When he is shown kindness he is very appreciative. This may be because his parents didn’t show him any love or affection; it makes his judgement clouded when he is shown gratitude from anyone. Caliban says “When thou cam’st first thou strok’st me and made much of me”, he misses this. His loneliness since his mother died ended when he was shown affection by Prospero.
Caliban has an appreciation for beauty and the world around him. Caliban tells Stephano when he first arrived on the island that “The isle is full of noises, sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not”; he is defensive of his home. This may have been his only comfort when he was alone on the island.
Caliban is attracted to Miranda and thinks of her as a goddess, with whom he wishes to have children. He is lustful towards her and cannot control his animal instincts. He wanted to populate the “isle with Caliban's”.
He has a poetic nature about him that helps the reader to imagine the scene. He says “sometimes a thousand twangling instruments will hum about mine ears”. However greed is also in his nature. When he wants something he becomes irrational and will do anything to get it. Caliban says he would “swear upon that bottle to be thy true subject”. He shows that he is being truthful because he swears on something, which he believes to be godly, “the liquor is not earthly”.
Sometimes Caliban chooses to be unresponsive to Prospero, which makes him seem lazy and slothful to the reader. He is most likely frustrated with his life of service; he must be tired of living souly to serve Prospero and his daughter Miranda. Caliban’s attitude is made clear when he tells Prospero “there’s wood enough within” for the fire. He is disrespectful to Prospero and shows that he is tired with the monotonous nature of his life.
The reader at first feels compassion and sympathy for Caliban until we discover he has a dark, brutal and violent side to his personality. He plans to “knock a nail” into Prospero’s head to stop the ‘torment’ he has been subjected to. He believes that Prospero owes him the island. When Caliban is arguing with Prospero he says, “this island’s mine by Sycorax my mother”.
Caliban shows stupidity when he thinks he can get away with murder when Prospero shows great power, he is definitely more powerful than Caliban. We know that he doesn’t have the power to harm Prospero by himself, so all he can do is dream about that day. He wants “all the infections that the sun sucks up from bogs, fens and flats on Prosper fall”. This comment may have influence from his parents because of their past. Some would say this anger and contempt is in his nature.
From another perspective Caliban shows some intelligence and cunning when he plans to take Prospero’s books away so that he can’t use any spells to change his ‘fate’. He tells Stephano and Trinculo to “first possess his books, for without then he is but a sot” his powers are rendered useless without them.
Caliban is like ‘a bear with a sore head’ he is disillusioned and believes he has power, however he feels sorry for himself and that power is somewhat shadowed by Prospero. He isn’t able to show this frustration to Prospero. He believes that the island is his and tells Prospero this. “This island’s mine by Sycorax my mother”. However Caliban never seems to act on this belief, as though something is holding him back. He isn’t able to take the island for himself because inside he is scared of Prospero, showing that Prospero is more powerful than him. Caliban seems to rely on his mother for support and defence of his actions. He clings to the only security he has ever known. He says “all the charms of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you!”
The Relationship Between Caliban and Prospero
When Prospero first came to the island he treated Caliban like a pet that was also there to be his servant. He bribed Caliban, like people do to pets to get to co-operate. Caliban reminds Prospero that “when thou cam’st first, thou strok’st me and made much of me”. Prospero did this and in return Caliban showed Prospero “all the qualities o’th’isle”. Prospero then took advantage of Caliban’s good nature and eventually treated him as a slave.
At the very beginning though he respected Caliban and tried to teach him to be civilised and how to speak to him in his language. Miranda “took pains to make” Caliban speak. She herself calls him a slave, when she is trying to make him feel bad about himself she calls him an “abhorred slave”.
However this good relationship quickly disintegrated when Caliban committed a crime. He tried to “violate the honour” of Miranda because he wanted “the isle to be filled with Caliban s”. Prospero is still punishing him severely for this betrayal of trust, even for small mistakes. When Caliban does not obey orders Prospero shouts and says “For this, be sure, tonight thou shalt have cramps, side stitches that shall pen thy breath up” to make sure that he does not do it again.
