The Tempest response paper

The Tempest

One of William Shakespeare’s most evolved works; The Tempest, is a rage of ethereal nuance and forcefully wrought metaphor. Within this masterpiece is an array of well developed characters. Caliban is easy to portray as the unknown Americas. He is wild, deformed, savage and capable. He is born of the dust of the earth, and yet comprehends, "sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not”. He is the fundamental mixture of man and beast. He recognizes himself to be a slave and searches for his freedom. His potential is far greater than his deformity might suggest. The question is... how will it be developed?

The idea of murder is comforting to Caliban. He imagines that it would make immense noise, and it might ease his sufferings if well plotted. However, he has a desire for goodness. He was taught by Miranda, and nurtured by Prospero. The beast and the human-being are both alive and strong within this monstrous creature. Caliban is a mottled blending of the savage, wild and dangerous land; and the enormous potential of a vast untapped resource. It has (at the time of this tale) only been lightly taught and nurtured by Europe.


The potential of this untapped, wild new land is revealed in the balance of knowledge at work in the play. Caliban knows that Prospero's power depends on his books and his staff. Without them, "he's but a sot as I am;" This identifies the Americas’ problem as temporary. When the land has been refined and the people therein educated, how will it compare to the Old World? How would a knowledgeable Caliban compare to Prospero? And will one destroy the other?


The Tempest is one of Shakespeare’s most penetrating works. He illustrated ideas and concerns that had not been adequately expressed in his time. He seems to have understood the future of America and its potential in a way no other writer had envisioned. Caliban is no longer the essence of America, but this country can still be seen through his filter. The deformity has given way to stronger appendages; but what of the core? Is America still searching for its true freedom? Or are we an enormous, murdering monster?

Read The Tempest, at http://www.gutenberg.org