| The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002. |
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| The Tempest |
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| A play by William Shakespeare, sometimes called a comedy but also called a romance—that is, a work involving mysterious happenings in an exotic place. The central character is Prospero, a duke who has been overthrown and banished to an island. As a sage and magician, he rules the spirits who inhabit the island. When the men who overthrew Prospero pass near the island on an ocean voyage, he raises a tempest, wrecks their ship, and causes them to be washed ashore. In the end, they give back to Prospero his former authority, and he gives up his magic. | 1 |
| ‡ Prospero’s daughter, on first seeing a handsome young man, says, “O brave new world!” a phrase that is often quoted. | 2 |
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| | | The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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