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• Tempest, The
  Tempest, The

  noun

  a comedy (1611) by Shakespeare.
• The Tempest
  The Tempest

  A play by William Shakespeare, sometimes called a comedy but also called a romance — that is, a work involving mysterious happenings in an exotic place. The central character is Prospero, a duke who has been overthrown and banished to an island. As a sage and magician, he rules the spirits who inhabit the island. When the men who overthrew Prospero pass near the island on an ocean voyage, he raises a tempest, wrecks their ship, and causes them to be washed ashore. In the end, they give back to Prospero his former authority, and he gives up his magic.

Tempest, The

American  

noun

1. a comedy (1611) by Shakespeare.

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The Tempest Cultural  

1. A play by William Shakespeare, sometimes called a comedy but also called a romance — that is, a work involving mysterious happenings in an exotic place. The central character is Prospero, a duke who has been overthrown and banished to an island. As a sage and magician, he rules the spirits who inhabit the island. When the men who overthrew Prospero pass near the island on an ocean voyage, he raises a tempest, wrecks their ship, and causes them to be washed ashore. In the end, they give back to Prospero his former authority, and he gives up his magic.

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Prospero's daughter, on first seeing a handsome young man, says, “O brave new world!” a phrase that is often quoted.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Tempest, The The Tempest

The new theatre will seat about 320 and will mean plays such as The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, Pericles and Cymbeline can be performed in the type of space they were written for.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 20, 2011

Mars Tempest: The red planet passed its best visibility only a month ago and still offers great views for backyard telescope users.

From National Geographic

This volume contains The Tempest, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and The Twelfth Night, with introductions by the Editor, written with his usual acuteness, and more than his usual modesty.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 15, August, 1851 by Various

Even King Arthur, The Tempest, The Fairy Queen and Dioclesian pieces are too fragmentary, disconnected, to be performed with any effect without scenery, costume, and some explanation in the way of dialogue.

From Purcell by John F. Runciman

Tempest, The, Shakespeare, i, 317; Dore's illustrations of, iv, 338.

From Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 14 Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Musicians by Elbert Hubbard

The 24-year-old will play live at The Tempest in Brighton on Wednesday evening.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2025

There have been calls in recent years for Gill's 1930s work - which depicts Prospero and Ariel from William Shakespeare's play The Tempest - to be removed from the BBC's Broadcasting House.

From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2025

Emily, however, is more than pleased to spend time with Louis, and a trip to the theater to see "The Tempest," which triggers his fears, cements their attraction even as it causes tongues to wag.

From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2021

Demoted from useful to usurped, I flashed to "The Tempest" and aging magician Prospero who felt betrayed when his powers and position were stolen.

From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2021

She saw the copy of The Tempest and smiled.

From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd