Soon, Caliban begs to show Stephano the island and even asks to lick his shoe. Caliban repeats the mistakes he claims to curse. Despite his savage demeanor and grotesque appearance, however, Caliban has a nobler, more sensitive side that the audience is only allowed to glimpse briefly, and which Prospero and Miranda do not acknowledge at all. His beautiful speeches about his island home provide some of the most affecting imagery in the play, reminding the audience that Caliban really did occupy the island before Prospero came, and that he may be right in thinking his enslavement to be monstrously unjust.
Whether or not one accepts this allegory, Caliban remains one of the most intriguing and ambiguous minor characters in all of Shakespeare, a sensitive monster who allows himself to be transformed into a fool. Like Caliban so the argument goes , colonized peoples were disinherited, exploited, and subjugated. Like him, they learned a conqueror's language and perhaps that conqueror's values.
Like him, they endured enslavement and contempt by European usurpers and eventually rebelled. Like him, they were torn between their indigenous culture and the culture superimposed on it by their conquerors. Shakespeare's Caliban: A Cultural History , This interpretation of Caliban can be pretty powerful and socially relevant, especially in film and stage productions where Caliban is portrayed as a colonized, New World subject.
Yet, it's also important to remember, as Vaughan and Vaughan point out, that this "interpretation of Caliban is symbolic for what he represents to the observer, not for what Shakespeare may have had in mind.
Regardless of whether or not we read Caliban as a victim of colonial injustice, he's most definitely a slave and, in some ways, the play suggests he was born to be one. Miranda or Prospero, depending on which edition of the play you're reading says as much when she points out that she helped teach Caliban language:. When thou didst not, savage, Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like A thing most brutish, I endowed thy purposes With words that made them known.
But thy vile race, Though thou didst learn, had that in 't which good natures Could not abide to be with. Therefore wast thou Deservedly confined into this rock, Who hadst deserved more than a prison.
In other words, Miranda suggests that Caliban's "vile race" and lack of language makes him deserving of his status as a slave. This, of course, is exactly what European imperialists said about the people they colonized.
What's interesting is that even Caliban seems like he lives to serve. When he conspires with Stefano and Trinculo to kill Prospero, he promises to serve Stefano:. I'll show thee every fertile inch o' th' island, And I will kiss thy foot. I prithee, be my god. Parents Home Homeschool College Resources. Study Guide. On one hand, his grotesque appearance and misguided decision-making may cause us to side with the other characters. Caliban does make a number of regretful decisions, after all.
For example, he puts his trust in Stefano and makes a fool of himself with drink. He is also rather savage in devising his plot to kill Prospero though no more savage than Prospero is in setting the hounds upon him. On the other hand, however, our sympathies are brought out by Caliban's passion for the island and desire to be loved.
His knowledge of the land demonstrates his native status. As such, it's fair to say that he has been unfairly enslaved by Prospero, and that makes us view him with more compassion. Ultimately, Caliban is not as simple as most of the characters would have you believe. He is a complex and sensitive being whose naivete often leads him to foolishness.
In many ways, Caliban's character serves as both a mirror and contrast to other characters in the play. In his sheer brutality, he reflects the darker side of Prospero, and his desire to rule the island mirrors Antonio's ambition which led to his overthrow of Prospero. Caliban's plot to murder Prospero also mirrors Antonio and Sebastian's plot to kill Alonso. Like Ferdinand, Caliban finds Miranda beautiful and desirable.
But here is where he becomes a point of contrast. Ferdinand's traditional approach to courtship is very different from Caliban's attempt to rape Miranda in order to "people the isle with Calibans. Character attributes. Friends and enemies. Changes in character. Caliban is the only native of the island that we meet. It is unclear whether he is a man or a monster and as such this character has been performed in many different ways over time. In the past he has attempted to attack Miranda, and she cannot bear to even look at him.
He plots with the drunken Trinculo and Stephano to murder Prospero.
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