Preparing to write about The Tempest

In the discussions of The Tempest, one controversial issue has been over colonialism. On the one hand, Aime Cesaire argues in a humorous rewrite of The Tempest. In his play he stresses the idea of colonialism by having Prospero ask Caliban "what would you be without me?" and having Caliban reply with "I'd be the king, that's what I'd be, the King of the Island. The king of the island given me by my mother" (313). Aime Cesaire emphasizes the issue of colonialism through Caliban's heightened argument with Prospero over who the island really belongs to. On the other hand, George Will contends the issue of colonialism of being in the play by saying that "the academics who reinterpret Shakespeare in the light of colonialism, feminism, and other preoccupations are rendering the plays unrecognizable to the ordinary reader and playgoer" (110). Will believes that people read to far into the book which just makes it confusing to the reader. He believes that people should just read it how the author intended it to be read. Others, such as Stephen Greenblatt believe that "Caliban, enslaved by Prospero, bitterly challenges the European's right to sovereignty. The island was his birthright, he claims, and was unjustly taken from him" (114). Greenblatt believes that you should read deeper into the text to get a better meaning of the story. He feels that the story was clearly about colonialism. However, my opinion is that I agree a little with both Will and Greenblatt. I agree with Greenblatt that we need to look a little deeper into the story to better understand it so we can see the idea of colonialism in stories such as The Tempest. However, I also agree with Will in that we do not necessarily need to look super deep into the story. We should try to interpret it for ourselves and how the author wanted us to rather than just go off of what critics have already said about the story and its meaning.