History: Spoken by Prospero in The Tempest by William Shakespeare. The Tempest is perhaps the most magical of Shakespeare’s plays, being first given at court in 1611. Prospero, the master magician controls the supernatural island that forms the scene of the play and the actions of the shipwrecked characters who land upon it. Prospero is said by some to embody Shakespeare’s own philosophy, representing both the power of knowledge and the mysteries of the human condition. From Act IV, sc 1, Line 155: “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”