Magic in the Tempest

The Tempest, written in 1611, was one of William Shakespeare's last plays. It has a combination of superb characters, interesting settings, and a good plot line--all held together by the running theme of magic, and its ever-present importance. A closer examination of the magic in The Tempest, and the public's view of magic at the time, will give insight as to Shakespeare's choice of magic as a theme, and why it has made the play so …

… not the banquet disappearance was added before or after the original writing, neither is relevant to magic's central importance to the play. Obviously, magic could grab audiences of Shakespeare's time. As it happens, magic had been grabbing audiences since 2500 BC (according to a depiction of a magician on the Beni Hassan tomb in Egypt) and magic continues to grab audiences today. It caught Shakespeare's eye, and has made the play timeless, and theatrically entertaining.