How does Shakespeare present Prospero's relationship with Ariel and Caliban throughout the course of the play?

Authors Avatar

Gemma Dale        Page         5/8/2007

Q1. How does Shakespeare present Prospero's relationship with Ariel and Caliban throughout the course of the play? Look at the language used when speaking to, and of each other. Do you think the dynamics of the relationships support a colonialist reading, or is this incidental?

        The time at which Shakespeare wrote The Tempest saw a new dawn in sea travel. It was written in 1611, two years after the ill-fated journey of the Sea Adventure to Virginia. This early attempt a colonisation was doubtless an influence Shakespeare's storyline in The Tempest. It is unlikely that Shakespeare consciously included this colonial theme in his writing, as there is only circumstantial evidence of a colonialist reading. However, we can further explore this theme by looking at the relationships of Prospero, the supposed 'colonist', with Ariel and Caliban, the assumed natives.

The relationship between Prospero and his deformed slave is obviously a tempestuous one. Caliban is an unusual character in that he claims ownership of an island he may not be native to.  He quite obviously resents Prospero's mastery of the island and indeed himself.  Prospero has his own grievances with Caliban, who attempted to rape his daughter Miranda.  Caliban shows no remorse or guilt over his actions and even adds insult to injury by claiming he regrets not being successful,

"O ho, O ho!  Would't had been done!

Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled else

This isle with Calibans."

(1, 2, 349-51)

        Whether Caliban can actually be seen as a native is unclear.  He certainly seems to fill the credentials for the European stereotype of the New World native. His initial presentation, his receptiveness to alcohol and his kinship with nature are very much akin to the European perception of the native Indians. But, on the other hand, Caliban's physical description and apparel are clearly European - he wears a 'gabardine' and appears more as an, 'Old World wild man' according to Anne Skura.  He has a definite affinity with nature and the island, but his mother - the witch Sycorax was no native. If Shakespeare wanted the reader to see Caliban as a native, he was very indistinct in his presentation of the character. Caliban could be seen as both an Old World monster and a New World native. My general consensus is with Skura. Most of the critics that support the colonialist interpretation tend to ignore Caliban’s obvious European traits and rationalise them to create a ‘Native Caliban’.

Join now!

        Could Caliban be the personification of the fear many Europeans had of strangers?  He is certainly what many of them would expect to find in the New World.  He is described as a 'beast' or a 'monster' on countless occasions. Caliban's character never fails to surprise.  The view that natives were languageless and uneducated is shattered by the fact that Prospero and Miranda have taught Caliban the fundamentals of language.  Caliban's somewhat 'evil' nature compels him to use it to curse - throwing back the good that Prospero has done him,

“You taught me language, and my profit ...

This is a preview of the whole essay