After reading Acts two and Three from the Tempest, by Shakespear, and "Cultural Studies," by Charles Bressler, I found some contrasts between Caliban and Colonization.
In the Tempest Acts Two and Three, Shakespeare reveals the true natures of his characters. Stephano makes Caliban look like a fool when he forces Caliban to drink his wine in order for him to calm him down. As a result, Caliban wishes to be Stephano’s slave and praises him, calling him “thou wondrous man.” This makes Caliban look like a savage or as Shakespeare describes it a “monster of the isle.”
In the article called “Cultural Studies,” Bressler describes savages similarly to how Shakespeare portrays Caliban, since he is native to this island. Caliban also represents all the native people to that island, who are also in need of a ruler. Caliban becomes known as a savage just like the native peoples after worshiping and praising Stephano for his amazing wine. Shakespear describes Caliban as scummy, worthless, ignorant, and even a "monster.”
What I also found interesting was how Stephano taking over Caliban was similar to how Great Britain took over or “dominated her colonies.” After drinking the fine wine, Caliban saw Stephano as a superior, just like how the colonies gave up their countries “in exchange for what material goods the colonized desired or were made to believe they desired by the colonizers.”
I enjoyed reading both The Tempest and the “Cultural Studies” article, even if they did take forever to read. However, I learned a lot about postcolonialism and colonization that I never knew about, so I guess it was pretty interesting. There were some similarities that clicked for me between Caliban in the Tempest and the “savages,” described in the article. Well that’s pretty much it... See ya! :)
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