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James E. Phillips (essay date spring 1964)

SOURCE: Phillips, James E. “The Tempest and the Renaissance Idea of Man.” Shakespeare Quarterly 15, no. 2 (spring 1964): 147-59.

[In the following essay, Phillips evaluates three principal figures of The Tempest—Caliban, Ariel, and Prospero—in terms of the Renaissance conception of the tripartite soul, divided into vegetative, sensitive, and rational spheres.]

Most students of The Tempest are agreed that there is more to Shakespeare's last play than charms the eye and delights the ear.¹ Some have regarded its deeper meaning as autobiographical in nature, communicating Shakespeare's view of his own art and announcing his withdrawal from active professional life. Others have found it a covert commentary on England's colonizing efforts in the New World, or more generally, on the impact of civilization on primitivism. Some have explained its significance in...

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1. Introduction
2. Criticism: Overviews And General Studies
   1. W. H. Auden (lecture date 1947)
   2. Philip Brockbank (essay date 1966)
3. Criticism: Character Studies
   1. James E. Phillips (essay date spring 1964)
   2. Virginia Mason Vaughan (essay date winter 1985)
4. Criticism: Production Reviews
   1. Robert Brustein (review date 4 December 1995)
   2. Mariacristina Cavecchi (review date 1997)
   3. Robert Smallwood (review date 2000)
   4. Catherine Bates (review date 12 January 2001)
   5. Russell Jackson (review date spring 2001)
   6. Richard Hornby (review date winter 2001)
5. Criticism: Themes
   1. Rose Abdelnour Zimbardo (essay date winter 1963)
   2. Richard Henze (essay date autumn 1972)
   3. Kenneth J. Semon (essay date spring 1973)
   4. Peter G. Platt (essay date 1997)
   5. John D. Cox (essay date autumn 2000)
6. Further Reading
7. Copyright