Freedom shown through the mirror of ShakspeareWilliam Shakespeare’s epilogue in The Tempest shows the parallels between the main character Prospero and Shakespeare himself. During the process of writing The Tempest, he himself believes that this is his final play or at least his final one written on his own. Therefore Shakespeare: the skillful writer uses the character Prospero seen as a skillful magician to communicate his farewell to his audience and the theater. You can see this message coming across in the following lines “Now my charms are all o'erthrown, / what strength I have's mine own," (epilogue.1-2). With Prospero relinquishing his magic, order is restored and he returns to normality, as for Shakespeare his plays are supposedly over and it is no longer his characters speaking for him. Both are asking the people they manipulated to set them free from what made them stand out from a crowd. In the context of the line “But release me from my bands” (epilogue.9), both Prospero and Shakespeare are asking to be released and set free at last. The term ‘bands’ is referring to Prospero being restricted to the island, whereas Shakespeare is referring to the actor being confined to his role, until the audience releases him. Shakespeare uses the symbolism of bring the hands together to show appreciation for something; in other words this is called clapping. “With the help of your good hands” (epilogue.10) this is Shakespeare asking the audience to show their appreciation towards his work by bringing their hands together and clapping or cheering him. By the audience applauding Shakespeare’s work it helps him to have an easier conclusion to his work as a play
