Caliban And Ariel example essay topic
457 words
The Tempest which was possibly Shakespeare's last play was written in 1610-1611, Inspired by a shipwreck, Shakespeare's characters are stranded on an island landscape where they each seek to find "freedom" as this essay will show you. Servitude is mainly portrayed by two characters in the play, Caliban and Ariel. Caliba was made to do menial labour when he overstepped a boundary by attempting to rape Miranda - 'till thou didst seek to violate the honour of my child'. By not being ashamed of this incident, he further proved his 'inferiority to Prospero and Miranda 'Abhorred slave, which any point of goodness will not take' which thus become justified. Prospero's view of Caliba is 'coloured by his disappointment as a teacher and also that Prospero is rather impatient in his role as might be inferred in his conversation with Miranda in 1.2 'Come out I said! Come out you Tortoise'. Consigned to menial labour, Caliban performs in a resentful surly way. Caliban's account of his interaction with Prospero and Miranda in 1.2. 341-405 indicates his resentment by what seems to him as a betray a 'This island is mine, by Sycorax my mother, which thou takes from me' However this is a mistake he repeats all too readily when he meets Stephano and Trinculo, who ply him with alcohol. Caliban drunk, declares, 'I'll show thee every fertile inch o'th " island and i will kiss thy foot. i prithee be my God. Ironically, here with 'freedom' Caliban still chooses to remain in servitude.
Caliban as a slave is seen as a genetically inferior, irredeemably savage and uneducable by Prospero and Miranda. caliban is certainly naive, his reaction to Stephano and Trinculo demonstrates this. Caliban is angry and feels betrayed, having lost his island to the foreigners, who he feels have taken advantage of him and now treats him as a slave, held in cramps and pinches. His portrayal of servitude is understandable. The other slave in the Tempest is Ariel who really is the motor that powers the plot. Prospero in his pursuit of Dukedom freed Ariel from the fearful Sycorax only to use Ariel to serve him. His chief actions are in creating and managing the storm which opens the play, in charming to sleep (often through teh use of music), in changing shape to represent a Harpy, an electrical storm as Ceres or Juno, in becoming invisible, in dressing up like a water nymph, in becoming invisible and many more.
We see Ariel as a powerful force but not superior here. prospero's relationship with ariel is close and affectionate, although at the introduction to Ariel thy are arguing.
