Caliban

For other uses, see Caliban (disambiguation).
Caliban
The Tempest character
Created by William Shakespeare
In-universe information
Family Sycorax (Mother)

Caliban ( KAL-i-ban), son of the witch Sycorax, is an important character in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.

His character is one of the few Shakespearean figures to take on a life of its own "outside" Shakespeare's own work: as Russell Hoban put it, "Caliban is one of the hungry ideas, he's always looking for someone to word him into being ... Caliban is a necessary idea".

Character

Caliban is half human, half monster. After his island becomes occupied by Prospero and his daughter Miranda, Caliban is forced into slavery. While he is referred to as a calvaluna or mooncalf, a freckled monster, he is the only human inhabitant of the island that is otherwise "not honour'd with a human shape" (Prospero, I.2.283). In some traditions, he is depicted as a wild man, or a deformed man, or a beast man, or sometimes a mix of fish and man, a dwarf or even a tortoise.

Banished from Algiers, Sycorax was left on the isle, pregnant with Caliban, and died before Prospero's arrival. Caliban, despite his inhuman nature, clearly loved and worshipped his mother, referring to Setebos as his mother's god, and appealing to her powers against Prospero. Prospero explains his harsh treatment of Caliban by claiming that after initially befriending him, Caliban attempted to rape Miranda. Caliban confirms this gleefully, saying that if he had not been stopped, he would have peopled the island with a race of Calibans – "Thou didst prevent me, I had peopled else this isle with Calibans" (Act I:ii). Prospero then entraps Caliban and torments him with harmful magic if Caliban does not obey his orders. Resentful of Prospero, Caliban takes Stephano, one of the shipwrecked servants, as a god and as his new master. Caliban learns that Stephano is neither a god nor Prospero's equal in the conclusion of the play, however, and Caliban agrees to obey Prospero again.

Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears; and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again; and then in dreaming,
The clouds me thought would open, and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked
I cried to dream again.

Name

Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo dancing

There is a long history of enthusiastic speculation on the name's origin or derivation.

One of the most prominent suggestions concerns Caliban being an anagram of the Spanish word caníbal (Carib people), the source of cannibal in English. The character may be seen as a satire on "Noble cannibal" from Montaigne's Essays (A.30, "Of Cannibals").

Also popular has been comparison to kaliban or cauliban in the Romani language, which mean black or with blackness. The first Romanichal had arrived in England a century before Shakespeare's time.

Since 1889, it has been suggested that Shakespeare may have named Caliban after the Tunisian city Calibia (now called Kelibia) that is seen on maps of the Mediterranean dating to 1529.

Many other, though less notable, suggestions have been made, primarily in the 19th century, including an Arabic word for "vile dog", a Hindu Kalee-ban "satyr of Kalee, the Hindu Proserpine", German Kabeljau ("codfish"), etc.

Notable stage portrayals

Fyodor Paramonov as Caliban in The Tempest, Maly Theatre, 1905

References and adaptations

Art

  • 1775 – Etching of Caliban by John Hamilton Mortimer with the caption "Do not torment me prithee / I'll bring my wood home faster"

Books

  • 1891 – The preface of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde includes two sentences referring to Caliban: "The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his face in a glass. / The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his face in a glass."
  • 1994 – Caliban's Hour by Tad Williams features Caliban, presented as a more noble character than the original.
  • 2003 – Dan Simmons publishes the first book of his Ilium/Olympos duology, in which Caliban is an antagonist.
  • 2003 – In Ilium, Caliban is a destructive, powerful humanlike entity who vacillates who he serves; at one point he served Prospero (the noosphere's personification), later works only for himself, but also sometimes aligned with the malevolent destroyer of worlds Setebos.
  • 2004 – The title of Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation by Silvia Federici references The Tempest.
  • 2006 – The first book of the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman is published. It centres around Caliban "Cal" Leandros, a half-human, half-monster hybrid who kills monsters.
  • 2012 –The title of the second book of The Expanse space opera series by James S. A. Corey, Caliban's War, is a reference to the inhuman (or unhuman) characteristics of some of the protagonists; the name itself is not mentioned in the story, however.

Film and television

See also: List of William Shakespeare screen adaptations § The Tempest
  • In the 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet, Caliban is re-imagined as "the Monster from the Id", a wild and violent monster that is invisible to the naked eye. The monster later turns out to be born of the subconscious of the film's Prospero character, Dr. Morbius, using the advanced technology of the Krell. Like Caliban, the monster ultimately rebels and attempts to kill its master. Captain Adams confronts Dr. Morbius with the fact that he is giving form to his subconscious, and his guilty conscience, from having brought it into existence, finally ends the monster's destructive rampage.
  • In Derek Jarman's 1979 film adaptation, Caliban is portrayed by Jack Birkett.
  • In the 1980 BBC Television adaptation, Caliban was portrayed by Warren Clarke.
  • Caliban appears as the wild and lustful Greek Kalibanos (played by Raúl Juliá) in Paul Mazursky's film adaptation Tempest (1982).
  • In the 1989 animated Swedish film The Journey to Melonia, loosely inspired by The Tempest, Caliban is presented as a creature made of vegetable and branches. While he still resents his servitude, this Caliban is kind at heart.
  • In Peter Greenaway's 1991 film Prospero's Books, Caliban was played by Scottish dancer Michael Clark.
  • In the 1992 animated version, Caliban was voiced by Alun Armstrong.
  • Caliban appears as the bayou-dwelling "Gator Man" (played by John Pyper-Ferguson) in Jack Bender's 1998 TV film The Tempest (set in Mississippi during the Civil War).
  • In Julie Taymor's 2010 film adaptation, Caliban is portrayed by Djimon Hounsou.
  • In The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Caliban is a prince of Hell competing for Sabrina's throne, portrayed by Sam Corlett. This character happens to be knowledgeable and skilled in witchcraft, a reference to Shakespeare's Sycorax.

Other references and adaptations

See also