William Shakespeare s The Tempest - 1712 Words

Tea Ilic Mrs. Gailey English 200 The Tempest Final Paper Caliban the Mystery, Even to This Day. Many times, Shakespeare refers to Caliban from The Tempest as â€Å"a natural man†. What did that mean to him, to be a natural man? There are many reasons why Shakespeare would have called him that, including the fact that he just looked completely different than the rest of the characters in The Tempest. He was black and dirty, he looked like a savage. Far more different then the other characters. By the end of the play, Caliban’s character seems a lot less important. Even though his role as a character starts to fade, he had a purpose in the play. He raised many questions in the play, Caliban made us see what we were blatantly ignoring. As stated†¦show more content†¦Caliban was portrayed as such a repulsive man that he’s overlooked for the true meaning of himself. Many readers would just assume he is a savage and nothing more. Shakespeare does an excellent job of making us understand the characters and relate to them, he shows us Caliban from a negative perspective, that’s actually most times misinterpreted. Caliban’s character also reveals the social hierarchy of The Tempest and the ongoing situations in Shakespeare’s era. This set up was derived from long traditions that have been carried from Shakespeare’s time. Caliban was seen as a ‘natural man’ which could have meant the bottom of the bottom, lowest of the low. Any of these. He was the mystery of the play. Many people weren’t sure if Caliban was either a monster or a victim of colonialism. Even though he had much fewer lines then Prospero, Caliban was the focus of many readers interest, often with an importance far better than his actual presence in the play. Caliban was often referred as the â€Å"monster†, many great critics say that Caliban’s name is an anagram or at least a play on the word, â€Å"Cannibal†. A term derived from â€Å"carib† which became a European term used to describe flesh-eaters. If this was the case, then Caliban’s name can be associated with the kinds of â€Å"savage† man-eaters that Europeans were reading about in travel literature when Shakespeare wrote this play. It is also possible that Caliban’s name may be a play on the