Prospero vs. Caliban
The Tempest
Theme
Prospero/Unforgiving
Thou most lying slave,
Whom stripes may move, not kindness! I have used thee,
Filth as thou art, with human care, and lodged thee
In mine own cell till thou didst seek to violate
The honor of my child. (Shakespeare 16).
Caliban/Heartless
"Would ’t had been done! Thou didst prevent me. I had peopled else This isle with Calibans." (Shakespeare 16).
Miranda/Traumatized
"Abhorrèd slave, Which any print of goodness wilt not take, Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee, Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour One thing or other. When thou didst not, savage, Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like A thing most brutish, I endowed thy purposes With words that made them known. But thy vile race, Though thou didst learn, had that in ’t which good natures Could not abide to be with. Therefore wast thou Deservedly confined into this rock, Who hadst deserved more than a prison."(Shakespeare 17).
Discussion Questions
What was Miranda and Calibans's relationship before he tried to rape her?