Tempest Intro

In discussions of The Tempest, one controversial issue has been colonialism. On the one hand, George Will argues that over-analyzing text can lead to unneeded misinterpretations of the text. On the other hand, Greenblatt contends that looking deeper into the meanings of the text allows the reader to get a better understanding of what the author's purpose is. However, my own view agrees a little with both sides. 
I do agree with what Will is saying because I know that not every piece of writing has a super deep, "hidden", meaning. I often find myself overthinking things in literature that are actually pretty simplistic and do not require much thought. Sometimes the reader, like myself, can get so caught up in trying to figure out a "hidden" meaning in the text that they are unknowingly drifting further and further away from the original intended purpose of the author. However, I do believe in Greenblatt's theory of analyzing the text deeper. I think I believe in this theory a little bit more, actually. In order to recognize the real meaning of a piece of literature, the reader needs to spend some time thinking and reading critically, to look for the commonly called "hidden" meaning. 
Regarding The Tempest, I think Greenblatt's theory of analyzing text is more accurate, with this piece of literature at least. I think it is interesting studying The Tempest more than just reading it because you are introduced into different ways of interpretation. For example, the reader's view towards Prospero and Caliban can be very different. Some have sympathy toward Caliban because he got his island taken away from him, and some think of him as a savage. Some could have the postcolonial sort of view of the text, and others can just believe that Shakespeare simply just wrote the play to entertain and to make money. 
We will never know what Shakespeare's real purpose was in writing this; therefore, we should not be straining our brains and overthinking everything. On the other hand, it is good to analyze writing and produce your own opinion of the text and be able to argue it.