The Tempest Caliban Quotes

As we read The Tempest, we see Caliban; a native of the island that we see for the first time in Act 1 Scene 2 and was enslaved by Prospero a settler on an Island. Even though this person we see is being enslaved many people do not really feel bad about what is going on with him. This happens because of the chain of events put him there, and also because of the words that other characters use to describe him. At various points, other characters call him a brute or even a monster, but we are left to think if that is that there is to him. When we first see him he is being requested by Prospero to come forward, and he directly starts complaining about the unjust things that are happening to him. That passage is one that makes me see him as the …show more content…
Something that many conquerors did was giving presents to the Indians, many times the presents were nothing compared to what they were actually getting in return. Tools were one of the main things that people from the old world traded with together with clothes and intellectual knowledge. Things that the Indians saw so grand that even a “brute” like Caliban felt as if “they felt as if they loved them”. What are the presents that the settlers gave compared to what they got in return? They got gold in enormous quantities or land by acres (or even miles at times). Intellectual knowledge might be important, but the knowledge of knowing how to plant their food might have been at the time a little more important when it was time to survive. The people coming into the new world knew that they were getting more than the Indians in these trades, but they didn’t stop there they wanted it all for their selves. Many diseases were brought to America from these migrants, diseases that due to the isolation were not present in these new countries. Some of the ailments were smallpox that came from the cattle, the flu, and malaises. These diseases together with others that were also directed at the animals killed millions of Indians, more than even the guns and other arms that they …show more content…
And his response to these accusations might be even rougher than the charges themselves. “Thou didst seek to violate the honor of my child”, this is something that Prospero responds to all the accusations that Caliban made against him. With this response, all of our minds jumps to the conclusion that Caliban is a rapist, but would that change the mind of those who were thinking that Caliban was the victim in all of this? The main question here would be what came first the egg or the chicken? When that question is truly answered we would know what character is to be blamed for what happens in the duration of this play. Did Caliban tried to rape Miranda because of all that was done to him? Or was this just part of his interior self, one that came out at the moment? On the other hand, could Prospero have treated Caliban well until he tried to violate his daughter and then turned him unto his slave and took away his possessions as part of a vengeance? Or is slaving and acquiring just part of conquering, something needed in order to really own the