The Importance of Caliban in William Shakespeares The Tempest Essay

The Importance of Caliban in William Shakespeares The Tempest This thing of darkness, I must live mine. Although many seem baffled by Shakespeares The Tempest, the plot is not the can to be deciphered. We understand The Tempest through understanding the character of Caliban. some extends highlight the virtuous side of human nature, failing to recognise the darkness that lives within the hearts of all. The Tempest is not one of these works. This romance realizes that it is impossible to have the good aspect of human nature without the bad. Caliban helps the annoyr realize that the difference between good and bad people is the instruction in which the hidden dark side manifests itself to the outside world. Ostensibly, The Tempest is a play based around Prospero his power to punish versus his power to forgive. ?many scholars believe that this is a semi-autobiographical work, written towards the end of Shakespeares literary career?(Davidson 241). This report is reinforced thr oughout the play, especially towards the end and in the epilogue ...my final stage is despair, Unless I be relieved by prayer. And Ill break my staff, Bury it in certain fathoms in the earth, And deeper than did ever plummet sound Ill drown my book (i.e. his tools that work the magic) Therefore, our understanding of Calibans position in the play is of great import. Critics debate on whether his... ... Interpretation. In The Tempest A Casebook. Ed. D.J. Palmer. London Macmillan & Co. Ltd., 1968. 225-263. Kermode, Frank. Introduction. The Tempest. By William Shakespeare. Cambridge Harvard UP, 1958. xlii. Palmer, D. J. (Editor) The Tempest - A Selection of Critical Essays London MacMillan Press Ltd., 1977. Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans, et. al. Boston Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974. Solomon, Andrew. A Reading of the Tempest. In Shakespeares Late Plays. Ed. Richard C. Tobias and Paul G. Zolbrod. Athens Ohio UP, 1974. 232-265 John Wilders lecture on The Tempest given at Oxford University - Worcester College - August 4th, 1999.