Esoteric and Artistic Power vs. Political Power in Shakespeares The Tempest

The present paper attempts to view Shakespeare s The Tempest as comprising two equally strong forces contesting for supremacy in the protagonist s mind: temporal power and art and magic. It begins with a brief synopsis of the various or rather incompatible implications emanating from this memorable play. The second section is the main corpus of the argument where the manifestations of the world of art and magic are presented. The final section is a conclusion stressing and explicating the political-artistic duality.