In life, too often it seems we each want to have the last word. Shakespeare’s characters are no different: Kate in Taming of the Shrew, Rosalind in As You Like It, Puck in A Midsummer Nights’ Dream – each of these figures, among others, offers the epilogue in their respective plays. Summing up the spirit of the work while introducing still more ideas for the audience to consider, the epilogue offers a contemplative conclusion.
Especially reflective is Prospero’s epilogue in Shakespeare’s final play, The Tempest. Here, the magician meditates on the themes of illusion, forgiveness, and the power of art. Indeed, Shakespeare lore has it that the playwright is speaking through Prospero, beseeching the audience to “set [him] free” from their demands upon his own sorcery.
Such biographical interpretations are fascinating but, of course, very tricky to prove. What we do know for certain is that Prospero’s words speak for any artist who has done good work and who wants to bow out gracefully: “[R]elease me from my bands/ With the help of your good hands.”
And so as the audience leaves any production of The Tempest, they may wonder about that eternal dialogue between the artist and their art – and the respective elements of inspiration, creation, and expectation. Prospero – and perhaps Shakespeare – may well have been set free by the end of the play, but the spectator will still be in thrall to those wondrous last words.