Miranda-The Tempest

Oil on Canvas

Miranda is a character in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. The play was first performed around 1611.

Miranda is the beautiful daughter of Duke Prospero. She appears at the waters edge as a storm wreaks havoc with a ship.

"Like most of Waterhouse's heroines, Miranda is the plaything of events. She is also the personification of innocence: isolated on Prospero's isle, she speaks of Ferdinand [who survives the shipwreck in the painting] as 'the third man that e'er I saw, the first that e'er I sighed for.'" (Anthony Hobson)