Analyse the Role of Key Characters and their Development in 'The Tempest'

How does Shakespeare present the characters in 'The Tempest?'

In the literature exam, you may be asked to write about how a particular character is presented by Shakespeare in an extract from 'The Tempest'. You will also need to know the play well enough to be able to write about a character and their presentation by Shakespeare in the wider play. To achieve a higher mark, you will need to demonstrate that you are able to analyse the character.

To do this, you need to:

- comment on some of the choices of language/structure/dramatic devices used by Shakespeare to present the character

- comment on how the presentation of the character is used to reflect the context in which Shakespeare was writing.

In this activity, we will practice analysing Shakespeare's presentation of the characters in 'The Tempest'.

You should always refer to your own text when working through these examples. These quotations are for reference only.