Prospero as a Wise Man: An Alternative Approach to the ‘Wise’/‘Wife’ Crux of <i>The Tempest</i>

Abstract This paper examines the textual debate over ‘wise’ versus ‘wife’ in Ferdinand’s speech from Act 4, Scene 1 of The Tempest, arguing that ‘wise’ is the appropriate reading. His wonder and admiration are directed solely at Prospero’s ‘most majestic vision’, with Miranda and other elements temporarily absent from his thoughts. In early modern England, the term ‘wise man’ often referred to individuals skilled in the occult arts, while ‘wise God’ appeared in religious texts to emphasize divine wisdom, aligning with the portrayal of Prospero as a godlike figure wielding magical powers. To support this interpretation, the paper presents both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the syntactic structure of the phrase ‘So rare a wondred Father, and a wise’. This construction—comprising an indefinite article (‘[So rare] a’), an adjective (‘wondred’), a singular noun (‘Father’), a coordinating conjunction (‘and’), another indefinite article (‘a’), and an adjective (‘wise’) without a subsequent noun—is relatively rare in Shakespeare’s works. However, its infrequent yet deliberate use suggests a stylistic choice by the playwright, who employs it predominantly in comedic contexts or moments of heightened emotion. This construction effectively encapsulates Ferdinand’s wonder as he marvels at the grandeur of Prospero’s magical display, further substantiating the case for adopting ‘wise’.