Shakespeare’s The Tempest: A Post-Colonial Reading

The Tempest, published in 1611, is thought to be William Shakespeare’s last play. It is often read as a metatheatrical play, in which Prospero controls the course of action while commenting about the illusion of reality. A reality that seems parallel to the made up world and an illusion in works of fiction.

The play was written at a time when England was establishing itself as a colonial power along other European empires. At the time of Shakespeare, and up until the late nineteenth century, The Tempest was read and acted out as a comedic and didactic play. But more recently, after the emergence of postcolonial criticism in literature, The Tempest has increasingly been expounded on through a postcolonial lens.

This lens instantly makes the story fall into a quintessential colonial setup, with Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, representing the colonizer; and Caliban, the native inhabitant, representing the colonized.

The story is set in an island which is rightfully Calibans’, and Prospero strategically takes control of it from Caliban and turns him into a slave. Prospero uses and exploits Caliban to get control of the island. Prospero’s usurpation of Caliban’s land mirrors the colonization by the European powers, where indigenous populations were subjugated and exploited for resources. Caliban’s attempt to resist Prospero’s rule and assert his autonomy is met with cruel punishment and further subjugation.

Prospero, and his daughter, Miranda, impose their language on Caliban, and expect him to be grateful for it, just like the original colonizers, who believed it to be “the white man’s burden” to civilize and educate the indigenous people. Caliban, however, detests that he has been taught the colonizer’s language. This imposition of language is important in the colonial debate as cultural erasure is a colonial tactic of alienating the occupied from their identity, and asserting and normalizing dominance.

Caliban: “You taught me language, and my profit on’t/
Is I know how to curse. The red plague rid you
For learning me your language.” (1.2.364-366)

Prospero also accuses Caliban of attempting to rape Miranda. Caliban does not deny this claim, but many critics are of the view that a sexual division into the [savage] rapist and the [white] virgin is common in colonial discourse. “Miranda is represented as just such a virgin, to be protected from the rapist native and presented to a civil lover, Ferdinand. The ‘fatherly’ power of the coloniser, and his capacity to regulate and utilise the sexuality of his subject ‘children’, is therefore a potent trope as activated in the The Tempest and again demonstrates the crucial nexus of civil power and sexuality in colonial discourse.” (Brown 1994)

Throughout the text, Caliban is described as a “monster”, “tortoise”, “beast man”, or sometimes a “mix of fish and man.” He is described as a person who is ugly, and hard to look at. His physical appearance and speech are described in derogatory terms, emphasizing the dehumanization and otherization of indigenous people often associated with the colonial narrative. He is the dehumanized non-white figure in a narrative woven and controlled by Prospero.

Despite Prospero’s treatment, Caliban’s character also reflects resistance and the desire for liberation. He resents Prospero’s rule and expresses his longing for freedom, even suggesting an alliance with other characters against Prospero. However, towards the end, Caliban eventually accepts Prospero’s authority, and promises to be “wise [thereafter] and seek for grace” (5.1.295-96).

This ending to Caliban’s struggle for freedom implies that he was in the wrong to attempt to resist the colonizer. His fate is left ambivalent, as to whether he gets his island or freedom back, or remains under Prospero’s power. However, Prospero does, still insultingly, acknowledge him as his possession towards the end of the play -– “this thing of darkness I acknowledge mine” (5.1.175-6), which goes to say that he still views Caliban his property and as racially subordinate to him.

A postcolonial reading of the text highlights the undertones and justification of colonial structures within this piece of fiction, as a reality of the time it was produced in. These instances from the text demonstrate that the relationship between Prospero and Caliban serves as a microcosm of the larger colonial narrative, inviting audiences to reflect on, reinterpret and question the text as a direct product of an era where colonization was justified and hailed.

Mukaram Shakeel is a student pursuing English Literature from Jamia Millia Islamia

Edited by: Bushra Faridi