How far does Prospero's judgement on Caliban seem fair to you?

“A devil, a born devil, on whose nature

Nurture can never stick; on whom my pains,

Humanely taken are lost, quite lost.

And so with age his body uglier grows,

So his mind cankers.” (IV.I. 188-192)

How far does Prospero’s judgement on Caliban seem fair to you?

Becky Harris 12G2

Prospero’s judgement on Caliban changes considerably throughout ‘The Tempest.’ However Caliban is always referred to as of a much lower status than Prospero, such as “poisonous slave” and “dull thing.” In the lines 188-192, act four, scene one, Prospero’s judgement on Caliban is possibly the most scathing throughout the entirety of the play.

In act one, scene two, we are first introduced to Caliban by Prospero, who describes him as a slave, with “We’ll visit Caliban, my slave, who never yields us kind answer.” Here, Prospero’s judgement on Caliban is fair, as Caliban is just treated as a slave of Prospero throughout the play. “He does make our fire, Fetch in our wood, and serves in offices that profit us.” All of what Prospero tells us is true, and it is almost as if Prospero is grateful for Caliban’s services with the line “that profit us.” I believe that Prospero treats Caliban with such harshness so he can keep him where he is, and so that he has complete control over him; “Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself upon thy wicked dam, come forth!” Making references to the “devil” gives off an impression of the supernatural in Caliban and his mother, Sycorax, who was a witch. Joseph Warton says the following concerning Caliban in his critical essay ‘Remarks on the creation of character’; “His execrations are artfully contrived to have reference to the occupations of his mother.” Another critic, John Dryden, says in his critical essay ‘The character of Caliban’ that Caliban; “Has all the discontents, and malice of a witch, and of a devil.” I believe that Prospero could almost feel threatened by this as there is constant reference to power and magic concerning Prospero throughout; “Lie there, my art.” This could be a reason for Prospero’s continual harsh treatment of Caliban, and here I think that Prospero’s judgement on Caliban is fair.

Along with the character Prospero making continual judgements on Caliban, Shakespeare also makes judgement on him through the voice of Prospero, and at times it is difficult to distinguish the point where Shakespeare merges into Prospero. Joseph Warton says the following of Shakespeare’s portrayal of Caliban in his critical essay ‘Remarks on the creation of character’; “Our poet (Shakespeare) has painted the brutal barbarity and unfeeling savageness of this son of Sycorax, by making him enumerate, with a kind of horrible delight.” I agree with this criticism as Caliban is an enumerate beast and is a menacing ...

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Along with the character Prospero making continual judgements on Caliban, Shakespeare also makes judgement on him through the voice of Prospero, and at times it is difficult to distinguish the point where Shakespeare merges into Prospero. Joseph Warton says the following of Shakespeare’s portrayal of Caliban in his critical essay ‘Remarks on the creation of character’; “Our poet (Shakespeare) has painted the brutal barbarity and unfeeling savageness of this son of Sycorax, by making him enumerate, with a kind of horrible delight.” I agree with this criticism as Caliban is an enumerate beast and is a menacing character. For example, he has the capability to speak lyrically, but does so using vulgar language; “As wicked dew as e’er my mother brushed, With raven’s feather from unwholesome fen, Drop on you both.” Caliban was educated by Prospero and of his education he says “You taught me language, and my profit on’t is, I know how to curse.” The repeated idea of Caliban’s incapability to speak without cursing is shown in act two, scene two, where he says “And yet I needs must curse.” The critic Joseph Warton says the following regarding Caliban’s language and intellectual qualities in his essay, ’Remarks on the creation of character’;”he has the dawnings of understanding without reason or the moral sense, cursing Prospero and Miranda, and in him, as in some brute animals, this advance to the intellectual faculties, without the moral sense, is marked by the appearance of vice.”

Other characters in the play also offer their judgements of Caliban, which I believe are ultimately justified and fair. Stephano and Trinculo are the two characters most likened to Caliban, as they are drunk, which gives then animal qualities which are mostly attached to Caliban. Trinculo describes Caliban as a “strange beast” and “an abominable monster,” leaving Stephano to describe Caliban as a “strange monster.” These descriptions lead us to the conclusion that Caliban is monstrous, as these degrading descriptions come from two characters of the lower classes and are two classic comedy characters; a jester and a drunken butler. Other views of Caliban come from Miranda who says “Abhorred slave, being capable of all ill…….But thy vile race though thou didst learn had that in’t good natures.” These judgements on Caliban from Miranda show just how vile a character Caliban is.

We understand this because Miranda is sweet-natured, often speaking mellifluously and she is a character who sympathises with others in the play; just as she sympathises with the mariners on the boat in act one, scene two, when she says “poor souls, they perished.”

The themes of colonisation and imperialisation are clearly present when studying Caliban’s character. ‘The Tempest’ was written at a time when England was just beginning to impose herself upon other states and nations in the name of trade. Prospero’s treatment of Caliban is possibly a critique of the way in which the English colonised. It is almost as if Caliban is presented like a figure of black slavery. Caliban is almost an anagram of Cannibal, and this idea of colonisation would seem relevant with the continual reference to Caliban being a “slave.”

Prospero’s judgement on Caliban is very severe, and although I do believe that Caliban is a hideous creation of a character, I recognise that he masks certain parts of his character when he shows his softer side and where the education inflicted upon him by Prospero is used positively. We notice this softer side when Caliban says, in act three, scene two; “In dreaming, the clouds methought would open, and show riches / Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked/ I cried to dream again.” This shows that Caliban also has traces of innocence and in some sense, almost childlike qualities.

I believe that Prospero’s judgement on Caliban is so very harsh because Prospero’s effectiveness is more limited with the sinners of the play; Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo. Caliban serves Prospero perforce under threats, but he still remains, however, despite formidable physical intimidation and the attempts at education and humanisation “a devil, a born evil.” At the very end of the play, Caliban does determine to be “wise hereafter / And seek for grace.” These two lines do not take Caliban very far in the directions of reason and self-control which Prospero had in mind as we are not sure whether Caliban means what he says or whether he has been well educated by Propsero and from this education springs the recognition to say what would be deemed as an appropriate, correct and gracious comment.

E.M.W Tillyard uses the lines “Two of these fellows / you must know and own; this thing of darkness I / Acknowledge mine” in her critical essay ‘ The tragic pattern’ and says this of them; “ The last words express all Prospero’s old bitterness that Caliban has resisted him and refused to respond to his nurture.” I think that at the end of the play, as at its beginning, Caliban is still as Prospero describes him, a “thing of darkness.”

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