Source: "The Tempest: An Interpretation," in JEGP: Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Vol. LXII, 1963, pp. 501-17.

[In the following essay, Davidson surveys various twentieth-century critical interpretations of The Tempest, including biographical theories that view the work as an allegory of Shakespeare's life and as his farewell to the stage; thematic speculations that emphasize the prevalent theme of reconciliation; and social/political criticism such as that of Northrup Frye, who suggests that the drama is about the evolution of a new social order. Davidson goes on to formulate his own interpretation of the play based on its adherence to the Renaissance ideals of political and natural order and its emphasis on the importance of reason in ordering society and restraining human passions.]

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Twentieth-century critics have left us a great variety of sometimes-conflicting views on the meaning of Shakespeare's The Tempest. They have for the most part...