Caliban

In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Caliban is mistreated because he is native to the island and different. When Trinculo and Stephano meet Caliban on the island, they act disgusted just at the sight of him.  Because Caliban doesn’t look like them they immediately infer that he is not as civilized as they are.  Stephano mocks Caliban by saying, “Do you put tricks upon ’s with savages and men of Ind, ha?” (Act 2, Scene 2) (Are you playing tricks on me by showing me savages and uncivilized men from the Indies, ha?).    In Charles Bressler's Literarcy Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice), he explains how it is “the assumption that Western Europeans, and, in particular, the British people, were biologically superior to any other race- a term for class of people based on physical, cultural distinctions, or both”.  When the British met races different from their own, they assume that they are not as civilized as they are, and thus feel the obligation of colonizing the area and civilizing the people. In the Tempest, Prospero, Trinculo, and Stephano take advantage of Caliban and view him as a “monster” and “savage”.  They take advantage of his knowledge of the land and then use him as a slave. 

Shakespeare portrays Caliban in a negative light.  Caliban comes across as gullible, uncivilized, and savage.  Caliban is ignorant of humans, and when he meets Stephano and tastes his alcohol he falls to his knees worshipping Stephano.  He sees him as a God and wants to serve him.  Shakespeare in some ways has justified colonization, by showing how easily susceptible Caliban is to Stephano’s alcohol.  This shows Caliban is uncultured, and trusting.  In the video called, How Hollywood Stereotyped the Native Americans, it shows how the Native Americans were portrayed as savages and monsters.  This is very similar to how Caliban was shown.  He looked and behaved differently than the whites.  To Stephano and Trinculo he was a monster.  Hollywood promoted the white image even though the White’s were the ones taking the land of the Native Americans and were killing the people, but Hollywood knew that their audience was primarily white.  In the same way, Shakespeare’s The Tempest was directed toward the British audience. Both were promoting their own culture rather than telling the truth.