The Tempest Discovery Essay

Prospero is the most central character in Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’. The play revolves around his personal task to regain his dukedom, which his brother Antonio usurped from him. Throughout the play it is shown how Prospero develops and changes as a character and seems a different person to the character we first meet in Act One Scene Two. How Prospero’s character develops happens in a variety of ways, one of the most potent ways appearing to be the treatment of the other characters within the play.

Through Negritude in which Césaire’s Caliban is able to identify the injustice that is brought upon him by Prospero’s tyrannical rule, “without you? I’d be king, that’s what I’d be”. Caliban’s awareness of Prospero’s unnatural rule is supported by Caliban’s words of resistance, “I’ve had just about enough” (A Tempest. 1. 2). However, in comparison to Shakespeare’s Caliban, Caliban comments in an ‘aside’ of Prospero’s power, “I must obey. His art is of such power” (The Tempest. 1. 2), emphasising his actions to submit to Prospero rather than challenge him. Caliban’s powerlessness is further emphasised in his encounter with Stephano and Trinculo in which his first sentence was out of exasperation and plea, “Do not torment me! O!” (The Tempest. 2.

The Tempest, considered by many to be Shakespeare’s farewell to the theatre, has of all his plays the most remarkable interpretive richness. The exceptional flexibility of Shakespeare’s stage is given particular prominence in The Tempest due to its originality and analytic potential, in particular in the presentation of one of his most renowned and disputed characters, Caliban. Superficially portrayed in the play as a most detestable monster, Caliban does not evoke much sympathy. However, on further examination Caliban presents himself as an extremely complex character and soon his apparent monstrosity is not so obviously transparent. The diverse range of presentations of him on stage exemplifies Caliban’s multifarious character.

"You taught me language and my profit on't/ Is, I know how to curse" (363-4). Shakespeare's Caliban, though,  is concerned as much with revenge as he is his own freedom. Through his ability to speak a European tongue, Caliban is able to persuade Stephano and Trinculo to attempt to overthrow Prospero. In the end, the attempt fails miserably. Caliban begs for forgiveness and Prospero's power is essentially unchallenged. Prospero as teacher, slave owner, father, and Duke dictates the outcome of the play.

       The Tempest is a classic example of Shakespeare’s dichotomized notions of right and wrong within the context of racial inherencies, a social commentary of the colonialism of the New World. An important theme in the play is the racial differentiation between Caliban and the other antagonists, primarily, Prospero, who comes to the island and enslaves Caliban to enforce his own rule. This relationship, as portrayed through the play, is a reflection of the historical social and racial tensions that existed between the colonizers of New Europe and the Native Americans and is illustrated through the language employed by Shakespeare and the interactions that take place between the characters. The Tempest

Throughout William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Caliban, as the native, is treated as an inferior by Prospero and Stephano, the colonists. However, comparing The Tempest to European colonialist attitudes in the Elizabethan era provokes a 21st century audience to re-examine why Caliban is perceived as a monster. Caliban’s addiction to alcohol, his worship of Stephano, and his plot to kill Prospero are perceived as savage, yet upon further examination, are merely a way of coping with his fate, rather than a display of his intrinsically primitive nature. Parallels between Elizabethan colonialism and Caliban’s relationship with Prospero and Stephano make evident the fact that Caliban is inherently noble and the true victim of The Tempest.

The Tempest In William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Prospero Owned two slaves, Ariel and Caliban. Ariel is a spirit Prospero set free from a tree and Caliban a devil looking creature was enslaved by Prospero because he tried to rape Miranda, Prospero’s daughter. Both slaves, Ariel and Caliban strive for power and freedom.

