History YMMV / TheTempest

* EpilepticTrees: There are as many interpretations of the play as there are critics. Who and what Caliban represents takes up half the debates.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: 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.

* RecycledInSpace: Surprisingly, ''The tempest'' is commonly remade in a science-fiction form. Both ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet'' and ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'' do this, among others.

** 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" (it's a common boys' name in Israel, where [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Sharon one of the country's greatest soldiers and more controversial Prime Ministers]] bore the name). Unlike Puck, it's not entirely clear WHAT Ariel is (ditto Caliban).
** The only characters who refer to Ariel as a fairy are [[TheDitz Trinculo and Stephano]]. It appears that he's a NatureSpirit of some sort, possibly an air elemental. That said, every form that he takes in the play is unambiguously female: a [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent water-nymph]], a [[HarpingOnAboutHarpies harpy]] and [[Myth/ClassicalMythology the goddess Ceres]].

$+%% ** All of Prospero's speeches.

** Likewise, what is Prospero's relationship with Ariel and Caliban--is he fair (if harsh), or a cruel colonial overlord? Caliban and Ariel's reactions to being freed can also vary, with some adaptations presenting them as being NotUsedToFreedom, while a 1993 production with Creator/SimonRussellBeale as Ariel famously had him spit in Prospero's face.

** Some versions have ... additional subtext on Prospero and Ariel's relationship.

* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: Act 5, Scene 1.
** All of Prospero's speeches.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Caliban has grown in popularity and sympathy with scholars over the centuries, partly because the character's apparent subtext (as a vengeful victim of colonization who wants to take back his homeland) [[ValuesResonance has only grown more timely]]. He's probably the second most coveted Shakespearean role among Black actors, next to Theatre/{{Othello}},.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Caliban has grown in popularity and sympathy with scholars over the centuries, partly because the character's apparent subtext (as a vengeful victim of colonization who wants to take back his homeland) [[ValuesResonance has only grown more timely]]. Next to Theatre/{{Othello}}, he's probably the second most coveted Shakespearean role among Black actors.

* ValuesDissonance: In modern times, the play seems like an early example of fantasy fiction and stands in contrast to Shakespeare's famously realistic settings. As a matter of fact, in the Elizabethan era, it was hardly an issue for audiences to suspend their disbelief in order to accept a wizard as a protagonist because many people did indeed believe in magic.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Some versions have ... additional subtext on Prospero and Ariel's relationship.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Caliban has grown in popularity and sympathy with scholars over the centuries.

** Also Caliban- nasty brute or NobleSavage? Also, his appearance has been much debated with interpretations ranging from some kind of ape man to a {{fish pe|ople}}rson, to a normal, non-white human.

** Pretty much all of Prospero's speeches.

** Also the character of Caliban, who has been interpreted more sympathetically in Postcolonial analyses than he was in Shakespeare's day.

** 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).

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Some versions have ... additional subtext on Prospero and Ariel's relationship.

** Also Caliban- nasty brute or NobleSavage? Also, his appearance has been much debated with interpretations ranging from some kind of ape man to a [[FishPeople fish person]], to a normal, non-white human.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Act 5, Scene 1.
** Pretty much all of Prospero's speeches.

* ViewerGenderConfusion: 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.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Some versions have ... additional subtext on Prospero and Ariel's relationship. IfYouKnowWhatIMean.