I found today’s talk about the Tempest to be particularly interesting. It was shocking to see the different portrayals of Caliban over the years, yet I what really stuck out to me was how similar it Caliban has been portrayed from the creation of the play itself. One would think that as time has gone on, Caliban’s image would change drastically. The only real change in the perception of Caliban is that we now feel sorry for him. This is where the modern, postcolonial perspective comes into factor. Caliban seems to have staid the same way, otherwise, but I think that it is time to change how the viewer sees Caliban.

We should not feel sorry for Caliban or view him as this nonhuman savage like other, which is what Shakespeare’s contemporaries felt.   We should, instead, see Caliban as a native inhabitant who has been able to thrive on this hostile island for so long. It is time to stop pitying Caliban through this postcolonial perspective but appreciate him through an even more modern one. I untimely feel like there should be a new movie about that shows Caliban as a Bear Grylls like figure who does whatever it takes to survive on the island.