Prospero believes that Caliban will not take any “print of goodness” and that he will not be able to be civil because of who he is. Because Caliban has been able to commit a crime without remorse or the decency to apologise, in the past, Prospero believes that Caliban is “capable of all ill”.
Caliban has a bad attitude with and to Prospero because he is full of malevolence and rage. He cannot contain his anger and curses Prospero, “the red plague rid you for learning me your language”. Caliban believes that it is Prospero’s fault that he is disappointed in Caliban for taking on an impossible task. Trying to change Caliban.
Caliban is a disappointment in Prospero’s eyes because he has been like a pupil of humanity to him and he has failed his mentor. Prospero says, “I pitied thee, took pains to make thee speak” when he and Caliban were having a conflict at the beginning of the play.
Caliban complies with what Prospero wants because he is more powerful than Caliban. Prospero threatens him by telling him that he will “rack thee with old cramps, fill thy bones with aches, make thee roar, that beasts should tremble in thy din”. Caliban has no choice but to accept his orders and to carry them out.
Prospero and Caliban hate each other. The only difference is, is that Caliban wants Prospero dead, whereas Prospero wants to torment Caliban for the rest of his life. Prospero’s contempt for Caliban is clear when he calls him “thou tortoise” and “thou poisonous snake”. Prospero tortures Caliban into subjection, by behaving appallingly to him. Prospero makes him beg not to be tortured. Caliban calls out “I prithee” in a pitiful manner when Prospero tortures him. He wants to make sure that he falls into line.
Caliban continues to disappoint Prospero when he plots to kill him. This makes the reader think that Caliban is a monster, through and through. An act that got him punished severely again. Prospero sent the spirits under his command to chase Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo, in the form of dogs. Prospero tells the spirits to “go, charge my goblins”. He enjoys the power he has here.
Caliban tries to seek Prospero’s trust after he has betrayed him. He says, “I’ll be wise hereafter, and seek for grace”. He tells Prospero that he was stupid to make this alcoholic butler, who drowns his sorrows regularly, a god. Prospero is the overall winner.
Conclusion
I think that there is a reason for every action on this island, no matter how ludicrous the action is. Caliban plotting to murder Prospero is a prime example. He did it because of hatred for Prospero.
This is a mystical and unpredictable island that seems to have an effect on everyone on the island. People seem to make ill-considered and irrational decisions. When Sebastian and Antonio are the only ones left awake they plot to kill their king, Alonzo. Also when Caliban meets Stephano and Trinculo they plan to murder Prospero. Perhaps within the island’s beauty and idyllic scenes there is a bad quality embedded in its soil.
This is an island full of chaos, not always the traditional noisy and brutal chaos, and the only one who seems to be in control in all-tense situations is Miranda. She seems to be a calming influence on both Caliban and Prospero, and is able to de-fuse heated discussions. Even when Alonzo’s ship was sinking in the distance she kept calm and asked her father to settle the waters. She was able to think of the solution as well as the tragedy.
It is ironic that Miranda is the calming influence because she is also the cause of most disputes on the island. Prospero hates Caliban for what he did to Miranda. Caliban hates Prospero for the way he has been treated as a result of his actions regarding Miranda. When Caliban plots to kill Prospero he uses Miranda as a bargaining point with Stephano and Prospero found out about this from Ariel. This made Prospero’s contempt and disapproval of Caliban increase. It seems Prospero has a personal vendetta to settle with Caliban. Some people would say that statutory rape deserves the death penalty. This would have been too easy in Prospero’s eyes. He wants Caliban to suffer the way that he and Miranda have since they were banished from Milan. Some of the anger from this event may be fuelling Prospero’s temper and criminal mind.
The irony in this play may be what makes it so enjoyable and imaginative to the reader.