Original: In this last tempest. I perceive these lords
Modern: During this recent storm, I can see that these noblemen

Original: At this encounter do so much admire
Modern: Are so amazed by this meeting

Original: That they devour their reason and scarce think
Modern: That they’ve lost their ability to think clearly and can barely believe

Original: Their eyes do offices of truth, their words
Modern: That their eyes are showing them the truth, or that their words

Original: Are natural breath: but, howsoe’er you have
Modern: Are really coming from their mouths: but, however much you have

Original: Been justled from your senses, know for certain
Modern: Been shocked out of your right mind, know without a doubt

Original: That I am Prospero and that very duke
Modern: That I am Prospero, the same duke

Original: Which was thrust forth of Milan, who most strangely
Modern: Who was forced out of Milan, and who very strangely

Original: Upon this shore, where you were wreck’d, was landed,
Modern: Ended up on this same shore where you were shipwrecked,

Original: To be the lord on’t. No more yet of this;
Modern: To become the ruler of it. But enough about this for now;

Original: For ‘tis a chronicle of day by day,
Modern: Because it’s a long story that would take days to tell,

Original: Not a relation for a breakfast nor
Modern: Not a tale to be told over breakfast or

Original: Befitting this first meeting. Welcome, sir;
Modern: Appropriate for this first reunion. Welcome, sir;

Original: This cell’s my court: here have I few attendants
Modern: This simple dwelling is my palace: here I have only a few servants

Original: And subjects none abroad: pray you, look in.
Modern: And no subjects elsewhere: please, look inside.

Original: My dukedom since you have given me again,
Modern: Since you have returned my dukedom to me,

Original: I will requite you with as good a thing;
Modern: I will repay you with something equally valuable;

Original: At least bring forth a wonder, to content ye
Modern: At least I’ll reveal a marvel that will satisfy you

Original: As much as me my dukedom.
Modern: As much as my dukedom satisfies me.

Act V, Scene i of The Tempest takes place before Prospero’s cell on the island. Prospero, still wearing his magic robes, is informed by Ariel that the time has come for his plan to reach its conclusion. Ariel reports that Alonso, Gonzalo, Sebastian, Antonio, and the other courtiers remain in the grove where Prospero left them, held fast under his spell — some weeping, some distracted, all prisoners of the enchantment. Ariel movingly describes their pitiful condition, which prompts Prospero to resolve to show mercy rather than pursue further vengeance. Prospero then delivers his famous renunciation of his magical art, calling upon the spirits of the island one last time before declaring his intention to break his staff and drown his book of magic. He draws a circle on the ground and summons the enchanted courtiers into it, where they stand in a trance as he addresses each of them in turn.

As the spell lifts and the courtiers recover their senses, Prospero reveals himself to them, first appearing in his garb as the rightful Duke of Milan. Alonso, overwhelmed and remorseful, renounces his claim to the dukedom and begs Prospero’s forgiveness. Prospero is reunited with Gonzalo, his loyal old friend, and confronts Sebastian and Antonio, hinting quietly that he knows of their treacherous plot against Alonso, though he chooses not to expose them publicly. Alonso laments the loss of his son Ferdinand, and Prospero then draws back the entrance to his cell to reveal Ferdinand and Miranda playing chess within. The young lovers are greeted with astonishment by the assembled court, and Miranda, seeing so many people gathered together for the first time, speaks her famous lines of wonder. The scene closes with the arrival of the Boatswain and mariners, who report that the ship has been found miraculously whole and ready to sail, and Prospero promises to explain all the strange events of the island before they depart for Naples.

The Tempest opens with a violent storm at sea that shipwrecks a vessel carrying Alonso, King of Naples, his son Ferdinand, his brother Sebastian, Antonio (the usurping Duke of Milan), the counselor Gonzalo, and others. The tempest has been conjured by Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, who lives in exile on an island with his daughter Miranda. Twelve years earlier, Prospero was overthrown by his brother Antonio with the help of Alonso, and set adrift at sea with the infant Miranda. They survived and reached this island, where Prospero has spent years studying magic and commanding the spirit Ariel, whom he freed from imprisonment in a tree.

The shipwreck separates the survivors into different groups across the island. Ferdinand becomes separated from the others and encounters Miranda, with whom he immediately falls in love, though Prospero tests the young man by enslaving him temporarily. Meanwhile, Antonio and Sebastian plot to murder Alonso and Gonzalo while they sleep, but Ariel awakens Gonzalo just in time. Another group, including the drunken butler Stephano and jester Trinculo, meets Caliban, Prospero’s reluctant servant who is the island’s original inhabitant. Caliban persuades them to help him kill Prospero and take control of the island.

Prospero orchestrates a series of magical interventions: he presents a banquet to Alonso’s group that vanishes when they try to eat, and Ariel appears as a harpy to remind them of their crimes against Prospero. Ariel also disrupts Caliban’s murder plot by leading the conspirators into a stinking pond and then tormenting them with spirits disguised as hunting dogs. Ferdinand proves his love for Miranda by completing the tasks Prospero sets him, and Prospero gives his blessing to their betrothal, celebrating with a masque of spirits.

In the final act, Prospero reveals himself to all the castaways, forgives his enemies, and renounces his magic, breaking his staff and freeing Ariel. Alonso repents his past actions and restores Prospero to his dukedom. Ferdinand and Miranda’s engagement is celebrated, Caliban acknowledges Prospero’s authority and promises to be wise hereafter, and Prospero prepares to return to Milan. The play concludes with Prospero’s epilogue, in which he asks the audience to free him with their applause, as he has freed Ariel.