The Tempest

Written in 1611 and released the same year, this drama in five acts in verse and prose by William Shakespeare was published in the folio of 1623, where it precedes all other pieces. The source of this work must be sought in the Italian commedia dell'arte; some intrigues analogous to his have been described by various scholars. Shakespeare combined with these Italian elements details of the wreck in the Bermuda of Sir George Somers (July 25, 1609). Other scholars consider the Castilian novel The Great Conquest of Overseas as the probable source of the tragedy.