The Tempest, Act III

Touchstone Pictures/Photofest
AF archive/Alamy Stock Photo
William Shakespeare
ANCHOR TEXT | DRAMA

This version of the selection

alternates original text
Scene i with summarized passages.
Scene i is set in front of Prospero’s shack. Ferdinand enters, carrying a log. Ferdinand is Dotted lines appear next to
taking over Caliban’s duties, at Prospero’s direction. He says his work would be difficult the summarized passages.
and unpleasant if it were not for a mistress (Miranda) who makes his work seem
like pleasure.
NOTES
Ferdinand. ... O, she is
Ten times more gentle than her father’s crabbed;
And he’s composed of harshness. I must remove
Some thousands of these logs and pile them up.
Upon a sore injunction.1 My sweet mistress
Weeps when she sees me work ...

Miranda enters, and Prospero is behind her, unseen. Miranda begs Ferdinand not to
work so hard and tells him to take a break while her father is busy studying. She offers
to help Ferdinand, but he replies that he’d rather break his back than have her work
while he sits. Prospero notes in an aside that he can see Miranda’s in love.

Ferdinand asks Miranda for her name. She tells him, although she knows she is
disobeying her father. Ferdinand says no woman he has met is as perfect as she is.
Miranda replies that she has never seen another woman’s face and that Ferdinand and
her father are the only two men she has seen. But she swears that she would not want
to be with anyone but Ferdinand.

Ferdinand next says that he is a prince—and may be a king now. As such, under normal
circumstances, he wouldn’t do the work of carrying logs. But he can endure it to serve
her. Miranda asks if he loves her. He does, “beyond all limit.” Prospero, in another aside,
hopes that heaven will bless the love forming between Ferdinand and Miranda.

Miranda. I am your wife, if you will marry me;

If not, I’ll die your maid. To be your fellow2
You may deny me; but I’ll be your servant,
Whether you will or no.
© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Ferdinand. My mistress, dearest,

And I thus humble ever.

Miranda. My husband then?

1. Upon a sore injunction upon a threat of harsh punishment.

2. fellow n. partner.

GRADE 10 • UNIT 5 • Accessible Leveled Text • The Tempest, Act III 1

Ferdinand. Ay, with a heart as willing NOTES
bondage e’er of freedom.3 Here’s my hand.

Miranda. And mine, with my heart in’t; and now farewell

Till half an hour hence.

Ferdinand. A thousand thousand!

Ferdinand and Miranda exit in different directions. Prospero couldn’t be happier. He says
that he must go and study magic because he has work to do related to his plans.

Scene ii
Scene ii is set on another part of the island. Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo enter.
Stephano says that they’ll drink water only when the barrel of wine is finished. He then
tells his “servant monster” (Caliban) to drink up. Trinculo makes fun of Caliban.

Caliban offers to lick Stephano’s shoe as a sign of his devotion. But, he says, he won’t
serve Trinculo, who he thinks is a coward. Trinculo calls Caliban a liar who is half-fish
and half-monster. Caliban appeals to Stephano for help. Stephano tells Trinculo to stop
because he won’t allow Caliban, his subject, to be insulted.

Caliban. I thank my noble lord. Wilt thou be pleased to hearken

once again to the suit I made to thee?

Stephano. Marry,4 will I. Kneel and repeat it; I will stand, and so
shall Trinculo.

[Enter Ariel, invisible.]

Caliban. As I told thee before, I am subject to a tyrant,

A sorcerer, that by his cunning hath
Cheated me of the island.

Ariel. Thou liest.

Caliban. Thou liest, thou jesting monkey thou!

I would my valiant master would destroy thee.
I do not lie.

Stephano. Trinculo, if you trouble him any more in’s tale, by

this hand, I will supplant some of your teeth. © by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Trinculo. Why, I said nothing.

Stephano. Mum then, and no more. Proceed.

Caliban. I say by sorcery he got this isle;

From me he got it. If thy greatness will

3. as willing ... freedom upon a threat of harsh punishment.

4. Marry exclamation meaning “By the Virgin Mary!”

GRADE 10 • UNIT 5 • Accessible Leveled Text • The Tempest, Act III 2

Revenge it on him—for I know thou dar’st, NOTES
But this thing5 dare not—

Stephano. That’s most certain.

Caliban. Thou shalt be lord of it, and I’ll serve thee.

Caliban says that he can bring Stephano to where Prospero sleeps so that he can harm
him. Ariel, who is invisible, declares again that Caliban is lying.

Caliban—not seeing Ariel—thinks that Trinculo called him a liar. Stephano threatens
Trinculo again for interrupting what Caliban was saying. The innocent Trinculo tries to
defend himself, but when Ariel chimes in again, things get worse for Trinculo.

Trinculo. Why, what did I? I did nothing. I’ll go farther off.

Stephano. Didst thou not say he lied?

Ariel. Thou liest.

Stephano. Do I so? Take thou that. [Strikes Trinculo.] As you like

this, give me the lie another time.

Trinculo. I did not give the lie. ...

Trinculo curses Stephano’s wine and curses Caliban, who laughs. Caliban continues
by saying that Prospero has a habit of napping in the afternoon. During one of these
naps, Caliban explains, Stephano must first grab Prospero’s books and then kill him. He
emphasizes the importance of grabbing the books first—without them, Prospero has no
power. Caliban also notes that Prospero has a beautiful daughter. Stephano agrees to
the plan, saying he will kill Prospero and make Miranda his queen. Ariel, who has been
listening, decides to report the plot to Prospero.

