Question

Prospero refers to Caliban as “A devil, a born devil”. In this context, evaluate the character and role of Caliban in the play.

Answer 1

One of the play’s most intriguing characters is Caliban. He is a natural abnormality, the child of the devil and the sorceress Sycorax. He is a hybrid of a monster and a human. Caliban is now Prospero’s servant or, more precisely, his slave. Caliban showed Prospero every location on the island. He used to bring Prospero and Miranda fruits and clean water. Despite all of the arduous labor he performs for the father and daughter, Caliban is arrogant and disobedient for most of the play. Prospero punishes him with pinches and stitches whenever he rebels, and magic is the only way to keep him under control. Caliban asserts that Prospero has already deceived him and claims the island for himself.

Caliban represents the evil of his mother and initially appears bad, especially when judged by conventional civilized standards. Modern-day analysts interpret the relationship between Prospero and Caliban as that of the colonist and the colonised. He curses Prospero constantly, showing no gratitude for the training and language lessons. However, he has learned only to curse. He has even tried to molest Miranda, and that makes the daughter and father hate him. This is the reason why Prospero refers to him as “born devil”. According to Prospero, “as with age, his body uglier grows; so his mind cankers.”

But as he becomes, one can see a different side of him. poetically portraying the island’s inherent splendor. He doesn’t appear to be cruel or insensitive right now. Like any colonizer, Prospefo feels he is being ungrateful, and he harbors the wrath of a colonized subject over the infringement of their rights. But compared to Stephano and Trinculo, Caliban possesses a superior set of values. Their desire for Prospero’s expensive clothing diverts them from their strategy. Caliban is the only one who understands the pointlessness of such elaboration: “Leave it alone, thou fool, it is but trash.” Caliban is a poor character judge. For instance, because Stephano dispenses “celestial liquor,” he concludes that he is a deity; yet it should be noted that he has known only his mother, Prospero, Miranda, and the spirits tormenting him. Caliban is essentially an innocent person who responds to his physical and emotional needs without fully comprehending the people and events around him. Being illiterate and responding to his environment in a manner similar to that of an animal, he is genuinely a child of nature. Prospero’s remarks might reflect how Europeans felt about the locals in the areas they colonized.