The Tempest Research Paper

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Within The Tempest by William Shakespeare, the relationship between servant and master often differ because of the servant’s vast differences. Ariel, the air spirit, is very subservient and depends on approval from Prospero. In contrast, Caliban, the slave from the earth, is aggressive and devising. Prospero tends to treat the two servants in a very different manner. Overall, the imbalance of power found in The Tempest between servant and master cause the relationships between Prospero and each servant to be extremely different resulting in different behavior from those in servitude. Throughout The Tempest, the overall treatment of the air spirit, Ariel, is a lot different from that of Caliban. Ariel faithfully carries out tasks because …show more content…

Originally, the island Prospero now rules over, was owned by Sycorax, an evil witch and mother of Caliban. Caliban is the last native of the island. However, Prospero ripped away the island from Caliban and later enslaved him. Formerly, Caliban and Prospero were on good terms; Prospero even let Caliban live with him and treated him with human care. However, after the attempted rape against his daughter, Prospero completely turned on Caliban. Prospero began to treat Caliban with disrespect and torture. In turn, Caliban became aggressive with violent tendencies which lead to a further weakening in the relationship of Prospero and …show more content…

Nevertheless, Caliban attempted to rape the daughter of Prospero, causing Prospero to lose total respect for Caliban. As a result of this, Caliban is cursed with hard work and physical pain at the hands of Prospero. By teaching Caliban language, Prospero gained power over him. Prospero has the ability to control the reality of Caliban because he has no other means of education or information. In reality, without Prospero, Caliban would be illiterate and have little purpose. Caliban shows his appreciation for language when he states, “When thou camest 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 show'd thee all the qualities o' th' isle, the fresh springs, brine pits, barren place and fertile” (1.2.397-405). Caliban shows his value of what Prospero has given him but still expresses that the island is rightfully his. This shows that despite his thankfulness for language, Caliban is still very angry about his enslavement. This is most likely because Caliban knows the island is rightfully his. The relationship of Prospero and Caliban mirror European expansionism to North America. Although this may not have been Shakespeare’s intent, the treatment of Caliban closely relates to the treatment of Native Americans in the

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