How Does Prospero Control Caliban In Shakespeare's The Tempest

231 Words1 Pages
Pursuing this power dynamic further, another one of Prospero’s servants, Caliban, receives treatment identical to Ariel’s. When Prospero arrived to the island Caliban was one of the native settlers. Prospero did not see him as peaceful, but rather a brute, monstrous foreigner that could not communicate with his new neighbors, resulting in Prospero teaching Caliban their language in order to assimilate him to the island’s new tongue. Expectedly, Prospero does not let this kind gesture go unpaid, so he requires Caliban to enter into servitude in order to repay him for the language he learned. Much like Ariel’s experience, Prospero’s used his strict guidelines to control Caliban: lowering self-esteem, reminding of his past, and recalling generosity.