ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the evidence for Francis Bacon’s influence on the play, first by taking a few examples of how his own views on colonization correspond with Virginia Company pamphlets, and looks at rare collocations that his corpus shares with The Tempest. When The Tempest was played at Whitehall in November 1611 and also at the Elizabeth–Palatine marriage celebrations in February 1612–1613, it seems to have been intended as a message to the invited ambassadors about England’s new financial strength. William Strachey’s unpublished ‘True Reportory’, a secret Virginia Company report, is examined for the rare correspondences it shares with The Tempest. There is evidence that The Tempest was used to impress invited foreign ambassadors at court. The king had an active role in the Virginia colony, putting his signature to three Virginia Charters in 1606, 1609, and 1611.
