sperous and above the uncivilized. Prospero seems that way also. He is a well-educated man with powers of “white”, or good, magic. The opposite of this good is Caliban, who is born of “black” or bad magic. Prospero is a man that prospers forward, while Caliban is a cannibal that cannot be taught or civilized. Prospero takes it upon himself to civilize Caliban. He teaches Caliban to speak and tries to educate him. Here the reader can see how Prospero has placed himself in the role of the colonizer. He is trying to colonize Caliban. It is futile, after a while Caliban is refusing to learn manners and a proper, (Christian), way of living. Caliban represents man in his natural state, that being bad. Concerning Caliban, Prospero says “nurture can never stick”, meaning nurture is training, educating, discipline, control, and reason.There has also always been a theory of violence between the colonized and the colonizer, this is apparent between Caliban and Prospero. The more Prospero tries to “civilize” Caliban, the more Caliban rebels. He curses Prospero, attempts to rape Miranda, and later on plans to kill Prospero. While Caliban may be a monster and “deboshed fish”, he does have an understanding of the natural world, which the civilized visitors of the island do not have. Also the reader must understand that Caliban is not entirely evil. For this reason Shakespeare gives Caliban some of the most beautiful, lyrical, poetic lines in the play. He is nature, which can be savage. Far worse than Caliban, is the evil of Antonio. Antonio is cold blooded and calculating evil. As “civilized” as he is, Antonio is ruthless in his mission of gaining power. What kind of a “civilized” man would send his own brother and three-year-old niece into the sea to drown simply to gain dukedom of Milan? This is far worse than any “natural bestiality” of...
