1. Act One scene two - Caliban
Read lines 306 – 374
Can you identify any similarities between Prospero and Caliban?

2. The Enslaved Caliban (lines 306 – 330)
How does Shakespeare emphasise Caliban’s position as a slave?
How does Shakespeare introduce Caliban, Miranda and Prospero’s feelings towards one another?
How does Shakespeare show Caliban’s rebellious nature?
How does Prospero oppress Caliban?

3. Lines 331 - 374 What ideas do you have about Caliban’s use of verse?
Identify poetic imagery in Caliban’s speech. What does Shakespeare suggest about his ability to appreciate nature?
Does any other character show such reverence for the island?
Which line tells us that Caliban’s rage stems from Prospero? How does this reinforce the critical argument that he represents Prospero’s Id?
AO2 – language, structure and form
AO5 – alternative interpretations

4. AO1 – critical arguments
Line
Would’t; had been done;
Thou didst prevent me, I had peopled else
This isle with Calibans.
Can you identify any echoes between Caliban’s plan and Prospero’s here?
In what ways might Caliban represent Prospero’s Id?
AO2 – structure
AO1 – critical arguments

5. Post-colonial interpretations of Caliban
How might pre-20th century critics have used Caliban to justify colonialism?
How might 20th century critics use Caliban as a means of exploring Britain’s colonial history?
AO5 – alternative interpretation

6. How important is Caliban?
“Caliban, a poignant but cowardly (and murderous) half-human creature… has become an African-American Freedom Fighter. This is not even a weak misreading; anyone who arrives at that view is simply not interested in reading the play at all. Marxists, multiculturalists, feminists, nouveau historicists – the usual suspects – know their causes but not Shakespeare’s plays. - Harold Bloom Bloom also points out that Caliban only speaks about 100 lines in the whole play. Do you agree with Bloom’s view that post-colonial interpretations of the play are invalid?
AO5 – different interpretations

7. AO5 – critical arguments
… Furthermore
Critic David Linley argues that Caliban is not an indigenous native, but “rather a first-generation colonist himself. His enslavement by Prospero repeats his mother’s earlier imprisonment of Ariel, who might be considered the island’s “real” indigenous inhabitant.”
AO5 – critical arguments

8. Homework essay questions
A figure who manages to be almost simultaneously sinister and benevolent.
Evaluate this view of Prospero in Act One of The Tempest.