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Work #1017 · Last (probably Shakespeare's last sole-authored play)

The Tempest

William Shakespeare
c. 1610-11 (first performed Whitehall, 1 November 1611) · English (Early Modern)
Late romance in five acts · Elizabethan-Jacobean English Renaissance drama

Prospero on his enchanted island — magic of theatrical art, civilisation and colonisation, Shakespeare's farewell to the stage

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute The Tempest (Last (probably Shakespeare's last sole-authored play))
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Cosmic-ordering
Observer · Moral Authority Experience
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Reversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

The Tempest

Compressed real-time of single afternoon; long historical time of Prospero's twelve years on the island.

Space

The Tempest

Enchanted island; Milan and Naples as off-stage imperial-political spaces.

Matter

The Tempest

Embodied bodies — Prospero, Miranda, Caliban, Ariel, shipwrecked nobles — and material magic.

Observer

The Tempest

Prospero as magus-observer; audience as meta-observer Prospero finally addresses.

Energy

The Tempest

Supernatural energies of storm and magic; political energies of revenge and reconciliation.

Information

The Tempest

Prospero's magical knowledge; the lovers' awakening.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

The Tempest

Caliban's identification (indigenous American, Irish, African) subject of continuing postcolonial debate. Status as "farewell to the stage" contested by historians who note Shakespeare collaborated on later plays.