968 shakespeare, William
spirits live and roam; thus, his existence and physi-
cal place combines all things both fascinating and
frightening in a burgeoning colonial world picture.
Therefore, Caliban’s position in the story is one
of complete isolation, emphasized not only by his
being the sole inhabitant of an island—which is
itself isolated and surrounded by water—but by his
acknowledgement via Prospero and Miranda that
he is entirely alien, if not monstrous. Potentially, this
can be interpreted as Shakespeare’s sympathy for
this type of figure, but it is far more likely that an
early modern audience would perceive Caliban just
as Prospero and Miranda do. Such a position cre-
ates an image of complete alienation on a personal,
social, and political level for Caliban, which echoes
the plight of many individuals of the early modern
period.
Despite the fact that English colonizing efforts
were often deeply infused and even inspired by
utopic visions, in The Tempest this idea stands in
contrast to the reality of the colonial encounters in
the story. Ultimately, the play seems to settle on the
fact that while physical alienation can be solved by
reintegrating oneself with familiar society, personal
alienation cannot be reconciled but merely accepted.
Prospero’s development resides in this crux: He
cannot cease feeling alienated, but he can choose to
deal with that fact in positive terms through mercy
and forgiveness rather than negatively in his failed
attempt at revenge.
Christina Angel
race in The Tempest
While at first glance The Tempest does not appear
to be about race, it is a key element of the play and
provides a glimpse into Renaissance perceptions of
other races, including negative reflections of Jews
and Moors. With respect to Caliban in particular, a
social and racial hierarchy of savage versus civilized
culture emerges and reflects Renaissance politics as
it regards the emerging New World. At the birth of
the British Empire in the late 16th and early 17th
century, England had colonized Ireland, deeming its
racial heritage to be beneath English heritage and
making the Irish subject to English rule. As well,
England had established at least two colonies in
Roanoke and Jamestown by the time The Tempest
was written. Issues arising from contact with native
populations in the New World further enforced
the widespread English belief that being of white
Christian descent automatically placed one above
non-Christian persons of color. With the stated goal
of bringing Protestant Christianity to Catholic or
“savage” cultures, colonization created a racial hier-
archy for America that still exists in remnant form
all over the United States.
In The Tempest, the fact that Prospero and his
daughter, Miranda, find themselves stranded on an
island possessed by Caliban is highly relevant to the
English colonialist worldview. Prospero is European
and Christian, which immediately establishes him
as the island’s natural ruler, despite the fact that it
had inhabitants when he arrived—namely, Caliban
and Ariel, along with a host of other spirits. In fact,
Prospero refers to Caliban as “a Caliban” (1.2.481),
and the emphasis on using the article a makes him
not a person but an object, which further empha-
sizes the significance of his name. Caliban’s conflict
with Prospero and the reason for his various forms
of rebellion is that he feels that the island was sto-
len from him: “This island’s mine, by Sycorax my
mother, / Which thou tak’st from me” (1.2.331–332)
and “by his [Prospero’s] cunning hath / Cheated me
of the island” (3.2.43–44). This is significant given
the European land grab occurring across the ocean
at the time this play was written. Prospero’s assump-
tion of rule over the island rests in his perception
that Caliban is beneath him in race, being born of
a witch. Prospero enslaves him, as well as the spirits
on the island, to do his bidding, and when he says,
“This thing of darkness I / Acknowledge mine”
(5.1.275–276), he is not apologizing for his usur-
pation of the island but for the misbehavior of his
slave, to whom he was never entitled.
As the only child of Prospero, Miranda’s point
of view on racial matters is also highly relevant. A
discourse on Renaissance ideas of race can be seen
in the repeated metaphor of colonization. Dur-
ing an exchange in which Prospero and Miranda
marvel at Caliban’s attempted rape of Miranda, she
says to Caliban that she “Took pains to make thee
speak, taught thee each hour / One thing or other”
(1.2.354–355). Important to this passage is the
colonial fact of misunderstanding between cultures: