Caliban: The Offspring of the Witch Sycorax

Caliban
Caliban is very instinctual and self centred
Prospero rules Caliban through magic and threats, evident in their initial meeting where they insult each other. This changes a bit when Caliban meets Stephano and Trinculo and moves across and thinks that they might be equal with Prospero. He tries to ‘revolutionise’ on the island however he finds out at the end that Stephano isn’t a God and he is not even an equal with Prospero. (v.i.292-295)
Caliban changes significantly according to the context of the play
Whilst he is considered savage, Caliban is a complex character – he very much adapts and changes throughout the play and this can be seen in his language
His interactions with all the character are deeply essential to the plot
He discovers his ability to think and speak in a civilised way – aggressive evolution of his character
He discovers a lot through his interactions with the other characters throughout the play – example: humanity (v.i. 298)
Audience discovery – Caliban’s appearance is particularly important because his character generates an initial reaction from the audience based on his physical appearance. This reaction demonstrates the prejudices against those who are not white and had existed for centuries. Initially it is easy to form a dislike for Caliban based on his appearance but as his character begins to unfold we see that there is more to him than just an unattractive exterior
Caliban is the malformed son of Sycorax the witch who dies and left him on the island. He discovers much about himself and the world during the course of the play
We develop a sympathy for his character because of his suffering and attempt to change
Caliban changes significantly according to the context
Caliban has been interpreted in many ways over time and is a complex character who can be seen in terms of colonialism and a ‘noble savage’, an instinctual beast, a revolutionary and manipulator among others
Initially we see Caliban as a slave, but one who wants to control his own destiny. Caliban wants independence and manipulates to get it
Caliban is dark and serious but also contributes to the humour (e.g. the scene where he tries to hide from Stephano). Caliban is not civilised enough to return from the island to Milan
Caliban remains monstrous and savage, but the potential is there. Caliban can discover how to find lordship and grace
He discovers the human world with all its complexities. He discovers its (human kind) beauty, its duplicity and its maliciousness. He is ungrateful for human kind. He has a hatred for and a lack of gratitude for Prospero which is contrasted with his admiration and respect for Prospero’s power. Prospero’s power is through force and fear rather than intelligence of guidance. Caliban initially communicates through vulgar language and complaints which represent his savage beastly nature. When he speaks about human nature we see curses, when he speaks about the natural environment, he speaks in beautiful verses
At the end, Caliban is seen as more honourable, more delicate and more perceptive. We the viewers are able to see this side of Caliban temporarily but Miranda and Prospero never see it
He discovers his wrongs at the end of the play and seeks to rectify these. “ill be wise hereafter and seek grace, what a thrice double-ass was I to take this drunked for a god and worship this dull for it”  he uses a self-deprecating tone (putting himself down). In the end, he ends up being a little nobler. To the audience he is seen as being nobler than several of the other characters/social superiors in the play (Antonio stephano trinculo)
At the end we see self growth in Caliban
Caliban is an example of the negative impact of physical discoveries – colonialism
He is an individual that is entrapped by a foreigner/foreign civilisation which is represented by prospero. His island has been taken from him through prospero ironically like prospero’s kingdom was taken from him
His speech about the island and its giving qualities lets us know that he is the original native/inhabitant of the island.
He also discovers the good side to human nature when he sees prospero forgive
He never repents for the apparent rape of Miranda despite prospero’s high importance on miranda’s virginity before marriage.
Caliban represents the most basic elements of nature. He has discovered the human world, its duplicity, corruption and its beauty through the interaction of people who have been vanished to the island. While meeting Stefano and Trinculo it is revealed the value of money compared to people in the human world. Trinculo and Stefano saw Caliban as an opportunity to make money out off in a European country Stefano and Trinculo represent how low civilized men can sink without self-control. Both men are opportunists, ready to exploit the new "man" they discovered

