Act One scene two - Caliban

Read lines 306 – 374Can you identify any similarities between Prospero and Caliban?

The Enslaved Caliban (lines 306 – 330)

• How does Shakespeare emphasise Caliban’s position as a slave?

• How does Shakespeare introduce Caliban, Miranda and Prospero’s feelings towards one another?

• How does Shakespeare show Caliban’s rebellious nature?

• How does Prospero oppress Caliban?

Lines 331 - 374• What ideas do you have about Caliban’s use of verse?• Identify poetic imagery in Caliban’s speech. What does

Shakespeare suggest about his ability to appreciate nature?

• Does any other character show such reverence for the island?

• Which line tells us that Caliban’s rage stems from Prospero? How does this reinforce the critical argument that he represents Prospero’s Id?

AO2 – language, structure and form

AO5 – alternative interpretations

Line 350 - 352

Would’t; had been done;Thou didst prevent me, I had peopled else This isle with Calibans.

- Can you identify any echoes between Caliban’s plan and Prospero’s here?

- In what ways might Caliban represent Prospero’s Id?

AO2 – structure

AO1 – critical arguments

Post-colonial interpretations of Caliban

• How might pre-20th century critics have used Caliban to justify colonialism?

• How might 20th century critics use Caliban as a means of exploring Britain’s colonial history?

AO5 – alternative interpretation

How important is Caliban?“Caliban, a poignant but cowardly (and murderous) half-human creature… has become an African-American Freedom Fighter. This is not even a weak misreading; anyone who arrives at that view is simply not interested in reading the play at all. Marxists, multiculturalists, feminists, nouveau historicists – the usual suspects – know their causes but not Shakespeare’s plays.

- Harold Bloom

Bloom also points out that Caliban only speaks about 100 lines in the whole play. Do you agree with Bloom’s view that post-colonial interpretations of the play are invalid?

AO5 – different interpretations

… Furthermore

Critic David Linley argues that Caliban is not an indigenous native, but “rather a first-generation colonist himself. His enslavement by Prospero repeats his mother’s earlier imprisonment of Ariel, who might be considered the island’s “real” indigenous inhabitant.”

AO5 – critical arguments

Homework essay questions

A figure who manages to be almost simultaneously sinister and benevolent.• Evaluate this view of Prospero in Act One of

The Tempest.