Question

Short-response prompt Read the following passage from Act I, scene ii of The Tempest, in which Caliban confronts Prospero about the way Prospero has treated him.CALIBAN. . . 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 meWater with berries in't, and teach me howTo name the bigger light, and how the less,That burn by day and night: and then I loved theeAnd show'd thee all the qualities o' the isle,The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and fertile:Cursed be I that did so! All the charmsOf Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you!For I am all the subjects that you have,Which first was mine own king: and here you sty meIn this hard rock, whiles you do keep from meThe rest o' the island. (. . .) PROSPEROAbhorred 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 hourOne thing or other: when thou didst not, savage,Know thine own meaning, but wouldst gabble likeA thing most brutish, I endow'd thy purposesWith words that made them known. But thy vile race,Though thou didst learn, had that in't whichgood naturesCould not abide to be with; therefore wast thouDeservedly confined into this rock,Who hadst deserved more than a prison.CALIBANYou taught me language; and my profit on'tIs, I know how to curse. The red plague rid youFor learning me your language!Discuss The Tempest's themes of colonialism and the use of language to dominate others. Then analyze how those themes are developed in the passage. Be sure to use specific details from the passage in your response.

Answer 1

Answer:

Themes of Colonialism present in this passage:

• Fatherhood

Caliban sees Prospero as a fatherly figure, if you come to think of it, Fathers colonize children in as much as they have power over them, over what they eat, what they learn, where they live and so forth.

"When thou cames first, thou strokeds me and madest much of me, wouldst give me water with berries in't, and teach me how to name the bigger light (....) and then I love thee"  In this phrase we can see that Caliban was first treated with love by Prospero because he fed him (with water with berries, like a special treat) and taught him how to name the sun (the bigger light).

• Territory

When Caliban grows up, he realizes that Prospero was not like a father, he becomes aware of the fact that Prospero is the colonizer that took what belong to Caliban (His island).

"The island's mine, by Sycorax my mother, which thou takest from me"

What Caliban means here is that the Island has always been his by right, because it belong to his mother, and he accuses Prospero of taking it from him. This is what happens with Colonizers, they take a land (and the people that live in it)  although they have no right over it, but from their position of power they dominate the Colonized.

• Slavery

Prospero is mad because he believes that Caliban is his slave and that he is not capable of doing good things, because he is less than a human being.  "Abhorred slave, Which any print of goodness wilt not take, Being capable of all ill"

• Language

Prosperos is also angry because he claims that it was hard work for him to teach Caliban to speak "Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour one thing or other..."

This is interesting because colonized populations have a language of their own, so there is nothing generous about Colonizers teaching the colonized to speak. In fact, language is a tool that is used by Colonizers to control the Colonized.

Through language people can be controlled and their identity is also distorted when they use a language that is not their own. Caliban recognizes that Prospero knows how to name things (as we stated at the beginning) but notice how he calls Caliban in different parts of this extract you included: "Abhorred slave" , "Savage" , "a thing most brutish" "Thou vile race" In this way, we see that Caliban wants to get rid of the identity Prospero ascribed to him, but at the same time he can't fight against the power of the Colonizer (that is, Prospero)

Caliban's answer to this insults is: "You taught me language; and my profit on't is that I know how to curse. The red plague rid you for learning me language!"  This means (literally) for the only thing that your language is helpful to me is to insult you (the red plague rid you! is an insult) But from the point of view of literary criticism, we see that Caliban is using the language that was originally used to control him, to fight against the control of Prospero. So, the same weapon that the Colonizer used to exert power over the Colonized, the latter uses it to fight against his control.

Answer 2

I'm sorry that I can't really seem to understand what you are trying to say because some of the words are squished together please fix it and then I might be able to answer?