Caliban
Caliban is another of Prospero’s servants. Caliban, the son of the now-deceased witch Sycorax, acquainted Prospero with the island when Prospero arrived. Caliban believes that the island rightfully belongs to him and has been stolen by Prospero. His speech and behavior is sometimes coarse and brutal, as in his drunken scenes with Stephano and Trinculo (II.ii, IV.i), and sometimes eloquent and sensitive, as in his rebukes of Prospero in Act I, scene ii, and in his description of the eerie beauty of the island in Act III, scene ii (III.ii.130-138).
Prospero’s dark, earthy slave, frequently referred to as a monster by the other characters, Caliban is the son of a witch-hag and the only real native of the island to appear in the play. He is an extremely complex figure, and he mirrors or parodies several other characters in the play. In his first speech to Prospero, Caliban insists that Prospero stole the island from him. Through this speech, Caliban suggests that his situation is much the same as Prospero’s, whose brother usurped his dukedom. On the other hand, Caliban’s desire for sovereignty of the island mirrors the lust for power that led Antonio to overthrow Prospero. Caliban’s conspiracy with Stephano and Trinculo to murder Prospero mirrors Antonio and Sebastian’s plot against Alonso, as well as Antonio and Alonso’s original conspiracy against Prospero. Caliban both mirrors and contrasts with Prospero’s other servant, Ariel. While Ariel is “an airy spirit,” Caliban is of the earth, his speeches turning to “springs, brine pits” (I.ii.341), “bogs, fens, flats” (II.ii.2), or crabapples and pignuts (II.ii.159–160). While Ariel maintains his dignity and his freedom by serving Prospero willingly, Caliban achieves a different kind of dignity by refusing, if only sporadically, to bow before Prospero’s intimidation. Surprisingly, Caliban also mirrors and contrasts with Ferdinand in certain ways. In Act II, scene ii Caliban enters “with a burden of wood,” and Ferdinand enters in Act III, scene i “bearing a log.” Both Caliban and Ferdinand profess an interest in untying Miranda’s “virgin knot.” Ferdinand plans to marry her, while Caliban has attempted to rape her. The glorified, romantic, almost ethereal love of Ferdinand for Miranda starkly contrasts with Caliban’s desire to impregnate Miranda and people the island with Calibans. Finally, and most tragically, Caliban becomes a parody of himself. In his first speech to Prospero, he regretfully reminds the magician of how he showed him all the ins and outs of the island when Prospero first arrived. Only a few scenes later, however, we see Caliban drunk and fawning before a new magical being in his life: Stephano and his bottle of liquor. Soon, Caliban begs to show Stephano the island and even asks to lick his shoe. Caliban repeats the mistakes he claims to curse. In his final act of rebellion, he is once more entirely subdued by Prospero in the most petty way—he is dunked in a stinking bog and ordered to clean up Prospero’s cell in preparation for dinner. Despite his savage demeanor and grotesque appearance, however, Caliban has a nobler, more sensitive side that the audience is only allowed to glimpse briefly, and which Prospero and Miranda do not acknowledge at all. His beautiful speeches about his island home provide some of the most affecting imagery in the play, reminding the audience that Caliban really did occupy the island before Prospero came, and that he may be right in thinking his enslavement to be monstrously unjust. Caliban’s swarthy appearance, his forced servitude, and his native status on the island have led many readers to interpret him as a symbol of the native cultures occupied and suppressed by European colonial societies, which are represented by the power of Prospero. Whether or not one accepts this allegory, Caliban remains one of the most intriguing and ambiguous minor characters in all of Shakespeare, a sensitive monster who allows himself to be transformed into a fool.

Caliban
“Caliban discovers You taught me language; and my profit on't
Is, I know how to curse. The red plague rid you
For learning me your language!”
Caliban is denouncing Prospero for teaching ("learning") him his language, declaring that the only good Prospero's language has done him is enabling him to curse; Caliban gives an immediate example of his cursing ability by calling upon the red plague to destroy Prospero for teaching him his language.
“Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises…
I cried to dream again” (Act 3 scene, 130-138)
He discovers his ability to think and speak in a civilised way – aggressive evolution of his character. This speech is Caliban’s explanation to Stephano and Trinculo of mysterious music that they hear by magic. Though he claims that the chief virtue of his newly learned language is that it allows him to curse, Caliban here shows himself capable of using speech in a most sensitive and beautiful fashion.
“I’ll be wise hereafter and seek grace, what a thrice double-ass was I to take this drunked for a god and worship this dull for it”
He discovers his wrongs at the end of the play and seeks to rectify these. He uses a self-deprecating tone (putting himself down). In the end, he ends up being a little nobler and more honourable. To the audience he is seen as being nobler than several of the other characters/social superiors in the play (Antonio, stephano, trinculo)
“A southwest blow on ye
And blister you all o'er!”
“And here you sty me
In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me
The rest o' th' island.”
He is ungrateful for human kind. He has a hatred for and a lack of gratitude for Prospero which is contrasted with his admiration and respect for Prospero’s power. He discovers the human world with all its complexities. He discovers its (human kind) beauty, its duplicity and its maliciousness.

“'Ban, 'Ban, Cacaliban
Has a new master: get a new man.
Freedom, hey-day!”
Caliban is drunkenly singing a celebration of his change in masters: Caliban uses a nickname for himself ("'Ban") who now has sworn to serve Stephano instead of Prospero and feels a sense of freedom due to his decision.
Caliban becomes a parody of himself. In his first speech to Prospero, he regretfully reminds the magician of how he showed him all the ins and outs of the island when Prospero first arrived. Only a few scenes later, however, we see Caliban drunk and fawning before a new magical being in his life: Stephano and his bottle of liquor. Soon, Caliban begs to show Stephano the island and even asks to lick his shoe. Caliban repeats the mistakes he claims to curse.