Controversy Explored: Debating The Tempest It may be interesting to imagine what these two professors might have said to each other had they come together in the presence of our perplexed student. Here is one hypothetical version of their debate, in which we have connected their positions to several of the critical selections that are collected in this book. If you haven't yet read the play, it will be helpful to know that the action …showed first 75 words of 1292 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1292 total…your political agenda on the play. Why should we bother to teach literature at all if interpretations are merely subjective? CLP: I'm not saying that all interpretations are merely subjective. I've been trying to ground my reading in the text and its context just as much as you have. But where we're coming from, our personal and group interests as readers, legitimately influence which aspects of the text itself we choose to notice and emphasize. . . .