Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was a British poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. Best known for his poem “Dover Beach”.

Joyce saw Arnold as a distasteful “tidier,” a man of “little opinion” (The Study of Languages).

Prospero betrays his nihilism: there is no hint of God in his equation. Calling life an “insubstantial pageant faded,” he conjures another famous Shakespearean speech, that of Macbeth over the body of Lady Macbeth.

…[life is a] t is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.

Revels was a technical dramatic term used for the final dance between masquers and spectators in the court masque.

Prospero’s speech is often cited as relating to Shakespeare himself, though there is much debate surrounding that clam. The Tempest was Shakespeare’s last play he wrote by himself and therefore is his most personal. It is often called his retirement speech.

Prospero is the Duke of Milan who has learned sorcery from books secretly given to him. He uses the sorcery (called Art in the play) to cast control over the other characters.

Prospero is remembering the plot against his life. He says the “revels” have ended. This is often read as if coming from Shakespeare himself. Prospero, the great magician, is so wrapped up in his own sorcery that he forgets the concerns of reality. Much like Shakespeare at this point in his life, Prosero is having a memento mori, a revelation of his own mortality. The fun is over and he will set aside his magic.