(Angelo Paratico) Shakespeare’s The Tempest is considered his last work, and in the monologue of the magician Prospero on an enchanted island with his daughter Miranda, many see Shakespeare’s farewell to the magical world of theatre and life. This is the most moving drama in all of Shakespeare’s great plays. But who inspired him to create that character of Prospero, the brother of the Duke of Milan and lover of magic? The most likely candidate for inspiration was the Milanese doctor, mathematician, and philosopher Girolamo Cardano (1501–1577?).
Shakespeare presumably wrote The Tempest in 1610–11, but in the past it did not enjoy the great success it has today. Only in the nineteenth century, with the Romantic movement, did it grow in popularity, and today, alongside Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Othello, it is one of Shakespeare’s most loved and performed works, with several film and opera adaptations.
The influence of Montaigne is strong in this play. This is certainly because the publisher, or rather the secret editor of Shakespeare’s works, was John (Giovanni) Florio, the first translator of Montaigne’s Essays from French to English. Florio of Sienese origin visited several cities, including Verona.
Girolamo Cardano’s great fame in Great Britain is due to his being summoned to Edinburgh in 1552 by the Archbishop of St Andrew, John Hamilton (1512–1571), who suffered from asthma. The archbishop was healed by Cardano, and on his return journey, he stopped in London as a guest of John Cheke, the king’s learned tutor. Rumours of the high prelate’s extraordinary recovery had preceded him, and Cheke arranged an audience with the young King Edward VI (1537–1553). The two conversed in Greek, Latin, and Italian, discussing astronomy and history. Cardano was somehow forced to cast a favourable horoscope of the young king.
Back in Milan, the persecution Cardano suffered at the hands of the Roman Inquisition turned him into a heroic figure. Here, in summary, are the points of contact between Cardano and Prospero, apart from both being from Milan. Both Cardano and Prospero have a spirit at their service. Both are experts in magic and astrology. Both are imprisoned and then forced into exile. Both Prospero and Cardano are lovers of books, but in the end, they renounce those dealing with magic and astrology. Both are betrayed by people they trusted. Cardano’s second son, Aldo, became a delinquent and tried several times to steal and assault his father. Finally, Cardano was left with only one daughter, just like Prospero.
