Re-reading Shakespeare's The Tempest

This thesis is divided into three parts.Part One introduces Shakespeare's The Tempest in general. Categorized by the subject of the drama, The Tempest belongs to Romances or tragicomedies. As a special dramatic genre, Romance bears resemblance to both tragedy and comedy while it also has obvious distinctions with them. Viewed from the historical context of The Tempest, it is overflowed with the spirit of Shakespeare's times. The three Utopias demonstrated in The Tempest reveal Shakespeare's humanist ideal and pursuit.Part Two provides some ways of re-reading and re-interpreting The Tempest by applying some new critic approaches to it The post-colonialists believe that Prospero actually plays a role of a European colonist in the 1600s while Caliban is actually a representative of the oppressed native people at the overseas colonies. Another theme in The Tempest is the conflicts between different cultures. Prospero negotiates his cultural reintegration and regains his European cultural identity after exile in an alien space, and succeeds in returning to Milan. Caliban is always the focus of the critics. Some believe that "Caliban" is an intentional anagram of "cannibal"; some suggest that "Caliban" is named for the Caribs; others argue that Caliban stands for a savage inhabitant of the New World — an American Indian. Feminists point out there is still a patriarchal world existing on the lonely island, Miranda is actually a political tooi in the male world so that she is just a victim of the patriarchal values.Part Three owes the charm of The Tempest to its openness and richness. The Tempest leaves the readers with infinite space and possibilities to interpret and re-interpret, and it also proves the greatness and immortality of Shakespeare's art.