What are the key themes in Shakespeare's The Tempest?

The Tempest is technically a traditional comedy with the ending being the unification of Ferdinand and Miranda. From this we must assume that love is a key theme but the narrative arc of Prospero would also suggest vengeance and justice are key themes. Regicide is, however, an extremely important theme and probably the most useful when writing your essay as every act and almost every scene mentions or suggest the action of killing the king: Prospero killing Sycorax, Caliban trying to kill Prospero, Antonio and Sebastian's collaborative plotting and finally the revelation of the game of chess at the end. When writing the essay this theme is the most transposable but the other themes can support your argument whichever way the question you get in the exam.

JG
Answered by James G. English Literature tutor

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