Caliban is a key character in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. He is a native of the island on which the play is set, and his name has become synonymous with wild, unruly behaviour.
Caliban is initially presented as a savage, dangerous creature, and it is only through the interventions of the other characters that he begins to learn more civilized ways. However, he always remains an outsider in society, and his final fate is to be exiled from the island.
Despite his rough exterior, Caliban is a complex character who embodies both the best and worst aspects of human nature. He is capable of great loyalty and affection, but he is also prone to fits of anger and jealousy. He represents the potential for both good and evil that exists within all of us.
Caliban is an important figure in The Tempest, and his story helps to illustrate the play’s themes of nature vs. nurture, civilization vs. savagery, and order vs. chaos.
In The Tempest, Caliban, a savage and deformed slave to Prospero, plays a vital role. Caliban is seen as a monster by the other characters on the island. He is referred to as a monstrosity by the others on the island. He is an incredibly complicated figure who reflects other characters in the play. Throughout the drama, he makes several speeches to Prospero about his island. The first speech made by Caliban is to Prospero. He claims that Prospero and Miranda stole the island from him .
The island was initially his and he had dominion over it. He then goes on to say that Prospero is a magician and he has used his magic to make Caliban into his slave. The next speech Caliban makes is to Stephano, Trinculo, and Prospero.
In this speech he tells them about the island and how there are no people on it except for himself, Prospero, Miranda, and Ariel. He also talks about the animals on the island and how they are afraid of him. The last speech Caliban makes is to Prospero. In this speech he begs Prospero for forgiveness and says that he will be obedient from now on.
Caliban is a very important character in The Tempest because he represents a being of “pure nature.” He is a complex character and he mirrors other characters in the play. The speeches he makes give the audience background information about the island and its inhabitants. Caliban is an important character to study in The Tempest because he represents a being of “pure nature.”
Caliban compares his circumstance to Prospero’s throughout this oration, claiming that Antonio, his brother, exiled him and his niece to sea when she was three so that he might take over as duke of Milan. While on the island, Prospero teaches Caliban how to behave properly and communicate. He also tries to educate him and shows him compassion despite the fact that he is a “monster.” “You taught me language, and now I know how to curse,’” concludes Caliban.
The red plague rid you for learning it me! Ah, sirrah, you whoreson beetle-headed, flap-eared knave, you thief of nature!” (1.2.368-372). The main conflict between Caliban and Prospero is that Caliban wants to be free while Prospero wants to control him. In Act 3 Scene 2 Caliban revolts against Prospero and tries to kill him. This ultimately fails and leads to his imprisonment by Prospero.
The red plague drove you away from learning me your language! I, ii. 366-368) Prospero tries to indoctrinate Caliban. However, as time goes on, Caliban refuses to learn good manners and a proper way of life. The more Prospero attempts to “civilize” Caliban, the more he rebels. Ariel compares and contrasts to Caliban, who is both a symbol of and adversary to Prospero’s other servant, Ariel.
The two characters seem to represent the colonizer and the colonized. Ariel is docile and willing to please his master, while Caliban is defiant and angry at Prospero’s attempts at colonization. The Tempest can be seen as a metaphor for European colonialism in the New World. The Europeans are trying to civilize the natives, with mixed results. Shakespeare was probably aware of this situation, and he created a character like Caliban to represent the anger and frustration of the native people.
Caliban, on the other hand, achieves his status differently by declining to obey Prospero’s threats. Ferdinand and Caliban are comparable in that they both have a strong desire to undo Miranda’s “virgin knot.” Ferdinand wants to marry Miranda, whereas Caliban attempted to rape her. When he first spoke with Prospero, Caliban regretfully reminded him of how he showed him the entire island when he first landed. In his initial conversation with Prospero, Caliban expresses regret for having revealed everything about the island when he originally arrived.
He talks about all of the different aspects of the island in a very poetic way, which Prospero does not appreciate because he believes that Caliban is uneducated. In The Tempest, Shakespeare creates two characters, Ariel and Caliban, who are similar in some ways and quite different in others.
Ariel is a spirit who Prospero has enslaved with the help of his magic books. He is forced to do Prospero’s bidding without question. Ariel is eager to please Prospero and gain his freedom. In contrast, Caliban is a native of the island that Prospero has taken over. He hates Prospero and resents being made his servant. Caliban is uneducated and speaks in a rough, uncouth manner.
Caliban, now an alcoholic who has been replaced by a new magician in his life: Stefano and his bottle of booze. Caliban is immediately appealing to Stefano for permission to sightsee the island. These blunders that Caliban claims to curse happen again. Prospero submerges Caliban completely in a bog before having him clean up his cell so they can eat. Despite the fact that Caliban is a savage with terrible looks and no noble or sensitive aspect, he does have a good side which Prospero and Miranda overlook at all.
The Tempest is about Prospero regaining his lost power and Caliban losing everything. The story also contains a love story between Ferdinand and Miranda. The play begins with Prospero on an island, accompanied by his daughter, Miranda, and a spirit, Ariel. Alonso, King of Naples, Sebastian, his brother; Antonio, the usurping Duke of Milan; Gonzalo, an honest old counselor; Adrian and Francisco, lords; and Trinculo and Stephano, drunken butlers are shipwrecked on the island. The group is separated: Alonso and his party are taken prisoner by Ariel in a masque; Gonzalo escapes into the woods; Antonio and Sebastian wander in the opposite direction.