The Tempest (Prospero vs. Cali - 1325 Words

The Other in the Tempest In order to understand the characters in a play, we have to be able to distinguish what exactly makes them different. In the case of The Tempest, Caliban, the sub-human slave is governed largely by his senses, making him the animal that he is portrayed to be and Prospero is governed by sound mind, making him human. Caliban responds to nature as his instinct is to follow it. Prospero, on the other hand, follows the art of justifiable rule. Even though it is easy to start assessing The Tempest in view of a colonialist gaze, I have chosen instead to concentrate on viewing Caliban as the monster he is portrayed to be, due to other characters that are not human, but are treated in a more humane fashion than†¦show more content†¦Caliban#8217;s original love for Prospero and Miranda, and his later misdemeanour and subsequent hatred for them, illustrate his fundamental reliance on his senses. Caliban loved Prospero and Miranda because they #8220;made much of me#8221;; and his response to this was purely sensual in his recollections: #8220;Thou strok#8217;st me,#8230;wouldst give me/Water with berries in#8217;t.#8221; What Caliban responded to, more than anything else, was the sensation of pleasure that being loved and petted gave him. The action that caused Caliban to be removed from this position and punished was his attempt to rape Miranda, another example of how he seeks pleasure. Prospero#8217;s position on sexual relations is quite opposite #8211; he tells Ferdinand repeatedly not to take advantage of his daughter, for the obvious reason that rape and taking advantage of someone sexually is considered wrong. This is something Caliban doesn#8217;t seem to understand and further distances himself from the human figures. During The Tempest itself, Prospero and Caliban have two very different purposes. Prospero intends to resolve the injury that was done to Miranda and himself, bloodlessly, by the use of his Art. Caliban#8217;s deares t wish is to depose Prospero by killing him and, rather than resuming rule of the island himself, submit to the rule of Stephano. Caliban#8217;s purpose for attaching himself to Stephano and