Prospero and Caliban from The Tempest by William Shakespeare Within The Tempest, characters such as Prospero and Caliban share an intimate bond. Without some sort of malevolent force motivating the play's action, none of the main characters would come into contact with each other. A violent storm, created by Prospero's magic, subjects the foreign characters to the force of his mysterious power. Issues of control become a central part of The Tempest. One way this is highlighted is through the relationship between Prospero and Caliban, his beastly servant. Their relationship does not use the conventional imagery of those who hold power versus those who do not. Rather, Caliban comes to symbolize a physical manifestation of a darker part of Prospero's personality. At the beginning of the play, Caliban is described as a beast-like figure who lived on the island before any foreign intrusion. Prospero and Miranda found Caliban and his mother living on the island when they themselves were shipwrecked there. The first words introducing Caliban describe him as the son of the witch Sycorax who was banished to the island. Caliban is described as someone who is "not honored with/A human form....[a] dull thing..." (I. ii. 283-6) Although Caliban is here referred to as a figure of disgust and contempt, Prospero chooses to use the word "tedious" in his description of this creature. Even before he is introduced, Caliban is labeled with images of darkness, or at least reduced light. This labeling comes from Prospero, who has demonstrated the power to control clouds and can cause storms to cover the sky if he wishes. Prospero has the power to decide when the sun will shine and when there will be darkness, and rai... middle of paper....... His impending marriage at the end of the play causes Prospero to once again open up his eyes on the world and prepares to rejoin society. This awareness of the need for darkness as well as light offers Caliban the possibility of forgiveness at the close of the play. Caliban says, "Yes, I will; and henceforth I will be wise and seek grace. What a thrice-double ass was I, to take this drunkard for a god, and worship this dull fool! (VI 295-8) Losing his "dullness" in favor of a possibility of redemption, Caliban makes some progress towards understanding the way Prospero sees the world. It is Prospero's acceptance of Caliban's darkness that he finally allows Caliban to have something in common with the world of light and desire to seek grace Works Cited: Shakespeare, William The Tempest New York: Penguin, 1970 [1623].