“Caliban has his own distinctive view of the world, his own sense of beauty and of what it is to be alive.” In light of this observation, consider your view of Caliban’s importance in the Tempest as a whole.

From his very first appearance in the play, Caliban is depicted as a deformed savage on the island, seeming to be more animal than human and constantly referred to as beast and similar animalistic terms by Prospero and daughter Miranda. The audience is therefore very aware that Caliban is in no way part of civilised mankind, indeed he can be seen as a representative of natural man in the play, and therefore it is understandable that he has his own view of beauty which differs from the educated men who scorn at his ignorance. Interestingly enough however, despite Caliban’s deformed body and animal like appearance, he possesses remarkably beautiful language, filled with imagery, which implies that he is not inconsiderate of the natural beauties that surround him, indeed it may be the cultured man who is ignorant of this, concentrating on materialistic possessions and man-made beauty rather than that of nature and music. Bearing this in mind, it is difficult to continue envisaging Calib...