La Tempesta

William ShakespeareProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.4

Word count: 163K words
Chapters: 17

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.La Tempesta by William ShakespeareAuthor: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616,Language: Italian, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Aug 1, 2008

Editor's review

This is an Italian translation of Shakespeare's late romance The Tempest, from Project Gutenberg. Its value lies first in the language: for readers learning Italian who also want to approach a Shakespeare classic, it offers a way to lower the barrier by relying on a familiar plot. Prospero's magic, Caliban's wildness, Ariel's airy energy, and Miranda's wonder make up a fable about power, forgiveness, and reconciliation. It is relatively short among Shakespeare's plays and tightly structured, making it a good first choice for close reading. The electronic edition is easy to search for character names and keywords, and convenient for parallel reading against the English original or a Chinese translation. While reading, note that the tempest is both a literal storm and a psychological metaphor, and that Prospero's renunciation of his staff in the epilogue carries a farewell. Note that this is a public-domain electronic text without notes or introduction; a reliable Shakespeare guide is advisable.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Intermediate and advanced learners of Italian who want to build fluency through literature
Readers who want a first close reading of a Shakespeare play and prefer a shorter work
Literature lovers interested in romance, fantasy elements, and the theme of forgiveness
Research-oriented readers who need an electronic text for searching and multilingual comparison

Not a good fit for

Beginners with no Italian who need line-by-line notes and translation
Readers who want to read Shakespeare's English original directly
Shakespeare specialists who rely on detailed scholarly annotation and textual collation

Reading tips

Read through once for the plot, then on a second pass attend to the tension in Prospero's dialogue with Caliban and Ariel.
Read in parallel with the English original or a reliable Chinese translation, comparing the wording of key soliloquies.
Draw up a character chart beforehand to avoid confusion over Italian names and changes of identity.
After finishing, return to the opening storm scene and consider its foreshadowing role in the play's structure.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this the English original or a translation?

The available information lists the ebook's language as Italian, so this is an Italian version of The Tempest, not Shakespeare's English original. For the original, look for an English edition; this version is better suited to reading in Italian or for comparison.

Can I understand it without notes?

This public-domain electronic text normally has no notes or introduction. If your Italian is adequate, you can follow the plot; where allusions and wordplay are dense, a Shakespeare guide or a parallel translation will make reading smoother.

Is it suitable as a first Shakespeare?

Yes. The play is relatively short and tightly plotted, and its fantasy elements and theme of reconciliation make it accessible. But if you are reading in Italian, you still need some grounding in the language; absolute beginners should start with a Chinese translation or a bilingual edition.

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About the author

William Shakespeare Author · English · 1564–1616

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was the greatest playwright, poet and actor of the English Renaissance. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, he is known as the "Bard of Avon." He wrote roughly thirty-seven to thirty-nine plays, one hundred and fifty-four sonnets and narrative poems. His representative works include Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. His works span tragedy, comedy and history play, distinguished by rich, poetic language and profound characterization. His explorations of human nature, power, love and fate have had a lasting influence, and his works have been translated into many languages and circulated widely around the world.