Morally Ambiguous Characters In The Tempest

Ideally, the righteous and corrupt separate into distinct groups in society, hence all of the popular fairy tales featuring virtuous protagonists and vicious antagonists that children grow up hearing about usually. But in reality, no one could achieve flawlessness nor could he reach either extreme. The Tempest by William Shakespeare features this concept by using a series of morally ambiguous characters that allows the audience to interpret themselves where each character belongs on the moral scale. Through the gradual characterization of the island’s grotesque native, Caliban, the Bard defines humanity by exploring if the fine line between man and monster exists more like a blurred middle ground.

When describing Caliban’s appearance, Shakespeare

Caliban remains largely uneducated, so a combination of his ignorance and his primitive nature gets him into trouble. Prospero attempted to teach him initially, but all of that stopped when Caliban tried to rape Miranda. It wasn’t enough since Prospero never really liked him, so he hasn’t learned much aside from how to speak their language. Granted this, Prospero seems more like a monster for allowing Caliban to develop into his present state. Shakespeare does not believe in the existence of a “perfect natural man,” but man reaching his state of virtue through “blessings of education and civilization”(Gilbert 25).

Surprisingly, with his little academic background, Caliban already shows a talent by managing to speak occasional monologues and speeches that sound more poetic and beautiful than anything else that others have said. Noble characters speak usually in verse, but lesser ranked or comical characters speak in prose for all of Shakespeare’s plays. One of his speeches contrasts with the first point because it’s impossible that a monster could master a craft that humans pride themselves in.

Be not afeard. The isle is full of

Caliban’s done less evil things than Antonio, since he’s only theoretically planning to overthrow Prospero, while the Antonio already committed the action, the crime. Following that logic, Antonio is definitely a “man,” so Caliban can not be as evil as a “devil.” In contrast with the corrupted nobles, Caliban seems a lot more naive. From a certain perspective, he’s almost a pitible victim similar to how conquistadors treat natives during the colonialism period, but his dislike and rebelling actions towards the main character, Prospero, sets him up for scorn from the