Morally Ambiguous Character In The Tempest

Ideally, the righteous and corrupt separate into distinct groups in society, hence all of the popular fairy tales featuring virtuous protagonists and vicious antagonists that children grow up hearing about. But in reality, no one could achieve flawlessness, nor could he reach its opposite extreme. The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, features this concept by its use of morally ambiguous characters, allowing the audience to interpret themselves where each character belongs on the moral scale. Through the gradual characterization of Caliban, the island’s grotesque native, Shakespeare defines humanity by exploring if the fine line between man and monster exists more like a blurred middle ground.
When describing Caliban’s appearance, Shakespeare distinguishes it from the others by consistently having a character comment about his ugliness, but the intensity of his appalling looks remains obscure through a multitude of inconsistent perspectives. Sometimes, people associate him with a variety of animals. Stephano calls him a cat; Prospero, a tortoise; Trinculo, a puppy. From the surface, these aspects refer to his sharp claws, dim wit, and blind …show more content…
Perhaps by birth, Caliban inheritably has “evil blood” running through his veins since a witch and a demon gave birth to him. Originally only his mother and him lived on the island, so Sycorax could easily teach him tainted morals. While Prospero specializes in good magic, Caliban gets associated from the very beginning with an evil, natural magic. His origins suggest his lack of “grace, civility, and art,” so he can only exist at the simplest level of “sensual pain and pleasure.” (Kermode 46). Thus, he cannot develop a sense of right and wrong, so he sees no difference between good and evil. This mental handicap serves as one of many that would gradually build up and solidify his brutish