for the most part the tempest doesnt support this claim. this is seen in the fact that most characters acheive their intended destinations. Miranda and Ferdinand are married, Alonso repents, Ariel is freed and all parties from italy return to their "natural positions". That having been said the tempest provides evidence advocating the statement. this is seen in the very play itself, the crew of the ship do not reach italy but are instead brought to the island. sebastien enjoys his imaginary journey of being duke but must ultimately face the reality that his brother is the duke. antonio also imagines himself as king but this does not occur. furthermore trinculo and stephano, through the metaphor of clothing imagine themselves to be lords of the isle yet they fail to realise this, highlighted by Caliban "let it alone fools it is but trash" ultimately with regard to the scene where ariel assumes harpy form and attempts to reform the "three men of sin" Sebastien and Antonio do not reach the intended destination of repentence like their counterpart Alonso does. it can also be seen that virtuous characters of characters whose "very virtues of compassion are touched" recognise that the "rarer act is in virtue than in vengeance" and are thus rewarded. Ferdinand by marriage, Alonso through the survival of his son, Prospero for succeding in overcoming his tendency to succomb to the imaginative journey. on the other hand characters of sin fail to arrive at thier intended destinations.
In the end the play believes that the imaginative journey and art transform us and return us to our "natural positions" in the real world. the reason why the "three men of sin" fail to realise thier imaginative journeys is because it violates the natural way of things. Shakespeare sees balance in nature and the play is highly influenced by classical thoughts. this is represented through the Aristotilean unity of time and space which the play holds very dear to itself.
