Caliban is certainly one of the most intriguing characters
in this play. He is variously abused and insulted by the other characters, but we learn
most about his background from Prospero, whose prejudice is self-evident. Note how he
refers to Caliban as "Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself / Upon thy wickend
dam." Although Prospero and Caliban, by Caliban's own ackowledgement, at first were
friends, his attempt to rape Miranda quickly ended that. Caliban interestingly does not
attempt to deny this charge, merely bemoaning his lack of success, dreaming about
"peopling" the island where the play takes place "with
Calibans."
Caliban is thus enslaved by Prospero. However,
he is also deceived and enslaved in similar way by Stephano and Trinculo. Interestingly,
his motives for committing murder are clearly shown to be not as terrible as the plan to
kill of Antonio and Sebastian, offering an interesting moral
comparison.
Thus, when we consider Caliban, we see that he
is exploited and abused by other characters. Whilst we can definitely say his actions
show he deserves some of this treatment, at the same time we might emerge feeling more
sympathy for Caliban than for other characters. Interestingly, many modern productions
cast him in a very sympathetic light, using Caliban to comment upon the evils of
colonialism.
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