Prospero, exiled duke and magician, conjures a storm to bring his enemies to his island, then orchestrates their repentance and his own restoration. Shakespeare's last solo play is his most self-conscious: Prospero's magic is the playwright's art, and his renunciation of it reads as Shakespeare's farewell to the stage. The island is both a colonial outpost and a space of dream; Caliban is both monster and victim; Ariel is both servant and spirit yearning for freedom. The play asks what forgiveness costs, and whether art can achieve it.