The Tempest quote bank
Quote bank
Subject:
English
Age groups:
11-14, 15-16
Topic:
The Tempest
EAL Nexus – free downloadable teaching materials https://eal.britishcouncil.org/
© Bell Educational Trust 2016
Point
Caliban resents
Prospero
Ferdinand
seems happy to
work hard in
order to gain
Prospero’s
approval
Miranda is very
much in love
with Ferdinand
Caliban loves
the island
When?
Who is
speaking
Evidence/Quote
You taught me language, and
my profit on’t
Act 1
Caliban
Is I know how to curse. The red
Scene 2
plague rid you
For learning me your language
There be some sports are painful,
and their labour
Act 3
Delight in them sets off. Some
Scene 1 Ferdinand kinds of baseness
Are nobly undergone, and most
poor matters
Point to rich ends.
I am your wife, if you will marry
me.
If not, I’ll die your maid. To be
Act 3
Miranda
your fellow
Scene 1
You may deny me, but I’ll be your
servant
Whether you will or no.
Be not afeard. The isle is full of
noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give
Act 3
Caliban
delight and hurt not.
Scene 2
Sometimes a thousand twangling
instruments
Will hum about mine ears.
EAL Nexus – free downloadable teaching materials https://eal.britishcouncil.org/
What the quote
means
Explanation
Although in some
I’m glad you taught
ways Prospero has
me to speak because it helped Caliban, he is
means I can curse you. resentful and does not
serve him willingly
Ferdinand is very
Things that are hard to
much in love with
do may be painful but
Miranda and willing to
they will be worth it in
do whatever work is
the end.
required in order to
win her
If you marry me I will
be your wife. If you
won’t I will be your
servant.
This island makes
beautiful sounds that
give me great
pleasure.
Miranda proposes
marriage to Ferdinand,
saying that if he does
not want to she will
not go away, but stay
as his servant
Caliban was born on
the island, the son of
the previous ruler,
Sycorax, and describes
it in poetic language.
© Bell Educational Trust 2016
Point
When?
Who is
speaking
Evidence/Quote
Prospero is able
to call on and
Act 4
control spirits to Scene 1 Prospero
help him
Our revels now are ended. These
our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits,
and
Are melted into air, into thin air;
Ferdinand and
Miranda are
truly in love
with each other
Come temperate nymphs, and
help to celebrate
A contract of true love.
Act 4
Scene 1 Iris
Prospero is a
powerful
magician and he Act 1
tries not to
Scene 2 Prospero
misuse this
power
Ariel works hard
for Prospero,
Act 1
who has
Scene 2 Ariel
promised to set
him free
I have with such provision in mine
art
So safely ordered that there is no
soul –
No, not so much perdition as an
hair,
Betid to any creature in the
vessel.
Pardon, master.
I will be correspondent to
command,
And do my spiriting gently.
EAL Nexus – free downloadable teaching materials https://eal.britishcouncil.org/
What the quote
means
Explanation
Prospero had asked
The celebrations are
Ariel to summon the
over now and the
spirits for the
spirits taking part have
celebration and now
all disappeared.
sends them away
Come on nymphs,
The spirit in the form
help celebrate this
of Iris, the Roman
marriage of two
goddess of the
people who are truly
rainbow, organises the
in love.
celebration
Although I caused the
shipwreck I made sure
that no-one came to
any harm.
Prospero ordered Ariel
to cause the storm (or
tempest), but is
careful to ensure noone is harmed
I will submit to your
commands and do
what you say without
complaining
Prospero rescued Ariel
from the tree in which
Sycorax had
imprisoned him, and is
making him serve him
for a year
© Bell Educational Trust 2016
Point
Prospero wants
to make sure
that Miranda
and Ferdinand
will be happy
together in the
future
Gonzalo would
like to see a
more equal
society
Ferdinand is
very much in
love with
Miranda
When?
Who is
speaking
Act 1
Scene 2 Prospero
Act 2
Gonzalo
Scene 1
Evidence/Quote
They are both in each other’s
powers,
But this swift business
I must uneasy make, lest too light
winning
Make the prize light.
Letters should not be known,
riches, poverty
And use of service, none;
contract succession
Bourn, bound of land, tilth,
vineyard, none.
For several virtues
Have I liked several women,
Act 3
never any
Scene 1 Ferdinand With so full soul,
Miranda is very
naïve and has
Act 5
led a sheltered
Scene 1 Miranda
life on the island
with Prospero
How beauteous mankind is! O
brave new world,
That has such people in’t!
EAL Nexus – free downloadable teaching materials https://eal.britishcouncil.org/
What the quote
means
They are both in love,
but I will make things
difficult for them so
they have to work
hard for their
happiness and will
appreciate it.
If I were in charge
everyone would be
equal and no-one
would have to work.
Explanation
Prospero feels that it
is important that
Ferdinand and
Miranda face
obstacles so they will
value their happiness
more
This speech shows a
utopian and optimistic
view of what life could
be like in an ideal
world
Ferdinand feels that
although he has loved
other women, he has
never been so
completely in love
before.
Miranda’s upbringing
has been so lonely
How beautiful people
that she is very happy
are! What a wonderful
at the sudden chance
world!
to interact with a lot
of new people
I have loved women
before to some extent,
but never met a
woman who I loved
completely before.
