The Tempest contains sublime poetry and catchy songs, magic and low comedy, while it tackles important contemporary concerns: education, power politics, the effects of colonization, and technology. In this guide, Alden T. Vaughan and Virginia Mason Vaughan open up new ways into one of Shakespeare's most popular, malleable and controversial plays.

Alden T. Vaughan is an Affiliate Professor at Clark University, USA and a Professor Emeritus at Columbia University, USA. He is co-editor of the Arden Third Series edition of The Tempest.
Virginia Mason Vaughan is Professor Emerita and Research Professor at Clark University, USA. She is a leading international expert on The Tempest, and co-editor of the Arden Third Series edition of the play.

List of Illustrations
Series Introduction
Notes on Contributors
Timeline
Introduction (Alden T. Vaughan, Columbia University, USA, Clark University, USA)
1 The Critical Backstory: 'What's Past is Prologue' (Virginia Mason Vaughan, Clark University, USA)
2 A Theatre of Attraction: Colonialism, Gender, and The Tempest's Performance History (Eckart Voigts, TU Braunschweig, Germany)
3 Recent Perspectives on The Tempest (Brinda Charry, Keene State College, USA)
4 New Directions: Sources and Creativity in The Tempest (Andrew Gurr, University of Reading, UK)
5 New Directions: Commedia dell'Arte, The Tempest, and Transnational Criticism (Helen M. Whall, College of the Holy Cross, USA)
6 New Directions: 'He needs will be Absolute Milan': The Political Thought of The Tempest
(Jeffrey A. Rufo, Rutgers University, USA)
7 New Directions: Shakespeare's Revolution - The Tempest as Scientific Romance (Scott Maisano, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA)
8 'volumes that / I prize': Resources for Studying and Teaching The Tempest (Nathaniel Amos Rothschild, St Thomas Aquinas College, USA)
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index