Caliban then asks Stephano if he will sing the song he taught him recently. Stephano
agrees and encourages Trinculo to join him. Ariel begins to play a tune on a small drum
and pipe. This invisible musician leads Stephano and Trinculo to think that a devil might
be among them. Caliban tells Stephano not to be afraid, for the island is full of sounds
and music that are harmless.

Caliban. Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,

Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices
© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.

That, if I then had waked after long sleep

Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again.

5. this thing Trinculo.

GRADE 10 • UNIT 5 • Accessible Leveled Text • The Tempest, Act III 3

 Trinculo says that the sound made by the invisible musician is moving away and that NOTES
they should follow it. The scene ends with Stephano telling Caliban to lead the way.
They will follow the music and then carry out their plot.

Scene iii
Scene iii is set on another part of the island. Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo,
Adrian, Francisco, and others enter. Gonzalo states that his old bones ache and he needs
a rest. Alonso says that he can’t blame Gonzalo and is tired himself. He tells Gonzalo to
sit down, adding that he is losing hope of finding Ferdinand alive.

Antonio says privately to Sebastian that he’s glad Alonso has lost hope and that
Sebastian should not give up on the plan to kill Alonso. Sebastian replies that they will
follow through with their plan the next chance they have. The two of them agree to act
that night.

Strange, solemn music is heard, and Prospero is present but invisible to the others.

Enter several strange Shapes, bringing in a banquet; and dance about it with
gentle actions of salutations; and, inviting the King etc. to eat, they depart.]

Alonso. What harmony is this? My good friends, hark!

Gonzalo. Marvelous sweet music!

Alonso. Give us kind keepers,6 heavens! What were these?

Sebastian. A living drollery.7 Now I will believe

That there are unicorns; that in Arabia
There is one tree, the phoenix throne; one phoenix
At this hour reigning there.

Antonio. I’ll believe both;

And what does else want credit, come to me,
And I’ll be sworn ’tis true. Travelers ne’er did lie,
Though fools at home condemn ’em.

Gonzalo. If in Naples
I should report this now, would they believe me?
If I should say, I saw such islanders?
(For certes,8 these are people of the island)
Who, though they are of monstrous shape, yet note,
Their manners are more gentle, kind, than of
© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Our human generation you shall find

Many—nay, almost any.

Prospero. [Aside] Honest lord.

Thou hast said well; for some of you there present
Are worse than devils.

6. kind keepers good protectors or guardian angels.

7. living drollery (DROHL uhr ee) puppet show that uses live actors.
8. certes (SUR teez) adj. certain; sure.

GRADE 10 • UNIT 5 • Accessible Leveled Text • The Tempest, Act III 4

 Alonso again expresses his wonder at the Shapes that have brought the banquet, and NOTES
Francisco notes that they vanished strangely. The men get ready to try some of the food
the spirits left behind.

But there is suddenly thunder and lightning. Ariel, in the form of a harpy (a creature that
is part woman and part bird), enters. Ariel flaps his wings on the table, and the banquet
disappears. Ariel tells Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio that they are “men of sin” and
that destiny brought them to the island. He adds that he has driven them crazy and that
many such people kill themselves.

Alonso, Sebastian, and others take their swords out. Ariel calls them fools and says that
he and his fellow harpies cannot be harmed by their weapons, for they have been sent
by fate. He then tells Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio that his purpose there is to remind
them that they stole Prospero’s throne and cast him and his innocent child to the sea.
This “foul deed” was not forgotten by higher powers, which have angered the seas
against them. He addresses Alonso directly.

Ariel. ... Thee of thy son, Alonso,

They have bereft; and do pronounce by me
Ling’ring perdition (worse than any death
Can be at once) shall step by step attend
You and your ways; whose wraths to guard you from,
Which here, in this most desolate isle, else falls
Upon your heads, is nothing but heart’s sorrow9
And a clear life ensuing.

[He vanishes in thunder; then, to soft music, enter the Shapes again, and dance
with mocks and mows,10 and carrying out the table.]

Prospero says that Ariel has played his part well and is also happy with how his lesser
servants performed. His magic is working. His enemies are in his power, and he will
leave them while he visits Ferdinand and Miranda. He exits.

Gonzalo asks Alonso why he is standing and staring. Alonso replies that he thought he
heard Prospero’s name spoken by the clouds, sung by the winds, and pronounced by
the thunder. He explains that the wrong he did to Prospero was made clear and that
Ferdinand is dead at the bottom of the sea as a result. He’ll join Ferdinand there, he
says, and exits.

Sebastian vows to fight the “fiends,” or demons, and Antonio says he will back him up.
They both exit, and Gonzalo notes that Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio are desperate.
Their guilt, he says, is like a poison that works after a long time has passed. Act III ends
as Gonzalo asks some of the other men to follow Alonso, Sebastian, and Antonio and
© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved.

try to stop them from doing anything foolish that this craziness might lead them to.

9. nothing ... sorrow nothing but sincere regret (will protect you from the wrath of the
avenging powers).
10. mocks and mows (mohz) n. insulting gestures and faces.

The Tempest by William Shakespeare

GRADE 10 • UNIT 5 • Accessible Leveled Text • The Tempest, Act III 5