Shakespeare: Hamlet and The Tempest

The plays of Shakespeare are among the very best examples of fine art, or art that is good for its own sake and is concerned with the highest things. As works of fiction, the plays are complete and so can be studied from beginning to end. This kind of examination reveals the importance of prudence and the other virtues for a truly happy human life.

As Hamlet opens, a mysterious figure appears, who seems to be the ghost of the late King Hamlet. Soon thereafter, Horatio brings his friend Hamlet the prince, son of the dead king, to witness the ghost for himself. The ghost beckons Hamlet to follow him and instructs him to seek revenge for his wrongful death.

After the ghost of his father commands him to seek revenge, Hamlet is not only sorrowful but also occasionally crazy. When a traveling troupe of players comes to town, Hamlet makes use of them—staging a play within a play—in order to test Claudius. In fact, what this test and a subsequent trial reveal is the character of the prince.

Following the play within a play, Hamlet confronts his mother and accidentally kills Polonius in a fit of rage. After Hamlet thwarts Claudius’s plot to kill him, he tangles with Polonius’s son Laertes, brother of the dead Ophelia. Hamlet agrees to a duel with Laertes, as the play marches on to its tragic end.

Shakespeare’s Tempest opens in a storm, as a group of Italian leaders are sailing home. Prospero, a former Duke of Milan, conjured the storm, which leads to the shipwreck of the passengers on the same desert island where he has been stranded with his daughter Miranda. The mysterious connection between Prospero and these Italian leaders gradually comes into focus as Prospero’s plan unfolds.

Having survived the tempest at the opening of the play, the shipwrecked passengers find themselves separated into three groups: Ferdinand; the Italian leadership; and the butler, the jester, and the boatswain. As the group of leaders struggles to find its way, Antonio contrives a plot to kill Alonso, king of Naples. Prospero, who is carefully monitoring the situation, thwarts the plot, as the play leads toward a moment of truth.

As Prospero’s project nears its culmination, he arranges a marriage masque for Ferdinand, prince of Naples, and his daughter Miranda. Meanwhile, Caliban leads a plot against Prospero, which is eventually thwarted, and Alonso enjoys a tearful reunion with his son, Ferdinand. Shakespeare leaves the reader with some profound lessons, including the importance of mercy and love for working “the peace of the present.”