Master And Slave In William Shakespeare's The Tempesy

The relationship between master and slave is embraced by Shakespeare in his play The Tempest. Conflicts and complexities of authority are portrayed by the characters Prospero and Caliban. As one gains power, the other loses it. In the play, Prospero rises to power, while Caliban loses it. The legitimacy of Prospero’s authority over Caliban is, however, questionable. What gives Prospero the power over Caliban? What are the reasons that Caliban should obey his masters’ orders? These questions can be answered through investigating the possession of the island, the justice of punishing Caliban, and Prospero’s right to use or abuse his power.

One of the reasons for Caliban’s defiance towards Prospero is the fact that he believes the island that they are on to be his, but to have been stolen by Prospero. “This island’s mine by Sycorax my mother, / Which thou tak’st from me'; (1.2.331). Caliban feels as though he has been taken advantage of. When Prospero first comes to the island, he is kind to Caliban, and in return, Caliban shows him the secrets of the island.

“When thou cam’st first,

Thou strok’st me and made much of me; wouldst give me

Water with berries in’t, and teach me how

To name the bigger light and how the less,

That burn by day and night; and then I loved thee,

And showed thee all the qualities o’th’ isle,

The fresh springs, brine pits, barren place and fertile';

(1.2.332-8)

This is Prospero’s ploy to use Caliban to learn the secrets of the island. Once he knows all the qualities of the island, he no longer needs Caliban’s knowledge and thus enslaves him and uses him as free labor. Caliban despises Prospero and Miranda’s efforts to educate him and to help him. To him, they are all part of the deception. Prospero believes otherwise and feels as though Caliban owes him for his generosity.

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...enseless Caliban. He is able to enslave Caliban because he cannot fight back. Caliban obeys not out of choice but out of fear. Prospero usurps his power from Caliban and abuses it.

Many conflicts of authority are present when there is a master and slave relationship. The Tempest by Shakespeare illustrates a master/slave relationship between Prospero and Caliban in which power and authority is fought over. Prospero is the master and Caliban is the slave. These positions are not the results of chance but rather a result of force. Prospero robs Caliban’s island and claims it to be his own. He then robs his freedom and forces him to serve him. His justification for doing so, is that Caliban attempts to rape his daughter and that he should pay penance for it; however, his punishment is not legitimate because it is for selfish reasons not for justice. And the only reason that Prospero has any control over Caliban is through his supernatural powers which he abuses. Prospero the master enslaves the helpless Caliban and deprives him of his freedom and according to the Jesuit Father, Anotonio Vieira, Prospero should be “condemned to hell.';