The Tempest/YMMV

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Some versions have ... additional subtext on Prospero and Ariel's relationship.
  • Ditto with Miranda and Caliban. Some versions imply that Caliban didn't rape Miranda, but just got caught having a torrid affair with her.
  • Also Caliban- nasty brute or Noble Savage? Also, his appearance has been much debated with interpretations ranging from some kind of ape man to a fish person, to a normal, non-white human.
• Crowning Moment of Awesome: Act 5, Scene 1.
  • Pretty much all of Prospero's speeches.
• Ensemble Darkhorse: Caliban has grown in popularity and sympathy with scholars over the centuries.
• Epileptic Trees: There are as many interpretations of the play as there are critics. Who and what Caliban represents takes up half the debates.
• Older Than They Think: This is the source of the phrases "nature versus nurture" and "thin air".
• Viewer Gender Confusion: Ariel. In the text, he's male, but he's also a fairy, and most modern English speakers think Ariel sounds like a girl's name. He is most likely supposed to be androgynous, and is as often played female as male. In fact the only indication that he's male is in the stage directions, so you don't even need to change any of the play's text to do this.
  • Ariel isn't necessarily a fairy. The name "Ariel" could mean "airy," as in the element in which Ariel lives, but it is also Biblical Hebrew and means "Lion of God." Unlike Puck, it's not entirely clear WHAT Ariel is (ditto Caliban).