‘undoubtedly brutal, yet oddly sensitive’ by exploring the dramatic presentation of Caliban evaluate this view’
Caliban is an original inhabitant of the island and is the bastard son of the witch Sycorax, he can also be portrayed as the devil. He is a base and earthy slave, who appreciates the beauty of the island. It is possible to argue that Caliban is “undoubtedly brutal” down to the obsession he has over the island, it means so much to him, he continuously repeats “mine” when he describes the island, his aggressive tone of language used, portrays a brutality which he radiates, he is so adamant that the island is his therefore if anyone says otherwise he becomes bitter. It can also be argued that Caliban is “oddly sensitive” some of these actions include his poetic language used in speeches about the island, his naturistic imagery “The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and fertile.” His emotive language shows passion, sensitivity and his affection to the island, showing how he isn’t as brutal as it seems.
Caliban is described as “unhuman” by many characters in the tempest, his monster like presence creates an uneasy and brutal way about him, particularly in Jacobean times an audience would feel repulsed over the sight of him, appearance determined your nature disfigurement would mean evilness. Clifford Williams portrays Caliban as a disformed man, he looks physically inferior to other characters on the island, the island would be able to see this change. In act 1 scene 2 we learn that Caliban rapes Miranda, this makes him much more brutal as the audience is now aware of what he is capable of. Prospero shows how he treated Caliban with “human care, and lodged thee in mine own cell, till thou didst seek to violate the honour of my child.” Caliban responds laughing and agrees saying “wouldn’t had been done! thou didst prevent me.” The way Caliban laughs show how he is careless to the situation and is proud for his brutality towards Miranda. Caliban then continues to show how he wished to “peopled else this isle with Caliban’s’ the plural “peopled” shows how he would do this hideous act of rape repeatedly with no remorse if it meant he could achieve his ultimate goal, to rule the island. ‘tis a villain sir, I do not love to look on’ Miranda obviously is uncomfortable with the presence of him and is discussed she calls him a ‘villain’ suggesting he is evil and twisted. Miranda may be hurt to the way Caliban is so rude towards her, she has invested her time in his education, teaching him how to speak their language, the way Caliban just disregards her show his selfishness toward the people who took him in. at the time the tempest was wrote Caliban would be label as a ‘savage’ “white man burden” therefore he should be great full that he was given the opportunity to be able to communicate with others around him, instead his brutal attitude is not great full and in fact he uses his language in an aggressive nature. Caliban fights fire with f...
