Caliban wants revenge on Prospero but is afraid of his magical powers. When Prospero and Miranda arrive on the island, Caliban lives with them as part of the family but when Prospero catches him about to sexually assault Miranda, he throws Caliban out and treats him as a slave. When she died, he was left alone on the island with only the invisible spirits for company. Thus, it can be said that Caliban is beastly, dangerous, untrustworthy and foolish creature, who is undisciplined and it is impossible to discipline him.Sycorax, a witch, was abandoned on the island and gave birth to a son, Caliban. But when Stephano and Trinculo are attracted by mere trumpery and become indifferent to the plan of Prospero's murder, Caliban's admiration for Stephano changes into contempt.
He curses Prospero because he has usurped his island.Ĭaliban's simplicity is apparent when he is taken in by the bravado of Stephano. He hates his slavery and is eager to get back his freedom. Then he loves beauty and music of nature.Ĭaliban arouses our sympathy because he has been enslaved by Prospero whose greed has reduced him to the position of a hewer of wood. Firstly he has natural liking for poetry.
In spite of all this Caliban has some positive traits in his character. The language in which he curses has a certain rude eloquence. He called on toads, beetles, bats, hedge - hogs, adders, moles in his curses. This kind of language becomes a regular habit with him. "All the infections that the sun sucks upįrom bogs, fens, flats, on Prospero fall and make him Although Prospero has taught him to speak by to his earthy nature he uses language in abusive way. Prospero has taught him to speak, to make dams for the fish, to wash the dishes and to keep his cell clean.Ĭaliban's manner of speaking and expressing his thoughts and ideas clearly reveals his earthy nature. With his long nails he can dug up pig nuts. He knows all the qualities of the island, the fresh brine pits, the barren and fertile places. All these shows his shrewdness.Ĭaliban is the original native of the island. He advises his fellow conspirators to seize Prospero's books first and asks them to walk slowly and softly so that Prospero may not hear their footsteps. His plan to murder Prospero clearly shows his shrewdness and common sense. His repentance and promise to reform, when his plot is exposed, are a product of his cowardly nature, because he can never be changed. The manner in which he hatches the plot to kill Prospero in his sleep is clearly indicates his cowardice. Caliban plots to murder Prospero in revenge but he prefers to do it through the drunken sailors. He is not moved by any act of kindness.Ĭaliban claims the island as his own and believes that Prospero has tricked him in the past and conquered him. His mind has rightly been compared to a dark cave into which the light of knowledge neither illuminates nor warms it, but only induce to give out poisonous vapours.Ĭaliban represent the black magic of his mother Sycorax. He tried to rape Miranda, to produce the young one of his own kind. He is regarded as evolutionary " missing link" between human and beasts because he represent mankind at the brutal stage. He is uneducated and reacting to his surroundings in much the same way as an animal. His earthy nature presents sharp contrast to the celestial nature of Ariel.Ĭaliban is gross and beastly. When we rearrange the letters of his name, we get 'cannibal', he is savage and brutal like a cannibal. He is addressed by Prospero as - " thou earth" and "thou tortoise".
He is said to be " as disproportioned in his manners as in his shape." He is also referred to as "mis - shapen knave".
He is of evil nature and is engaged in wicked projects and uses abusive language. He is a symbol of the lower side of humanity.Ĭaliban is a product of nature, the offspring of the witch Sycorax and the devil.Ĭaliban is a dark, earthy slave of Prospero, who is insolent and rebellious and is only controlled through the use of magic.Ĭaliban has some resemblance to a fish, which Trinculo takes him to be. Caliban, though not entirely a human being, holds an important place among the characters in "The Tempest".
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