Der Sturm

THE STORM

By William Shakespeare

A storm throws an illustrious group onto the shore of an unknown island, including the current Duke of Milan, the King of Naples and his son. Despite the raging elements, everyone is mysteriously unharmed because the island's ruler, Prospero, who possesses magical powers, has ignited the storm with a plan: he has been robbed of the Duchy of Milan by his brother and is seeking revenge. Like a director, he scatters the stranded people across the island with the help of the air spirit Ariel and exposes them to very different situations: The king's son Fernando meets Prospero's daughter Miranda and the two fall in love at first sight. Murderous intrigues unfold in the group of powerful people around the king and duke. Caliban, who ruled the island before Prospero and now has to serve him, is also plotting rebellion. But Prospero's plan is aimed at reconciliation rather than revenge.

In what is probably William Shakespeare's last play, the genres mix: the work, first performed in 1611, begins dramatically, the intrigues are reminiscent of tragedies, wordplay and characters seem to be borrowed from comedies and the poetic atmosphere of a fairy tale lies over everything.