Caliban And The Raven

171 Words1 Pages
Caliban’s naturalistic, negative diction throughout his turbulent dialogue with Prospero sets the stage for the unclearness he possesses within his own image. Caliban’s passionate curse in response to Prospero’s summoning begins with “As wicked dew as e’er my mother brushed/ With raven’s feather form unwholesome fen/Drop on you,” (1.2.322-324) His fervent speech filled with elements of the natural world such as “dew” and “feather(s)” appear seemingly harmless until Caliban attaches a negative undertone to each pure item. Caliban turns the wholesome items into a reference of his mother’s identity as a witch by attaching the “wicked dew” to the “feather” of one from a “raven” in an “unwholesome fen” or swamp. His allusion to a raven, a bird of