Act 1, Scene 2 Summary

Miranda cries out to her father to help the sinking ship, but Prospero enters with a megaphone and tells her to calm down because it is only a play. The time has come, and Prospero can no longer leave Miranda in ignorance; he tells her that she was born a princess in Milan where he was the Duke for many years. When Miranda asks how they came to be on this reclusive, deserted island, her father explains that their exile is the result of political disagreements and an ambitious, younger brother named Antonio. When they learned that Prospero had discovered these lands and was preparing to take possession of them, Antonio and Alonso, the envious King of Naples, joined forces and conspired against him, denouncing Prospero to the Holy Inquisition as a magician and a sorcerer. A flashback shows a friar...