Our class has produced many different themes for Shakespeare. And we all seem to campaign for our own idea or allegory. But I don't think that they have to be mutually exclusive.
Some of us see the play as an allegory for Shakespeare's life. Which makes a lot of sense in terms of Prospero's speech in act four, when he apologizes for his manipulation, but does not seem to fit very well with the rest of the book. And then there is the forgiveness as an ideal interpretation, which goes very well with Prospero's forgiveness in act five, but ignores the rest of the play. And finally, the third common reading that I have picked up on is the post-colonial reading, which speaks well for the power struggles in the book but not at all for the ending.
I don't think that these views necessarily conflict. Shakespeare was a genius, and I believe he was capable of producing multiple themes about a work, not just one exclusive one. Mr H called this view conflicted or confused, but I do not think that it is confused, in that Shakespeare's intentions were to attest to all of these themes, and it is not conflicting, in the fact that none of the themes conflict eachother. Are there any other readings that I have not mentioned that do conflict? or that weren't volitional?
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