The real monster in The Tempest is Prospero rather than Caliban" With particular reference to the interpretation of Prospero as a symbol of European colonialism, discuss his treatment of Ariel and Caliban.

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The real monster in The Tempest is Prospero rather than Caliban" With particular reference to the interpretation of Prospero as a symbol of European colonialism, discuss his treatment of Ariel and Caliban.

"The real monster in The Tempest is Prospero rather than Caliban" With particular reference to the interpretation of Prospero as a symbol of European colonialism, discuss his treatment of Ariel and Caliban.

In Shakespeare's The Tempest, Prospero can be seen as a coloniser. Although he himself was forced onto the island, he was quick to impose both his beliefs and his self-proclaimed authority over the island's natural inhabitants. This self-appointed ruler however, is not the legitimate sovereign of the island. The native Caliban is the natural landlord of the isle, as it was passed down through his mother Sycorax. Yet Prospero rules over the island. In taking charge of an island that is not his, and then exerting his authority over the inhabitants through his magic, Prospero is obviously a metaphor for European colonial power, with which Shakespeare was becoming increasingly familiar during his lifetime with accounts of sea-men and expeditions splashed all over the covers of the broadsheets. In the Elizabethan Zeitgeist, Prospero would have the right to dominate and exploit Caliban because Prospero would view himself as a superior being with the right to take control of the inferior. This is the rationale Europeans used in the 17th century to dominate and exploit the native populations of emerging colonies.

In Patricia Seed's article, Caliban and Native Title: This Island's Mine, she makes reference to this idea, stating that the Elizabethan claims over the island (Prospero) do not apply to Caliban, and she sees Caliban as a metaphor for piracy. She goes on to say that over time, pirates lay claim to land that they settled on during bad weather. Henry Morgan- an infamous English pirate during the late 17th century seized Jamaica, and laid an illegal claim on the land. This was done only ten years after The Tempest was written.

Beginning with William Hazlitt (1818) many critics have seen The Tempest as a critique of European colonialism. Prospero is a colonist seizing the land of the natives and imposing European values, attitudes and the rule of European society upon them. This interpretation has been increasingly popular in North America.

The key character, with which the colonial characteristics of Prospero become obscenely clear, is Caliban. An island native who regards himself as the rightful owner of the island, he is forced against his will to serve Prospero and his daughter Miranda despite constant outbursts of his unwillingness to do so. At first, Prospero takes Caliban under his wing, teaching him language, but this relationship of father/son or teacher/student is quickly dispelled when Caliban tries to rape Miranda, and so Caliban condemns himself to a life of misery under Prospero. This is Prospero's primary justification for the life of torment that Caliban now endures, but is this sufficient justification?

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Although Caliban has committed a foul act against Miranda, in my opinion this does not give Prospero the right to mistreat Caliban in such a way. The apparent lack of empathy for Caliban on Prospero's part seems somewhat cold-hearted. With a young daughter of his own, he should be able to sympathise with Caliban. Caliban has endured more than most with the loss of his mother, and now the usurpation of the island. Motherless and homeless, he poses no threat whatsoever to Prospero. It perplexes me that Prospero reacts in such a way, as he and Ariel could soon put ...

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