Prospero's Island

Book excerpt: Prospero's Island is a compelling study of islands and how they can contribute to the quality of concern and caring that human beings have for one another, specifically in Christian ministry work. Roger Grainger spent eighteen years as chaplain of a large psychiatric hospital and now works as a parish minister in Wakefield, England. He brings to life the characters from William Shakespeare's final play The Tempest as he utilizes the story of Prospero and Miranda, Ariel and Caliban, and the shipwrecked courtiers and clowns who were forced ashore by a tempest in order to emphasize that pastoral care can be an island for refuge and resources for those who need to come in from the storm. Using the image of an island as a metaphor for the human condition at its most vulnerable state, Grainger illustrates how Prospero demonstrates a particular purpose for his island that results in renewal rather than revenge. Prospero's Island innovatively compares Shakespeare's inspirational characters with real life as it takes an in-depth look at pastoral care as a nurturing process that lives in, and depends upon, the quality of personal relationships just like Prospero did on a deserted island so many years ago.