© Bell Educational Trust 2016
Point
Ariel is a spirit
with magical
powers
At the end of
the play,
Prospero
decides to give
up his magic
powers
Stephano and
Trinculo are
comic
characters
Trinculo’s
treatment of
Caliban is less
harsh than
Prospero’s
When?
Who is
speaking
Evidence/Quote
What the quote
means
Explanation
This song
demonstrates that
Ariel is a free spirit of
the air, close to
nature, with magical
powers – a kind of
fairy or sprite.
Breaking his staff and
throwing his books in
the sea shows that
Prospero is giving up
magic and returning to
the real world
Act 5
Ariel
Scene 1
Where the bee sucks there suck I;
In a cowslip’s bell I lie;
There I couch when owls do cry,
On the bat’s back I fly.
When I am a free spirit
I will drink nectar like
a bee, sleep in a
cowslip flower and
ride on the back of a
bat.
Act 5
Scene 1 Prospero
I’ll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the
earth,
And deeper than did every
plummet sound
I’ll drown my book.
I will throw away my
magic staff and books
(not use my magic
powers any more)
Act 3
Stephano
Scene 2
He that dies pays all debts
If I die, I won’t have to
worry about money
any more
This attitude shows
that Stephano is an
irresponsible character
Act 4
Scene 2 Stephano
Trinculo, keep a good tongue in
your head; if you prove a
mutineer – the next tree! The poor
monster’s my subject and he shall
not suffer indignity.
Treat Caliban kindly
and be nice to him or
I’ll hang you from a
tree! I’m his master
and I don’t want him
disrespected.
There is a contrast
between the way
Caliban is treated by
Stephano and by
Prospero
I shall laugh myself to death at
this puppy-headed monster. A
most scurvy monster! I could find
in my heart to beat him.
I could die laughing at
this monster! I’d like
to beat him.
Trinculo insults
Caliban and treats him
scornfully
The other
characters often Act 2
call Caliban a
Scene 2 Trinculo
‘monster’
EAL Nexus – free downloadable teaching materials https://eal.britishcouncil.org/
© Bell Educational Trust 2016
Point
Antonio
encourages
Sebastian to kill
his father
Prospero paid
too much
attention to his
magic books in
the past
Trinculo’s
descriptions of
Caliban depict
him as very
unattractive
Prospero
encourages the
other characters
to think about
the future not
the past
When?
Who is
speaking
Act 2
Scene 1 Antonio
Act 1
Prospero
Scene 2
Act 2
Trinculo
Scene 2
Act 5
Prospero
Scene 1
Evidence/Quote
We all were sea-swallow’d,
though some cast again,
And by that destiny to perform an
act
Whereof what’s past is prologue,
what to come
In yours and my discharge.
My library
Was dukedom large enough.
A fish: he smells
Like a fish; a very ancient and
fish-like smell: a kind of
Not of the newest Poor-John.
A strange fish!
Let us not burthen our
remembrance with
A heaviness that’s gone.
EAL Nexus – free downloadable teaching materials https://eal.britishcouncil.org/
What the quote
means
We’ve all just survived
drowning, so we
should take the future
into our own hands.
Explanation
Antonio compares the
shipwreck to the
prologue of a play,
with the main action
(killing Alonso) still to
come
Prospero admits that
I was so interested in
his interest in magic
my books that they
took over his life and
became my whole life. meant that he
neglected his work
He smells like a cheap
fish that is beginning
to go rotten
This is a graphic
description of Caliban
as extremely
unappealing
Let’s not be sad about
things that have
happened in the past
Prospero tells Alonso
that thinking too much
about the past is not
helpful and they
should concentrate on
the future
© Bell Educational Trust 2016
Point
Ariel serves
Prospero
faithfully, doing
everything that
he commands
him to do
When Caliban is
drunk he
celebrates
having a new
master
Miranda
idealises
Ferdinand
When?
Who is
speaking
Act 2
Ariel
Scene 1
Evidence/Quote
While you here do snoring lie,
Open-eyed conspiracy
His time doth take.
If of life you keep a care,
Shake off slumber and beware.
What the quote
means
While you’re asleep
people are plotting
against you! Wake up
and watch out!
Act 2
Caliban
Scene 2
‘Ban, Ban, Cacaliban
Has a new master: get a new
man.
Freedom, hey-day! hey-day,
freedom! Freedom!
(Singing drunkenly)
I’ve got a new master!
I’m free!
Act 1
Miranda
Scene 2
There’s nothing ill can dwell in
such a temple:
If the ill spirit have so fair a house,
Good things will strive to dwell
with’t.
He has such a
beautiful body that he
must be good inside
because nothing bad
could exist inside him
EAL Nexus – free downloadable teaching materials https://eal.britishcouncil.org/
Explanation
Ariel is carrying out
Prospero’s orders to
look after Alonso and
Gonzalo by waking
them up before
Antonio and Sebastian
kill them
Caliban celebrates
being free, but he is
not really because he
has just exchanged
one master for
another
Miranda assumes here
that Ferdinand’s
outward appearance is
so beautiful that his
character must also be
perfect
© Bell Educational Trust 2016