Act 5, Scene 1, Part 1 Summary

Prospero appears, commenting that all his plans are going well and asking Ariel where Alonso, Antonio, Sebastian, and the others are. Ariel tells him they've been imprisoned in a cave just as he ordered, describing them as unhappy, grieving and repentant (presumably over what they did to Prospero, of which they were reminded at the banquet). Prospero comments wonderingly on how Ariel, a spirit of air, should feel compassion for them when he (Prospero) does not. He realizes that their penitence is all he really wanted, and that now he knows they're sorry for what they did, he can end their imprisonment. He tells Ariel to free them, and Ariel goes. When he's gone, Prospero has a lengthy and famous soliloquy in which he invokes all the spirits and powers that have aided him and vows to let them...