Shakespeare's Influence on the Audience's Response to Caliban in The Tempest

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Shakespeare's Influence on the Audience's Response to Caliban in The Tempest My essay hopes to draw into focus one of the most complex characters in Shakespeare's play The Tempest, - Caliban. Shakespeare influences the audience's response to Caliban using in turn, humour and pathos to make the audience relate to the various strands of his character. Caliban can be interpreted in many ways, and only when examining his character as a whole, can we truly understand how Shakespeare wanted us to interpret him. I will now further examine how he accomplishes this. Our first introduction to Caliban is not in person but instead, he is described by Prospero as "a freckled whelp, hag born - not honoured with / A human shape"; this account of Caliban's appearance gives the audience good reason to feel negatively about Caliban and also makes them eagerly anticipate his entrance. However, when we do indeed meet Caliban for the first time, this vision of an evil disfigured monster as expected, is replaced in favour with a cheeky insolent being that the audience warms to. Prospero speaks to him in a cruel manner, calling him a "tortoise" and a "poisonous slave", instead of covering, he ill temperedly answers back "As wicked dew as e'er my mother brushed / With raven's feather from unwholesome fen / Drop on you both! A south-west blow on ye, / And blister you all o'er!" The audience warms to this disrespectful rebuke. Caliban the underdog is threatening the authoritative Prospero with no power to carry out his curses. His bravado and disrespect in the face of such authority first surprises then amuses the audience. Prospero gives reason for hi... ... middle of paper ... ...thing to illustrate the correct way to behave, nor did it deter Caliban from trying to commit further calumnies. This is a classic case of nature versus nurture, and the audience is left to decide whether Caliban is really good but corrupted by his up-bringing, or is basically bad with occasional flashes of gentleness and caring. Caliban's character proves so successful with the audience because unlike some of the other characters in the play he shows a complex mixture of both good and evil. It is this interesting contradiction of traits that makes him more believable and accessible to the audience. His physical ugliness combined with his gullibility, hot temper, mischievousness, sense of natural beauty, eloquence and humour make him irresistible and one of Shakespeare's most appealing and enduring of characters.

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