Prospero's plan was that Ferdinand, who was an admirable young prince, and his dear and beautiful daughter Miranda, should fall in love with one another. Further, he planned by this shipwreck that Antonio should be punished and he himself restored to the Dukedom of Milan. In the play, we see and hear all these things happening. Prospero's plans are carried out exactly as he directed. Ferdinand and Miranda find each other so beautiful and attractive that at first sight they fall in love. Antonio is confronted with his wrong doing. Gonzalo finds reward and praise. Prospero is again Duke of Milan, buries his books and magic garment and gives up magic forever. The king of Naples repents his misdoing, and is only too happy for his son Ferdinand to marry Miranda. And most joyous of all these happenings, the gentle Ariel and his companions, having served Prospero well, regain full liberty, and fly away to wander free in islands where beautiful trees and flowers grow, there to live happy all the long day. {38} We cannot help wondering how Shakespeare came to write this play about a far away, unknown, enchanted island. It is almost certain that people have been able to make a very good guess at the origin of the story. _The Tempest_ was written in 1610 or 1611. In 1609, a British fleet, commanded by Sir George Somers, which had sailed for the new plantation of Jamestown in Virginia, met a great storm in the West Indies. The Admiral's ship, the _Sea-Venture_, was driven on the coast of one of the unknown Bermuda Isles. The sailors had to stay there for ten months. Finally, they escaped in two boats which they made out of cedar logs, and in these boats they managed to reach Virginia. When these sailors returned to London in 1610, there was great excitement; one person would report to another their marvellous stories. The island had been over-run with wild pigs, and the sailors said they had heard odd noises. Therefore, they concluded that the island was enchanted. Shakespeare, who was writing his wonderful plays at the time, is likely to have heard these stories; and he made use of the sailors' tales of enchantment in a strange, beautiful, fairy-like play. Shakespeare's plays are printed, so that we can read them in books. They are also, of course, acted in theatres. Some of you may have seen one of Shakespeare's plays, or more than one, acted on a stage. As you grow older, you will have opportunities, let us hope, to see great actors in Shakespeare's plays. For, since the plays are so great themselves, they can only be acted properly by great actors. You can always read these {39} plays in books, however; and some of Shakespeare's plays seem almost better when they are read than when they are acted. The reason for this is that we can imagine scenes more vividly sometimes than we can see them when other people try to show them to us.