The Tempest (Prospero vs. Caliban)

The Other in the Tempest In order to understand the characters in a play, we have to be able to distinguish what exactly makes them different. In the case of The Tempest, Caliban, the sub-human slave is governed largely by his senses, making him the animal that he is portrayed to be and Prospero is governed by sound mind, making him human. Caliban responds to nature as his instinct is to follow it. Prospero, on …

…Nature and Prospero Art. While the need for control over nature is asserted continually, the ending suggests that art must ultimately come to terms with nature (hence Prospero’s “this thing of darkness I/Acknowledge mine”); for while Caliban’s limitations are apparent, his wish to improve himself is promising, and his new relationship with Prospero seems to be more stable and more reassuring than the resentment-filled and extremely uneasy jailer-prisoner/master-slave relationship shown earlier.