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What is the relationship between Miranda and Caliban in The Tempest?

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The relationship between Miranda and Caliban is hostile, since Caliban attempted to rape her.

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Miranda and Caliban's relationship is a negative one, to say the least. Caliban is resentful of the presence of Prospero and Miranda on the island, especially of Prospero's imposed sovereignty over the land and him. As an attempt to reclaim the island, Caliban tried to rape and impregnate the young Miranda, wanting to "people" the island with "Calibans." He is unapologetic about the rape attempt and treats it lightly when it is brought up to him by Prospero.

For her part, Miranda dislikes Caliban just as much, if not more, than he does her because of the attack. When Caliban acknowledges his intention to impregnate her during the attack, she lashes out in a manner contrary to her usual gentle nature:

Abhorred slave,
Which any print of goodness wilt not take,
Being capable of all ill! I pitied thee,
Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour
One...

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thing or other: when thou didst not, savage,
Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble like
A thing most brutish, I endow'd thy purposes
With words that made them known. But thy vile race,
Though thou didst learn, had that in't which
good natures
Could not abide to be with; therefore wast thou
Deservedly confined into this rock,
Who hadst deserved more than a prison.

(Interestingly, some editions of The Tempest change the speaker of these lines to Prospero. Perhaps some feel this vehemence is out of character for Miranda.)

Miranda views herself as a benevolent teacher looking to better Caliban by teaching him language and letters. His attack, beyond its repulsive nature, is also a rebuff regarding her efforts to act as a teacher.

Ultimately, there is no love lost between these two characters, and their relationship is never mended (not that it was ever close to begin with).

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In The Tempest, what is the relationship between Caliban and Prospero?

The nature of Caliban and Prospero's relationship looks very different according to whose perspective one adopts. From Prospero's point of view, he came to a wild island, which was until recently ruled by the foul witch, Sycorax. Prospero civilized the island and treated its inhabitants kindly, even Caliban who was

A freckled whelp hag-born—not honour'd with
A human shape.

Caliban repaid Prospero's kindness by attempting to rape Miranda, Prospero's daughter, since which time Prospero has kept Caliban as his slave.

Caliban would agree that he has been enslaved by Prospero, but apart from this, their relationship looks very different from his perspective:

This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother,
Which thou takest from me. When thou camest first,
Thou strokedst me and madest much of me, wouldst give me
Water with berries in't, and teach me how
To name the bigger light, and how the less,
That burn by day and night: and then I loved thee
And show'd thee all the qualities o' the isle ...

According to this version of events, Caliban is the rightful ruler of the island, while Prospero is a usurper who gained his trust by trickery. Then, when he had learned all that Caliban had to teach him about the island, he betrayed and enslaved his former ally.

The latter narrative has gained favor with critics following the rise of Postcolonial theory, since Prospero has all the characteristics of an imperialist, colonizing the island and justifying his depredations by saying that he is more civilized.

None of this makes any difference to the fact that, in practical terms, Caliban is Prospero's slave, and their relationship is one of mutual hatred and distrust. The only question is whether Caliban deserves his slavery or not. Shakespeare's contemporaries, seeing Caliban as a brutal monster, might well have said he did, while a modern audience may be more inclined to the belief that no one deserves slavery.

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Caliban and Prospero have a unique relationship in The Tempest. Caliban operates as Prospero's rebellious slave. Though Caliban is afraid of Prospero and does as he is bidden when Prospero is looking, he spends most of the play trying to undermine Prospero's plans and ultimately destroy Prospero. When the two first met, their relationship was not as destructive, though still not positive. Prospero taught Caliban how to speak English, among other things. Caliban was still a servant, but not treated as harshly. In the play, the audience learns that Caliban nearly raped Miranda, Prospero's daughter. This is the reasoning behind Prospero's bad treatment of Caliban during the play, but there is also a superiority complex occurring for Prospero. He thinks he is better than Caliban because Caliban is from the island and is the son of Sycorax, an evil witch.

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What is the relationship between Caliban and other characters in The Tempest?

Caliban is certainly one of the most intriguing characters in this play. He is variously abused and insulted by the other characters, but we learn most about his background from Prospero, whose prejudice is self-evident. Note how he refers to Caliban as "Thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself / Upon thy wickend dam." Although Prospero and Caliban, by Caliban's own ackowledgement, at first were friends, his attempt to rape Miranda quickly ended that. Caliban interestingly does not attempt to deny this charge, merely bemoaning his lack of success, dreaming about "peopling" the island where the play takes place "with Calibans."

Caliban is thus enslaved by Prospero. However, he is also deceived and enslaved in similar way by Stephano and Trinculo. Interestingly, his motives for committing murder are clearly shown to be not as terrible as the plan to kill of Antonio and Sebastian, offering an interesting moral comparison.

Thus, when we consider Caliban, we see that he is exploited and abused by other characters. Whilst we can definitely say his actions show he deserves some of this treatment, at the same time we might emerge feeling more sympathy for Caliban than for other characters. Interestingly, many modern productions cast him in a very sympathetic light, using Caliban to comment upon the evils of colonialism.

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