antony, "My brother and thy uncle, call'd/ Antonio- /I pray thee, mark me that a brother should/Be so perfidious. He, whom next thyself/Of all the world I lov'd, and to him put/The manage of my state; as at that time/Through all the signories it was the first, /And Prospero the prime duke, being so/ reputed/In dignity, and for the liberal arts/Without a parallel, those being all my/study-/The government I cast upon my brother… ".

He goes on to describe how Antonio wickedly perfected his hold on the dukedom. The narration of Antonio's falsehood, driven by an ill-taught mind brings on a touching tale how his well-meaning trust was violated in full measure. He goes on to tell, "Being once perfected how to grant/ suits, /How to deny them, who t' advance, and who/ To trash for over-topping, new created/The creatures that were mine, I say, or/chang'd 'em, /Or else new form'd 'em; having both the /key/Of officer and office, … ".

We behold how the dukedom is usurped from Prospero by Antonio with the support of the King of Naples, Alonso. The violation of Prospero's trust by Antonio was most cruel. It can drive even the forgiving heart to ruthless vengeance. That is the natural order of the world. The wise however leash their vengeance and follow a course suited to a wholesome purpose and propitious time. Vengeance, an unleashed fury can doom the cause and the wrong is never is righted. Shakespeare gave Prospero's cause a metaphorical format with the fairy tale acts of a spirit called Ariel. Thus we often see how the divine order of things unfold like a miracle. The spirit Ariel acts to the bidding of Prospero. He raises a tempest in the sea, putting the ships of Alonso and Antonio carrying

Sebastian, Ferdinand and Gonzales to great buffeting by the waves and the winds. The irony of the situation is aptly described by a boatswain when he cuttingly responds to Gonzales, "None that I more love than my- /self. You are a counselor; if you can com-/mand these elements to silence, and work/ the peace of the present, we will not hand a/ rope more. Use your authority; if you/cannot, give thanks you have liv'd so long, / and make yourself ready in your cabin for/the mischance of the hour … …".

Miranda's tender heart aches to see the plight of the ships in turmoil. She beseeches her father, "If by your art, my dearest father, /you have / Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them. /The sky, it seems, would pour down stink-/ing pitch, … …". The just Prospero assures her daughter, "The direful spectacle of the wreck, which/touch'd/The very virtue of compassion in thee, /I have with such provision in mine art/So safely ordered that there is no soul-/No, not so much perdition as an hair/Betid to any creature in the vessel …

…". There is an ideal in it that malevolence need not follow in the wake of vindication. Prospero tells his daughter with virtuous confidence how he was wronged in the foulest manner. The ships have not been harmed at the least and the offending noblemen from Naples and Milan are safe on the island. He treats Ferdinand with gentleness when he learns that Miranda is deeply in love with him. Not a malice betraying his wronged heart, he speaks to Ferdinand with benign philosophy "We are such stuff/As dreams are made on; and our little life/ Is rounded with a sleep. Sir, I am vex'd; /Bear with my weakness; my old brain is/troubled; /Be not disturb'd with my infirmity, / If you be pleas'd, retire into my cell/ And there is repose … …."

The goodness of wisdom has a crowning

moment when Prospero welcomes Alonso to his cell, speaking courteously, "First noble friend, / Let me embrace thine age, whose honour/cannot/Be measur'd or confin'd." He professes not to take any action against his enemies that lie before his mercy. We get a glimpse of the kindliness of his heart. He forgives all. Outwardly he was stern and relentless in the pursuit of his just cause, like the tempest he raised, threatening in its fury; yet he was humane to his core. Ferdinand gives words to it, saying, "Though the seas threaten, they are /merciful; /I have curs'd them without cause." It may appear like the other worldly course, where only the angels tread, forgiving in triumph has the noblest of colours in human beings. Shakespeare constructed Caliban to focus the ugliness of an untaught mind without the grace of wisdom. It is Caliban who paid the final tribute, saying, "Ay, that I will; and I'll be wise/hereafter, / And seek for grace … …".

Tempest is the story of all ages. Although, they may not have fairy tale element in them, for that is the exclusive creation of the genius of Shakespeare. Human societies have seen and will see more of the foulest wrongdoing. The right will be dispossessed, trust will be violated, and wisdom and the sensible will be scorned. Every wrong will have a seed of natural order striving to right it. A tempest may languish or may rise to overpower. Shakespeare's Tempest tells us that it is better served by sensible thinking, sound action, by wise and forgiving attitude of the ones who command it and triumphs. Such tempests will see wholesome and happy ending, leaving no trace of hostility. The world will have its tempests; it can do well with its Prosperos.