Language within The Tempest is important in understanding the nuances of its imperfect characters, as well as the complexity of the colonial and ethical narratives within the text. Caliban’s language provides an alternative narrative to that of Prospero and that of the colonizer, as well as proving his own character to be layered rather than simply the black-and-white rhetoric of the time regarding indigenous people as savage and colonizers as civilized. This is proven through the manner in which he speaks: his language reveals both his brutality and poetry.
The Tempest is a surprisingly nuanced play, introducing characters that can be sympathized with in one regard – such as Caliban as a slave – yet morally dubious in another. For example, the stated reason that Prospero hates Caliban: is the attempted rape of his daughter, Miranda, by Caliban, who displays no remorse for his action. “Thou (Prospero) didst prevent me. I had peopled else this isle with Caliban.” His confession of attempting to rape Miranda, as well as the implication of doing so repeatedly in order to populate the island, demonstrates the physical and mental segregation between Caliban and everyone else on the island, as well as voiding most sense of human decency by his lack of remorse for the barbaric act. The specification that it would be populated by ‘Caliban’ removes any connection between his semi-human self and the rest of humanity, illustrating a huge disconnect between the oppressed and the oppressor – Caliban is shown to be of his own ‘kind’. To further emphasize this disconnect, Shakespeare made use of the pronouns ‘thou’, ‘me’, and ‘I’, demonstrating through Caliban’s language the ‘us versus them’ mentality he had adopted. As a figure who is described as half-human and half-monster, it becomes seemingly apparent that the human half takes after the monstrous side of humanity in Shakespeare’s writing.
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The conflict between the ‘Wilde Irish’ and the English in the years before The Tempest was written may have influenced Caliban’s portrayal, as it was relatively common for literary narratives during that period to portray indigenous peoples as savage and less civilized than the colonizer. The importance of emphasizing the barbaric nature of native peoples was marked in Caliban’s disposition and language. The colonial narrative of the play is highlighted by Caliban’s speech, as aspects of the power dynamics within the play are shown in his dialogue, such as his aside that elaborates on why he has to serve Prospero: “I must obey: his art is of such power, It would control my dam’s god”.
Yet despite Caliban’s brutality and his seemingly irredeemable disposition, there lies a poetic, dream-like aspect to his character. Karen Flagstad writes “No less than Prospero, Shakespeare’s Caliban is in his own way a dreamer, a visionary of sorts.” While the majority of his dialogue is indeed construed as curses and hate, there are elements of love shown in his language that bring a poetic form to his words. At the beginning of Act 1, he reminisces on how he supported Prospero when they first arrived on the island, “I loved thee And showed thee all the qualities of the isle, The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and fertile”, before cursing himself for doing so, using imagery of toads, beetles, and bats in his anger. Later, he also includes bogs, apes, adders, disease, and infection in his curses, and, notably, his language consists primarily of nature. The list of natural places Caliban mentions implies his love for the island – this connection to nature and the earth demonstrates his ties to his homeland, not to his oppressor, and presents his curses in the only manner he knows. Through the poetic language of the island he lives on, Caliban shows his loyalty and love for his home.
Furthermore, one of the most poetic paragraphs in the play is Caliban’s description of the island. He tells his dream of “sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments will hum about [his] ears”, and introduces the dream-like state he wishes to remain in when listening to the island ‘voices’. His display of sensitivity when calming Stephano and Trinculo contrasts his otherwise aggressive language, demonstrating some form of compassion, emotional intelligence, or even both. His line “I cried to dream again” may invoke a sense of pity from the audience or reader. Having been portrayed as a monster throughout the play, confessing to crying (however metaphorical) is an immensely vulnerable act, and Caliban’s wish to ‘dream again’ furthers this emotional verse. While brutish in most regards, this line implies an innate, wondrous dream of the riches and peace of the forest on an almost otherworldly level. Caliban has his own dreams and desires, as does Prospero, yet can only subtly voice these to scared men.
This vulnerability is especially touching when considering that language is the only tool Caliban has against his oppressors. Despite his hatred for such speech, he confesses that his “profit won’t Is, I know how to curse” and is, therefore, able to rebel through his curses and aggressive language. However, language also enabled him to create the plot that granted him an opportunity to usurp Prospero. Had he not learned their language he would have had no opportunity to use Trinculo and Stephano against Prospero, as it would have been even more impossible to raise a coup alone. While the play dismisses this attempt as comic relief and the rebellion is ultimately unsuccessful, it remains important to note that language was the primary weapon Caliban had against a colonial oppressor.
Caliban in The Tempest is a complex character with a seemingly anticlimactic conclusion. His language progressed from exclamations and cursed imagery to the resolution “I’ll be wise hereafter and seek for grace”, contrasting his anger at the beginning of the play, perhaps indicating that the colonial narrative had finally ‘won’ and worn Caliban to adopt not only the language of his oppressors but their mannerisms. Language demonstrated his character, not just his stereotype.
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