Prospero-Caliban Relationship In: The Tempest

Prospero-Caliban relationship
in The Tempest
Md Jahidul Azad
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Prime University
 The Tempest, by Shakespeare, offers the
reader a variety of themes. The one
theme that stands out the most is that of
colonialism. The play begins with the
protagonist exiled to the unknown
destination; to the island of the
Caribbean, where Prospero practices all
the typical phase wise process of
colonization; capturing the land, animals
and the resources and finally people
through the teaching of the language
and culture.
 Although Prospero has traditionally been
seen as a European who tried to help the
"monster" Caliban become more civilized, in
recent decades their relationship has been
understood as that of the colonizer and the
colonized. In Act I, scene 2, Caliban
describes how Prospero first treated him
with kindness when he was shipwrecked on
the island:
 "When thou cam'st first [when you first
came]/Thou strok'st and madest much of

me, wouldst give me/Water with berries...
 The relationship between Prospero and
Caliban is a perfect demonstration of the
dependence relationship between a
colonizer and the native of whichever
colony he set his eye upon. Colonialism
was a subject easily related to by
Shakespeare's contemporary audience;
with James on the throne the British
Empire was beginning to thrive and would
soon become the largest in not only the
17th Century world, but one of the largest
in history.
 At the time The Tempest was first
preformed, 1611, Britain had begun to
lay claim to North America and the
smaller Caribbean isles, a fact the
King was no doubt proud of and,
similarly to his addition of the
supernatural (a subject that fascinated
James), aiming to impress
Shakespeare chose to make
colonialism a central theme in 'The
Tempest'.
 Within his portrayal of Prospero,
Shakespeare skillfully displays this
character as the embodiment of all
characteristics that defined the true
colonizers; strength, power, and of
course the intense control of all
relationships and land he is invested in.
Although these characteristics can be
seen in all Prospero’s actions and
interactions it is those with his subject,
Caliban, which present them most
clearly.
 From the moment in Act I, Scene II
when Prospero first references
Caliban, “a freckled whelp hag-born –
not honored with a human shape,” it
becomes clear the low opinion
Prospero has of him, and this opinion
would’ve been shared by the vast
majority of Shakespeare’s
contemporary audience.
 Shakespeare’s use of imagery at this
point gives the suggestion that
Prospero thinks of Caliban as little
more than a pet dog, an image
Caliban himself emphasizes at a later
stage in the scene when he says,
“Thou strok’st me,”. Shakespeare uses
animal imagery upon multiple
occasions, such as when Prospero
calls Caliban a tortoise, or when other
characters refer to him as a ‘fish’.
 Caliban’s reactions to Prospero within
this scene, both verbal and physical, tell
the typical story of a native people who
have been under Colonial rule for some
time. When he is initially summoned
Caliban’s response is hesitant and
churlish, as the stage directions dictate
that he does not come when called, but
instead shouts in a presumptuous
manner, “(Calling from the far side of
Prospero’s cave) There’s wood enough
within!”
 This suggests Caliban is used to
being wanted only for manual
labor, such as fetching wood. This
would’ve been typical of a native
in Caliban’s position – one for
whom the façade originally
presented by the colonizer had
fallen.
 Prospero intimidates and belittles Caliban and
Ariel to have the supremacy over the noble
savage Caliban and timid Aerial almost though
out the play. It is completely unacceptable to
the readers of the post colonial era to find out
Prospero’s ugly command: “Hagseed, hence!
Fetch us in fuel, couple with the ugly threat:
If thou neglect, or dost unwillingly
What I command, I’ll rack thee with old cramps’
Fill all thy bones with aches, make thee roar
That beast shall tremble at thy din. (Act I, ii,
371-74).
 Caliban is frustrated from the very
beginning with the oppressive attitude of
his dictator master Prospero. He makes
his entry in Act I cursing his oppressor,
‘this island is mine, by Sycorax my mother
which thou takest from me’ (Act I, ii. 333-
334). He lets his suppressed emotions
burst out like a dormant volcano to
express his disgust and frustration. He
loathes his confinement in the hard rock
somewhere while Prospero keeps the
whole island to himself.
 European sense of superiority goes
along with the ill attitude of the
colonizer Prospero in the play ‘The
Tempest.’ Though Prospero is resting
his white man’s burden by teaching
Caliban to walk, to talk English and to
civilize, to cook food and eat and
dress up, he is strongly posing himself
with the sense of superiority over the
natural, pure and uncorrupted Caliban
of the island.
 He hates the island and is openly critical
about the island calling it ‘poor sail’ and
‘poor colt’ and he frequently addresses
Caliban a ‘wretched.’ He uses his
European lens to judge Caliban where he
finds himself superior and ‘the other’
inferior. Caliban regrets over his own
deeds; making Prospero convenient and
more exploitative and curses himself.
Caliban is very puny and servile and tries
to seek freedom just to enslave him to
other tyrant colonizers.
 Thus, we can say that the
relationship between Prospero; the
colonizer and the Caliban; the
colonized was never smooth as
from the very beginning as Prospero
intimidated, use the rule of force
and carried the air of his own art,
culture and literature and failed to
see and appreciate the true beauty
of the island and noble savage;
Caliban.
 On the other hand Caliban felt
that he was always oppressed and
was exploited. He was a conscious
person with no refinements of
artificiality. He was always looking
for the opportunity to regain his
sovereign and was very abusive all
the time and finally got what he
always wanted ‘freedom’ to be
true self in his native island.
Thank you

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Prospero-Caliban relationship

came]/Thou strok'st and madest much of

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