William Shakespeare is almost universally considered the English language's most famous and greatest writer. In fact, the only people who might dispute that are those who think he didn't write the surviving 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems still attributed to him. Even people who never get around to reading his works in class are instantly familiar with titles like King Lear, Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo & Shakespeare.

The Tempest is believed to be one of Shakespeare's last plays, or at least the last he wrote alone.  It is a tragicomedy that tells the story of the Duke of Milan, who is stuck on a remote island while plotting to return his family to its rightful place on the throne.