The Tempest Essay Topics & Examples

Students’ life is a bumpy ride, and sometimes you can end up with several vital assignments all of which are due the next day. Custom-Writing.org experts have prepared a compilation of The Tempest essay topics.  

On this page, you’ll find best questions, prompts, title ideas on the Shakespeare’s play, together with The Tempest essay examples. Feel free to alter and adjust them to your liking and academic requirements!

🏆 The Tempest Essay Topics

1. Revenge and forgiveness in The Tempest
2. Colonialism and slavery in The Tempest
3. The role of setting in The Tempest
4. How is Caliban presented in The Tempest?
5. Prospero: character analysis
6. Frankenstein and The Tempest: compare and contrast essay
7. The theme of magic in The Tempest
8. Love and relationships in The Tempest
9. Gender roles in Shakespeare’s plays
10. King Alonso: character traits
11. Non-human beings in The Tempest
12. The symbolism of Prospero’s books

💡 The Tempest Essay Prompts

1. The analysis of Shakespeare’s messages hidden behind the central themes. The first thing you need to find out is what the theme of The Tempest is. There may be more than one, so you should choose those that seem to be the most important. If you have doubts, go back and look through our guide again!
2. Discussion of the historical context of The Tempest with the focus on colonization. It appears that the play was quite relevant at the time. No wonder, because Shakespeare took a chance and used the most discussed topic as the theme. Therefore, your main task would be to find out how the views about colonial imperialism are expressed in The Tempest.
3. What is the role of comic scenes in the play’s plot? The Tempest is considered to be a comedy since it involves plenty of funny moments. The most memorable ones are performed by the drunken trio. The main idea of this essay is to analyze how those scenes go along with the main plot.
4. How vital are audio impressions and noises in the play? You should start by looking for the moments where various sounds and music are described. Since every element of imagery adds to the overall impression from the play, it is essential to find out what role they play.
5. Colonization in The Tempest: how do characters want to rule the island? It might be a part of the central theme dedicated to colonization, but an additional analysis might be fun to do. After getting on the island, almost all the characters start dreaming about owning it. They all have a different vision of how they would rule it, though.
6. Discuss the impressions from the very first scene of the play. Here is the place for you to analyze everything mentioned in Scene 1 that influenced your perception of the whole play. For example, see how the characters are presented and what their dialogues tell about them. How are the main themes introduced?
7. Contrast and compare The Tempest to one of Shakespeare’s tragedies. Prospero has been planning his revenge for so many years. His desire could have easily turned out as a tragedy for every character if it wasn’t for romance. Therefore, you should look into the differences between this aspect in The Tempest and a tragedy.
8. Draw a parallel between the attempted assassination of Alonso and plotting against Prospero. The two of the king’s staff, along with Caliban, are planning on taking the place of the island’s rulers by killing Prospero. Meanwhile, there is an attempt to murder Alonso. Your task is to compare these two occasions and see how social status might affect them.
9. What roles does Prospero take on, and what is their significance? It seems like Prospero wants to have as much power as he can. He is a father, friend, magician, island’s ruler, and desires to return home to be a duke again. However, it is impossible to have everything. Analyze Prospero’s character and find out which role he is most likely to choose.
10. Analyze and discuss the purpose of Caliban’s character in the play. At first, it seems like Caliban plays a critical role in The Tempest. However, at the end of the play, the audience can see that his part is insignificant. Therefore, your task for this essay would be to find out why Shakespeare involved Caliban after all.
11. The complete literary analysis of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. It is one of the primary and most straightforward topics about the play. However, attention to detail is vital. Try to include the most critical elements in there, such as the central themes and ideas, symbols, literary devices. If you need help with it, just look through our guide!
12. Does Caliban really need to be trained and educated? From Prospero’s point of view, Caliban is a savage who desperately needs help to become more civilized. In this essay, you can let your perspective create the structure. Do you think Prospero should have left Caliban in peace? What is the role of colonization in it?
13. Appearances of feminism in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Even though there is only one female character in the play, this issue still appears to be relevant. Miranda is always kind to Caliban until the moment he tries to sexually abuse her. Explain what her actions were and how her attitude has changed since then.
14. Discuss the theme of religion and Christianity in the play. If you look closely, you can see some associations between Christianity and Prospero’s character. He is almost seen as God due to his powers and control over the events on the island. In the end, he refuses to use magic any longer and forgives his enemies. Can it be a biblical reference?
15. The correlation between political corruption and greed of the characters. Antonio is the main character in the play, which shows intense greed for power. He is ready to pay any price to get more power, so his personal ethics degrades quickly. However, you should find out about the role of political corruption in Antonio’s actions and plans.
16. What is Miranda’s perception of the island in The Tempest? She was taken to the island when she was a child. How do you think Miranda perceives her new home as an adult? Does it seem like a prison to her, or does Prospero’s magic makes her believe the island is a utopia?

📝 The Tempest Essay Examples

1. Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and Sandars’ “The Epics of Gigamesh”
2. Shakespeare’s The Tempest Directed by Gregory Doran
3. Shakespeare’s The Tempest in the Savage Rose Theater
4. The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Tempest: Being “Civilized” or “Uncivilized”
5. Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” – Viewing and Reflection
6. Ahab from Moby Dick and Prospero from the Tempest
7. The Phaedrus and The Tempest: Compare & Contrast
8. Prospero in The Tempest: Character Analysis
9. The Tempest and the Contemporary Arts
10. “The Tempest” Play by St. Louis Shakespeare Theater
11. Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” by Savage Rose Theatre
12. Shakespeare’s The Tempest: Gender Roles
13. Utopia in “The Tempest” by Shakespeare
14. Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Image Exploration

Thank you for reading this article! If you haven’t found the perfect title idea, try our topic-generating tool. Any questions left? Check The Tempest QA section!