MnAs layers with a 5 nm thick amorphous GaAs capping layer were grown epitaxially on GaAs(001). Generalized ellipsometric measurements were made on a 45 nm thick layer in the spectral range 1.5–4 eV at temperatures between –10 °C and 50 °C in steps of 5 °C. By using both the diagonal and off-diagonal elements of the Jones matrix, the in-plane unixial anisotropy of MnAs was determined in terms of the ordinary and extraordinary complex dielectric functions. The measurements at each temperature could be well reproduced by modeling using the optical properties of the two limiting phases α-MnAs and β-MnAs determined at –10 °C and 50 °C, respectively. The best sensitivity to the volume fractions of the two phases was obtained near 2.2 eV by monitoring the generalized ellipsometric parameter Δ_p for which the variations reached 30°.