Caliban and Colonialism - Essay Example

of Caliban and Colonialism One of the most important of the plays that were written by William Shakespeare, The Tempest in modern times has remained in critical limelight due to postcolonial readings of it. This has often led to the revisiting of Caliban as a character. Caliban in recent critical debates is seen as a colonial subject who is represented in a cruel and misleading light. While there are many instances in the text that suggest that this is done with ambiguous intentions, there are also cases where the ideas of racism become important in an analysis of the character of Caliban. This paper shall argue that Caliban is this colonial subject who constantly is made aware of his place in a hierarchy that is created by the colonizer. The forced labor that is extracted from Caliban can be seen when Prospero says, ….He does make our fire, Fetch in our wood, and serves in offices That profit us. - What ho, slave! Caliban, (I: ii: 311-313; 171) The basis of colonization lay in this very mode of extraction of labor from people who were a part of the colonized groups. Caliban’s enslavement is more than physical. However, the physical aspect of the enslavement that he suffers from cannot be overlooked as it is for him an immediate cause for fear. Rebecca Ann Bach says in this regard, “…Caliban serves the family’s bodily needs without hope of remuneration. Ariel is a servant, used but finally rewarded”(392). This drain of wealth in the form of the labor that is extracted was a major plank of colonial endeavors which later became one of the main sources of British revenue. Mentally however, Caliban is far from being enslaved. This can be seen in a speech where he talks of having appropriated the speech that he borrows from Prospero- You taught me language, and my profit on’t Is I know how to curse (I: ii: 364-365; 176). This idea of language and identity are intrinsically connected. It is an aspect of Prospero’s own self that is reflected in Caliban when he retorts. Matthew J. Bolton says in this regard, “Prospero calls on his slave to reveal a self that Prospero deems monstrous.” Language and the liberal political discourse that it goes with cannot be separated. Prospero fails to understand this and the result is a rebellious disposition that builds up in Caliban. It is fascinating how Shakespeare is able to read the human mind and the aspirations that may be repressed but not killed. He anticipates the uprisings against enslavements that were to happen in various colonized lands. Another aspect of the colonial nature of Caliban’s subjecthood is how instruments beyond his power are employed to suppress him. He is constantly under the surveillance of his colonizer, Prospero- …His spirits hear me, And yet I needs must curse (II: ii: 3-4; 207). It is then alliances of the oppressed that can be looked at as a possible means of refuge- Rebecca Ann Bach suggests the unlikely grouping of Miranda and Caliban in this regard- “Although Miranda, Prospero’s prized daughter, is nominally at the apex of the hierarchy, in a position just below her father, her gender role identifies her with Caliban.”(392) A feeling of being watched and being made answerable for one’s innate feelings is what Prospero introduces in Caliban. For this, he uses magic much as the colonizers employed technology. Physical pain is one of the most powerful tools that are then used to deter any possibility of rebellion. This however, does not work as is seen through Caliban’s speech. The ambiguity in the play regarding the position of Caliban comes from what Shakespeare makes the other characters speak. For instance, when Trinculo says, “When they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian (II: ii: 31-32 ;208)”. The attitudes that the colonizers held regarding colonized races comes in for critique here and the tendency to exoticize them is held up as worthy of contempt. He is often seen by readers too, to be closer to nature than civilization, thus revealing to us the force of convention- “Yes, he is rough. Yes, he is unrefined. But, then too, so is nature and in a sense, that is truly what Caliban is... a force of nature (Gunnin).” Shakespeare also shows Caliban to be someone who is looking for a master. This again follows the master-slave dialectic. This can be seen in his interaction with Trinculo and Stephano when he says, I’ll show thee every fertile inch o’ th’ island, And I will kiss thy foot. I prithee, be my god (II: ii: 145-146; 215) If one is to look at the trajectory that the relationship between Caliban and the two Europeans, it can be seen that the same relationship is said to have existed between Caliban and Prospero towards Prospero’s arrival at the island. Shakespeare tells his readers how there had once existed a bond of trust that was then broken by Prospero in the enslavement of Caliban. The land that was his is then stolen from him in an act of cruelty for which the other residents of the very same island are made to be complicit in. this can be seen in the involvement of Ariel in the enslavement of Caliban. Ariel can then be seen as that class of people within colonized lands that reap benefits from the colonizer and help in their own enslavement. Through this play, thus, one is able to see the intense understanding that Shakespeare has of the enterprise of colonialism right at that stage when it began. The character of Prospero acts as the kind master but is in reality a cruel colonizer. As one reader puts it, “Shakespeare seems to be offering up both Caliban and Prospero to the audience and to the readers and asking of them to decided [sic] which one is truly the savage (Gunnin).” Calian as a character has a great role to play in the way the plot of the play moves. He is the silent presence that makes the fact known to the audience that the island exists at the plane of the real and is not just some make-believe world. In a play which abounds in elements of the supernatural, Caliban’s presence makes the reader and the audience aware of the aspect of the real. This is probably why a postcolonial analysis of the play is the one that has led to a revisiting of the character. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Eds. Virginia Mason Vaughan and Alden T. Vaughan. London: Arden, 1999. Print. Bach, Rebecca Ann. “Mrs. Caliban: A Feminist Postmodernist Tempest”. Critique 41 (2000): 4. Print. Bolton, Matthew J. “Shakespeare’s The Tempest”. City University of New York Gunnin, Steven Thor. “A Look at the Role of Caliban within Shakespeare's The Tempest.” Yahoo Voices. Web. 6 Nov. 2012. http://voices.yahoo.com/a-look-role-caliban-within-shakespeares-94592.html Read More