#CALIBAN THE TEMPEST HOW TO#

Yet what we see here is a master or tyrant with extraordinary power conversing with his slave who resents his treatment (whipping seems to be a common punishment). The Tempest has been the source of science fiction movies and many tedious “post-colonialist” analyses of western literature.

In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me Which first was mine own king and here you sty me

Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you! The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place, and fertile. That burn by day and night: and then I lov’d theeĪnd show’d thee all the qualities o' th' isle, To name the bigger light, and how the less, Thou strok'dst me, and mad'st much of me wouldst give me This island’s mine, by Sycorax my mother, Caliban, therefore, represents the oppressed and the indigenous slaves in an unequal world.In Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, there is an exchange between Prospero and Caliban (Act I, Scene II, line 320) where the latter complains about the way the European lord Prospero taught him language and science but enslaved him and dispossessed him of the island on which he was born: Caliban’s reluctance to carry out Prospero’s commands shows a slave rebelling against the authority. The relationship between Caliban and Prospero is that of a slave and a slave-owner. Prospero at one time might have liked Caliban and treated him nicely, but in the final analysis, Caliban is his slave and Prospero herself makes no bones about calling him his slave without feeling embarrassed. Caliban has been put in to slavery by Prospero as she says, “We’ll visit Caliban, my slave – he does make our fire, fetch in our wood and services in offices that profit us.” Again, “He is that Caliban, whom now I keep in service.” Caliban represents slavery and the revolt against slavery in all its forms. Caliban’s plot does not go as planned.Ĭaliban can be regarded as an embodiment of slavery on the island that Prospero now rules over. Caliban takes these two men for gods and vows to serve them if they help him kill the evil Prospero who took over his island. Trinculo was a clown and Stefan an alcoholic butler to the King. Often in the play, we hear Caliban making remarks against Prospero’s exploitation of the island and curses her for enslaving him and taking his island away from him.Ĭaliban’s Revenge: Caliban seeks revenge when he meets two men named Trinculo and Stefano. This is a representation of the indigenous natives who could not escape the harsh brutality of their colonial masters. Prospero then later took supreme control of the island and then enslaves Caliban and makes him to carry wood. Caliban who was owned by the vicious and wicked witch, Sycorax, was freed by Prospero from Sycorax’s spell.

#CALIBAN THE TEMPEST HOW TO#

In return, Prospero and Miranda taught Caliban how to speak their language. At first, Caliban and Prospero seem to have a good relationship, as it was Caliban who found Prospero and Miranda who were washed off shore and he showed them the island. Relationship with Prospero: The relationship between Prospero and Caliban seems to be ironic. Shakespeare’s representation of Caliban, seems to be case of racial injustice and European dominance back in the 1800’s.

Caliban therefore, represents the African natives who were forcefully controlled by the Westerners. Prospero can be symbolized as the European powers who dominated African countries and their inhabitants back in the 1880’s. Through Prospero’s now ownership of the island, Prospero regards Caliban as a “lesser being”. After the death of Caliban’s mother, Sycorax, Caliban falls under the rule of Prospero and becomes one his servants. Caliban is the son of Sycorax, an evil witch who had passed away but once held control over the island now ruled by Prospero. Who is Caliban? In the play “The Tempest” by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare portrays the character Caliban as a savage beast and a slave of the witch, Prospero.

Caliban the tempest