As stated by Deborah Willis in her article Shakespeare's Tempest and the Discourse of Colonialism, “Prospero dominates this play in a way few Shakespearean characters do in others” (279), though with that being said the play does not favor him nor does it endorse his treatment and abuse of the Islands natives, but simply accepts it as is. Prospero does this through his overall power seen continually throughout the play, and it is this idea of power that divides the colonizer from the colonized or in this case Prospero from Caliban and Ariel. Furthermore, an example of this abused use of power can be seen in act 1 scene 2, when Prospero reminds Ariel of the kindness he has shown, “Dost thou forget/From what a torment I did free thee?” (1.2.299-300) in saying this Prospero reminds Ariel that he owes his freedom to Prospero and therefore his servitude. Furthermore, the relationship struggle for dominance between Prospero and Caliban is highly apparent in Act 3 Scene 2, when Caliban the original ruler of the island, explains that Prospero is an intruder and has betrayed his trust and initial welcome by enslaving him, in order to rule the Island himself, “I say by sorcery he got this isle;/From me he got it. If thy greatness will, /Revenge it on him, for I know thou dar'st,/But this thing dare not.” (3.2.59-62).

The Tempest by William Shakespeare was a play that drew influences from European colonization at the time to create a story of exile, domination, and redemption. While the play’s plot is about Prospero’s desire to exact revenge upon his brother and the King of Naples, there is much to be discussed in regards to Prospero and his relationship with Caliban as his master. Caliban is, for the most part, a very one-dimensional and static character that only serves to ensure Prospero and his daughter Miranda survive on their island. Aime Cesaire, a Martinican playwright and poet, authors his own reinterpretation of The Tempest and shifts the audience’s attention from Prospero’s vengeance to Caliban and his relationship to Prospero. In his reinterpretation,

The impact of the Islamic world is quite clear in some of Shakespeare`s plays. Some of the Shakespearean plays are similar to some stories found in the Arabic heritage like the stories of the Arabian Nights. The similarity can be seen through the themes tackled in both Shakespeare`s play and some stories in the Arabian Nights. The use of the devil and magic which is apparent in The Tempest has its roots in the Arabian Nights. This similarity can be taken as an indication that Shakespeare was very close to the Arabic culture and even knew about some countries like Iraq and Syria.

            In the history of each character before the opening of The Tempest, there is a further contrast. Caliban's original love for Prospero and Miranda, and his later misdemeanor and subsequent hatred of them, illustrate his fundamental reliance on his senses. Caliban loved Prospero and Miranda because they "made much of me"; and his response to this was purely sensual in his

William Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest, encompasses the universal theme of power and identifies its subclasses. Evident subclasses include; the desirable power among men, legitimate power, powers of magic and saucery and power through coercion. The main protagonist Prospero is the only character, who embodies all representations of power throughout the play; Prospero maintains power through coercion by threatening his supernatural abilities. In act one, scene two both of Prospero’s slaves, Caliban and Ariel are introduced to the audience, however Caliban is not as cheerful in servitude as Ariel; this is because Prospero befriended Caliban, educated him and then enslaved him after he had attempted to rape Prospero’s daughter Miranda. This

The Tempest is a play that has a theme of nature and civilization. It has a strong theme that deals with issues of colonizer and the colonized. While to many people this play may simply be just a play, it really has a story of what happens when nature and civilization collide. The character Caliban represents a being of pure nature. The character Prospero is civilization. These characters can also be seen as the colonized and the colonizer. The relationship they have is very complex and is a constant struggle, much like any relationship between a colonizer and colonized. It questions what is pure nature? Is it savage and monster like, as Caliban is? In this paper I will examine the relationship between Caliban

In the beginning of the play, Prospero torments his slaves, leaving them to loathe Prospero for the cruel acts he subjects them to. With a hunger for dominance over the island, Prospero keeps his two slaves, Caliban and Ariel, captured under his foot demanding that they follow his bidding. After taking over Caliban’s island, left for him by his mother Sycorax, Prospero enslaves Caliban and tortures him.

Shakespeare demonstrates that inequality exists in society, and that it is human nature to fight for one’s rights and freedoms. When Prospero conquers the island, he enslaves the native, Caliban, who is the son of the evil witch Sycorax