There were many poor people stood around the stage. Usually there were rowdy crowds. The play had to have dramatic opening in order to attract the audience’s attention. The Shakespeare’s theatre was a open air theatre which would have helped to add on to the drama of the play by the atmosphere that it creates. For example ‘The Tempest’ begins with a storm to grab attention of an audience and if there was a storm at the time, the play would be more realistic.
In Elizabethan’s time women were not allowed to play on stage, because of this young boys whose voices were similar to women were used in theatre.
Shakespeare has always used magical plays to interest his readers. He has always used fairy tale characters like prince, princess, witch and strange creatures to make his plays more interesting and more attractive. As in ‘The Tempest’ which is a magical play he used two creatures, Ariel and Caliban and a witch Prospero.
William Shakespeare had to use such a language to paint a picture of the play in the audience’s mind. As Miranda describes Caliban as a ‘villain’ when she remembers that he tried to rape her. Miranda ‘’T is a villain, sir, I do not love to look on.’ Shakespeare has used this language in this part to create a picture of how ‘villain’ Caliban is.
Caliban is one the characters in ‘The Tempest’. He is half man and half creatures. His name is similar to cannibal. He is a very rude and ugly person. As Prospero describes Caliban as ‘A freckled with A human shape.’ In Elizabethan time, people who had disabilities would have been put in ‘freak shows’ as in a zoo for others to laugh at them and make them funny.
Caliban was born from a witch mother, Sycorax, who used to be in the island, which Prospero was in. Caliban couldn’t talk before Prospero came to that island. He taught Caliban how to talk, but Caliban used the language to swear and curse. He is a satanic person, who is cursing Prospero all the time, because he doesn’t like to be Prospero’s slave. As Prospero tells him ‘Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself Upon thy wicked dam.’ In this sentence Prospero points to Caliban’s father, the devil. Caliban is a reluctant slave, but when he remembers Prospero’s power, he panics and obeys what Prospero says. Caliban used to be free and boss of his own island, but when Prospero arrived to that island he took over the island and made Caliban his own slave. ‘This island ‘s mine, by Sycorax my mother, which thou tak’st from me.’ In this part Caliban complains and tells Prospero that Prospero stole his island from him. He tried to rape Miranda once but he couldn’t succeed. He didn’t even regret the attempted rape, because he wanted children to continue his family line perhaps the animal life and children like himself.
Caliban is a person who is associated with hell and he beats the earth all the time. He is a very angry person and he wants a revenge on Prospero. He likes the nature and he is a child like. Prospero treats him like dirt.
Ariel is a spirit or a fairy creature that flies and obeys Prospero. She is very polite to Prospero as she uses very polite greetings when she appears: ‘All hail, great master! Grave sir, hail!’ this short quotation proves the politeness of Ariel.
Ariel was freed from a tree by Prospero. She was put there by a witch called Sycorax, Caliban’s mother. Ariel is an asexual; it means she is neither a male nor female or could be either! She is one of two slaves of Prospero’s. Her name means peace in Hebrew. She can fly and change shape as a spirit. She is associated with sky and anything to do with flying light and heaven. She is very loyal to Prospero and she does as Prospero tells her. As Prospero ordered Ariel to create a storm to kill his bad brother Antonio, Ariel created a vet violent storm and shipwrecked their boat. She never complains, but there is something that makes her complain to Prospero. Prospero promised her ones day he would free Ariel to go and Ariel wanted to know when that day was.
Prospero (meaning hope) treated Caliban well at first, but then he started to bully him and cause him mental and physical torments, just because he is a power mad. He tries to an over-protective with his daughter Miranda. He keeps her away from men and expects her to remain a virgin. He tests Ferdinand, Miranda’s fiancé, before letting him to take Miranda away.
Prospero treats Ariel well, but keeps him as a slave. He keeps promising to give her her freedom. Overall he treats Ariel better than Caliban. He makes Ariel to work for him like creating a storm or spying on people.
I personally prefer the character Ariel, because she is more powerful than Caliban and she does not curse and neither swears. Unlike Caliban, she is associated with sky and heaven and I think she deserves to be treated better than Caliban by Prospero.
