Caliban
One prominent character in The Tempest is Caliban, a native to the island and the child of an evil sorceress. When Prospero lands on the island, he takes Caliban in and Miranda, the noble’s daughter, teaches him their language. When Caliban tries to rape her, Prospero makes him their slave as punishment.
In the play, characters refer to Caliban as a monster, a fish, and a mooncalf. In typical Shakespearean fashion, there is no other specific description of the character.
In visual representations, whether in illustrations, on stage, or in film, Caliban’s appearance ranges from a literal monster, to a disfigured man, to an unattractive man. Depending on how Caliban is represented, modern audiences may see the play through a colonialist or an ableist lens. But regardless of what form Caliban takes, the colonialist references in The Tempest still remain; nearly every man who comes ashore attempts to claim the island for his own.
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Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Henley Shakespeare. Edinburgh, 1901.
In this watercolor illustration from the Henley Shakespeare Tempest, Caliban appears as a seemingly average man, albeit an ugly one. This illustration suggests a possible ableist reading: all it takes to be a monster is to be disfigured or disabled.
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Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. Illustrations by Paul Woodroffe. London, 1908b.
In this illustation by Woodroffe, Caliban once again appears to be simply a man with an unusual face. Caliban’s monstrosity seems to come from his lack of sophistication, or savagery, evidenced in this illustration by his snarl.
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Lamb, Charles. Tales from Shakespeare. Illustrated by Arthur Rackman. London, 1909.
Since this illustration comes from Charles Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare, intended for children, it makes sense that Caliban is about as far from human as you can get. If Caliban is an actual monster, it is easier to comprehend why he is a slave. It also means that parents don’t have to explain to their children why Prospero would be so mean to another human being. Caliban takes on the persona needed to support the narrative the writer wants to tell.
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Shakespeare, William. Comedy of the Tempest. Illustrations by Edmund Dulac. London, 1908.
In this illustration by Dulac, there is not much about Caliban’s appearance that suggests he is a monster, other than his ragged clothing. As in the Henley edition, he is an unattractive man. Perhaps, what makes Caliban (figure on the left) a monster is simply his native status, which points to a colonialist narrative.
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Taymor, Julie. The Tempest. Miramax, 2010.
In Julie Taymor's film version of The Tempest, Caliban is a black man with skin lesions and discoloration around his left eye. Since he is clearly recognizable as human, the source of his monstrosity must be his race and position as a native of the island.
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Jarman, Derek. The Tempest. Boyd’s Company, 1979.
In Derek Jarman’s film adaptation of The Tempest, Caliban seems to be racially ambiguous and free of a physical disability. We are first introduced to Caliban while he is biting into the shell of a raw egg and letting the fluid drip down his chin. Jarman’s adaptation manifests Caliban’s monstrosity through his mental state rather than his physical one, allowing an ableist reading of Jarman’s film in determining what makes a monster; Caliban deserves to be enslaved because he is not sane.