The Tempest

William ShakespeareProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.3

Word count: 141K words
Chapters: 15

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 Tempête by William ShakespeareAuthor: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616,Language: French, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Feb 15, 2005

Editor's review

This is a French translation of Shakespeare's The Tempest, from Project Gutenberg's free public-domain eBooks. For readers who want to approach Shakespeare's late romance in French, it offers an accessible entry point: the play's themes of magic, exile, forgiveness, and reconciliation remain palpable in the French prose and verse. This edition is a public-domain electronic text with no modern editorial notes or introduction, so readers will need to bring their own background knowledge. Its value lies in language learning and textual comparison: it can serve as French reading material or be read alongside the English original to observe how different languages handle the same scenes. It is suitable as supplementary classroom reading or a primary text for self-learners, rather than an introductory guide. Because it lacks carefully proofread typesetting and annotations, it is advisable to use it with a reliable Shakespeare guide or bilingual edition, and to be aware of possible transcription differences in the electronic text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Learners with intermediate or higher French who want to read Shakespeare's original plays
Shakespeare enthusiasts who need a French literary text for comparative reading
Teachers and advanced students offering courses on Shakespeare or translation

Not a good fit for

Beginners with no French who need Chinese annotations for support
Readers seeking detailed introductions and scholarly annotations
Those who prefer carefully proofread printed editions and are sensitive to errors in electronic texts

Reading tips

Read a plot summary in Chinese or English first, then move into the French text to lower the barrier to understanding.
Read scene by scene alongside the English original, noting how the two languages handle the themes of magic and forgiveness.
Keep a notebook to mark unfamiliar words and key verse lines, and after finishing, review the character relationships and the threads of reconciliation.

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

Does this edition have annotations or an introduction?

No. It is a Project Gutenberg public-domain electronic text that provides only the play's text, without modern editorial notes, an introduction, or a bibliography. Readers are advised to supplement it with a Shakespeare guide, a bilingual edition, or reliable online resources to fill in background knowledge and explain difficult words and passages.

What level of French is needed to read this book?

Roughly intermediate reading ability or above, enough to handle literary syntax and verse line breaks. If you have only studied basic grammar, reading will be difficult; you may start with a simplified or bilingual edition and then return to this complete text, using it as advanced language material rather than a beginner's reader.

Will the electronic text differ from the printed edition?

Possibly. Public-domain eBooks are transcribed and proofread by volunteers, so individual punctuation, spelling, or line breaks may differ from carefully proofread printed editions. For scholarly citation or close reading, check against an authoritative edition; for language learning and general reading, this usually does not affect understanding of the plot and themes.

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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.