Was William Shakespeare really that great of an author? Were all his masterpieces really genuine, original works of art, or were they mere imitations of other’s work? In my opinion, the connection between the play and the letter is parasitic; Shakespeare draws out ideas from the letter itself and avoids using his own thoughts to improve his own work.

The biggest, most noticeable trait of The Tempest being parasitic towards William Strachey’s letter is the storm at the beginning. As a distinct scene in both works, the storm shows the arrival and beginning of both of the plots. In the letter, the great force of the storm is emphasized in the beginning: “… the storm in a restless tumult had blown so exceedingly as we could not apprehend in our imaginations any possibility of greater violence; yet did we still find it not only more terrible, but more constant, fury added to fury, and one storm urging a second more outrageous than the former, whether it so wrought upon our fears or indeed met with new forces.” (Strachey 1) That quotation amplifies the power of the storm and its great immensity. In William Shakespeare’s book, the storm is introduced in a similar manner: “Heigh, my hearts! Cheerly, cheerly, my hearts! Yare, yare! Take in the topsail! Tend to th’ master’s whistle! Blow till thou burst thy wind, if room enough! … Down with the topmast! Yare! Lower, lower! Bring her to try with main course! A plague upon this howling! They are louder than the weather or our office.” (Shakespeare I.1.5-8, 34-37) The way this is written denotes the fact that the storm is too powerful for the entire human crew to control. Even through these numerous orders and attempts of control, nothing has come as a result.

In addition, another notable connection between the two works is the scene of the island. Strachey wrote about how the Bermudas were evil and demonic in nature. This exact idea can be found in Shakespeare’s work: “But felt a fever of the mad and played / Some tricks of desperation. All but mariners / Plunged in the foaming brine and quit the vessel, / Then all afire with me; the king’s son Ferdinand, / With hair upstairing (then like reeds, not hair), / Was the first man that leapt, cried ‘Hell is empty, / And all the devils are here!’” (Shakespeare I.2.209-215)

Continuing on the island, Strachey writes about violent thunder and lightning. Searching through Shakespeare’s book, one will find: “The fell together all, as my consent. / They dropped as by a thunderstroke. What might, / Worthy Sebastian – O, what might? – No more! / And yet methinks I see it in thy face, / What thou shouldst be. Th’ occasion speaks thee, and / My strong imagination sees a crown / Dropping upon thy head.” (II.1.202-208) During this scene, Shakespeare uses different language that can be found in the letter. Substituting his usual “thunderbolt,” he uses “thunderstroke” instead.

Still resuming on the island, the animals mentioned by Strachey are very similar or identical of what is used by Shakespeare. The animals included the “toade,” “beetell,” “battes,” “sparrowes,” and “owles.” (17-22) Ariel mentions something very similar with the animals: “Where the bee sucks, there suck I; / In a cowslip’s bell I lie; / There I couch when owls do cry. / On the bat’s back I do fly / After summer merrily. / Merrily, merrily shall I live now / Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.” (Shakespeare V.1.88-94) Also, the bird named the “Sea-Meawe” is described in great detail by Strachey, and the same is done by Shakespeare: “I prithee now, lead the way without any more talking. Trinculo, the king and all our company else being drowned, we will inherit here. Here, bear my bottle. Fellow Trinculo, we’ll fill him by and by again.” (Shakespeare II.2. 170-173)

Finally, the conspiracies spread throughout the letter and book can be conjoined with a few scenes and examples. In the letter, the conspirators threaten their lives by questioning the governor’s authority. Similarly, somewhere in the middle of the play, Alonso and Prospero get their lives threatened in a similar way. In the letter, Strachey describes how the conspiracies never worked too well because someone always gave it away. This same idea is present in The Tempest, when Arial says “This I will tell my master.”

Overall, because of these various reasons, I believe that Shakespeare’s work is just a rewritten replication of Strachey’s letter. It’s parasitic nature reduces the originality of the play and makes a reader think if Shakespeare is really as excellent of a writer as rumors say he is.