Utopia in the Tempest In The Tempest, Shakespeare allows the audience to appreciate the possibilities of utopian society, good and evil, so that they can understand the problems that the pursuit of a utopian environment can cause. The Tempest is a window into the dimensions of utopian societies. Shakespeare's play portrays the good and bad sides of the perfect life. As his characters take on the role of leaders of utopian societies, Shakespeare portrays social issues and society's beliefs about what a utopian environment should be like. Essential to the discussion of this aspect of The Tempest is the definition of "Utopia". For different characters this "utopia" means different things. First and perhaps most importantly, as she puts it, Miranda's utopia consists of a populated world with many other human beings in it. Other characters have a whole host of different ideas about utopia and versions of their "utopia". Caliban's utopia changes throughout the play and Gonzalo's utopia seems a little confusing as he has two ideas that seem to contradict each other. One side of Prospero's utopia is an example of what society at the time believed was a utopia. An easy existence, free of manual labor, ... middle of paper ... helps demonstrate that the utopian power central to the poem equates to true liberation and that it "makes familiar objects unfamiliar." However I feel that the end of the play is the true form of utopia because it truly celebrates the reconciliation of the characters from their past, with the two main themes being reform and restoration, as the play begins in chaos and is restored at the end . .Works Cited and Consulted Boss, Judith E. "The Golden Age, Plenty and Utopia in The Faerie Queene and The Temepest." Georgia Review 26 (1972) 145-55.Shakespeare, William. The Storm. Ed. Frank Kermode. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1958.