The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge gave a series of lectures on Shakespeare in 1811-1812. In this particular lecture, Coleridge says that he considers The Tempest to be “among the ideal” plays because it “appeals to the imagination.” Coleridge believes that Shakespeare does this by inserting “some touch or other which is not merely characteristic of the particular person, but combines two things – the person, and the circumstances acting upon the person.” In other words, Shakespeare asks the reader to simultaneously see the action and see the context, which allows us to use our imaginations to interpret the action.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. “From The Lectures of 1811-12, Lecture IX.” William Shakespeare: The Tempest. Edited by Robert Langbaum. Signet Classic, 1998, p. 111.