The Oppression of Caliban in The Tempest Essay -- Tempest essays

The Oppression of Caliban in The tempestWilliam Shakespeares, The Tempest, provides insight into the hierarchy of command and servitude by order of nature. This play uses the kindred between its characters to display the control of the conqueror over the conquered. It also pictures how fraternity usually places the undesirable members at the bottom of the chain of command, even though they may be entitled to a higher social status. For example, the kickoff of the play opens with a scene on a boat in the midst of a terrible storm. The boatswain, who is under the command of the royal party, attempts to preserve the boat from sinking. Members of the royal party, however, persist in interfering with his duties. The boatswain retorts, What cares these roarers for the call of the king? To cabin Silence Trouble us not(I, I, 16-18). He is trying to warn his superiors that if he does not let him do his job, everyone volition die, and it will not matter who has power over whom. The sup eriors, however, still mete out offense to this comment and label him a blasphemer. Caliban, an unfortunate character in this play, suffers from similar constant abuse because he is of the lowest social social rank in his community. Critic John W. Draper describes Calibans position in relation to the opposite characters when he says, Of all the characters in Shakespeare, Caliban is the most fully and repeatedly/ described, though not always consistently and his bodily parts seem to show little/ relation to his humor or his character except that twain are monstrous. Monsters/ were popular and, as Trinculo ... ... Monster Caliban..Caliban. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York Chelsea House Publishing, 1992. 89-94. Evans, G. Blakemore. Ed. The riverside Shakespeare. by William Shakespeare. 1552- 1616. Boston Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974. Leininger, Lorie Jerrell. The Miranda Trap Sexism and Racism in Shakespeares Tempest. The Tempest particular Essays.Ed. Patrick M. Murphy. New Yo rk Routledge, 2001. 223-229. Smith, James. Caliban. Caliban. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York Chelsea House Publishing, 1992. 124-150. Vaughan, Virginia Mason. Calibans Theatrical Metamorphoses. Caliban. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York Chelsea House Publishing, 1992. 192-206. Vaughan, Alden T. & Virginia Mason. Shakespeares Caliban A Cultural History. New York University Press, 1991. Wilson, Daniel, LL.D. Caliban The Missing Link. London Macmillan and Co., 1873.