There is a clear significance in the ending of the play as a whole because it ties up any loose ends in the plot giving it a clear storyline. It also helps the understanding for the audience, because of the unexpected ending and Prospero’s final speech. In the speech he explains his reasons for forgiving those who have done wrong against him so he can ask for freedom therefore allowing the audience to understand the reasons for the ending. Also, the ending allows the audience to fully see what has happened throughout the play with relation to the characters as Prospero reviews all those who have done wrong underlining the significance of the ending.
Also the ending concludes any themes that are in the play. This shows Shakespeare wanted to relate many themes and bring out morals from the play. The main themes in the play are forgiveness, imprisonment, revenge, freedom, betrayal, and love. Forgiveness is shown mainly at the end and becomes the main theme of the play as Prospero forgives at the end, “In virtue, than in vengeance” with such an unexpected ending. The other main themes shown throughout the play include imprisonment as Antonio imprisons Prospero and Miranda on an island when he usurps Prospero as Duke of Milan, which builds up the story. This also leads onto the theme of revenge, which is shown by Prospero when he plans the tempest but in the end he decides to forgive those who have done wrong against him. Other major themes displayed in the play include, freedom, as at the end we do not know the freedom of some characters and Prospero the only characters future that is clear at the end is that of Ariel as he is set free by Prospero. Also other themes include betrayal shown by Antonio towards Prospero and love shown by Prospero towards Miranda and the love shared by Miranda and Ferdinand. All these themes relate to the ending as they help to build the storyline. In the play Shakespeare expresses all his messages through the script and he asks the audience for freedom from all of his playwriting, the play as a whole relates to Shakespeare’s messages. Also the Tempest is the last play he wrote independently so he tries to talk about himself as a portrayal of him and his life through the character of Prospero. In the play Shakespeare puts across some of his messages through the character of Prospero and in his final speech he puts across his final messages. They can be identified when the speech is broken down.
Prospero’s final speech is the final part of the play and is the focus for the ending. The speech is the most detailed and personal speech in the play. The style of the speech is very emotive and personal and the structure of the speech is in the form of a poem, the epilogue becomes a suitable ending to the play because of the unexpected gentle ending. The speech can be broken down and the main message coming from the speech is Prospero asking for forgiveness and freedom. The speech is situated after the unexpected gentle ending where Prospero forgives all those who have done wrong towards him.
In the speech Prospero asks for forgiveness for his sins after his magical powers are gone and in the speech he says the audience can only forgive him for his sins and that his ending is in despair unless he is forgiven.
“My ending is in despair unless you can forgive me more than mercy can itself.”
In the epilogue Prospero also asks for freedom from the island, he pleads not to be imprisoned on the island and be allowed to back to his Duke position.
“Do not imprison me here send me back to Naples since I have my Duke position again. This speech is directed towards the audience, involving them and allowing them to realise the reason for the unexpected ending. Through the character of Prospero, Shakespeare tries to add his final thoughts and goodbye as Shakespeare puts his final messages in the play cleverly with the main message being asking for forgiveness and to it clear that he is stopping playwright.
The meaning of the ending is very clear and carries large importance as it is the focal part of the play, this is clear because the play is built up over several acts to a final showpiece ending and this is typical for a lot of Shakespeare plays such as Romeo and Juliet. The main meaning of the ending is clearly to conclude the play suitably and this is done through a gentle ending. Also the ending allows Shakespeare to conclude the play and his professional career as a playwright. The ending becomes more suitable as the play ends on a gentle and peaceful note and Shakespeare believes that this would leave a better impression on his audience and in the final speech he writes how he hopes his life will become peaceful he also believes the ending will be a good review of his professional career.
There are many reasons why the ending is effective and not effective. The main reasons for the ending being effective are simply that include the ending is very unexpected and therefore shocks the audience causing a deeper impact then if the ending is predictable. Also the impact created on the audience is different because it is unexpected making it more effective. Another reason for the ending being effective is that it brings out clear messages and morals from the play such as forgiveness and this gives a better understanding of the whole play and it highlights important lessons that can be learnt from the play. Other reasons include the play and themes can be linked to the final speech and it leaves an open ending with relation to the characters especially Prospero. The main reasons for the ending not being effective are the ending is much more gentle and may seem like an anticlimax after all the building up of the storyline in the previous acts especially after Prospero set up the tempest to bring together all who overthrew him. Also the ending does not give a full understanding of the play. Other reasons include the ending being unimaginative or not magical but being simple and boring, and it gives an unfair view of Shakespeare’s plays as many other plays end with eventful and exciting events.
During the essay I have answered the question of how effective the ending of The Tempest is, I have done this by analysing in detail why the ending is unexpected, the significance of the ending, looking at the final speech, the meaning of the and the effectiveness of the ending. I have also looked at the main themes in the play such as forgiveness, revenge and freedom. During the essay I analysed the final speech in detail looking at the meaning and the aim of the speech. The end of the play has one unknown factor, which is what happens to the characters in the future especially Prospero showing an open ending. But there is a closed ending with relation to Shakespeare, because in the final speech he says his final goodbyes. I believe the ending of play was very effective because of the impact it had on the audience, the unexpected ending causes a shock to the audience increasing the power of the ending.
