The Tempest - Duality between
The Tempest - Duality between Nature and SocietyOne of the essential themes of the Tempest is the duality between nature and society. This is made evident through the character of Caliban: the disfigured fish-like creature that inhabits the island at which the play takes place. Caliban lacks civilized influence due to the fact that he was born on the island deprived of any social or spiritual morality other than nature and instinct. He is literally man untamed. Caliban is not monstrous simply for the sake of being frightening, his ghastly visage is intended to literally depict the duality between civilization and natural instinct. Caliban is literally man untamed. Part fish, part man, but not really either because he is more mentally sophisticated than a fish, but devoid of any characteristics generally associated with civilized beings. He displays promise in becoming civilized, but eventually it becomes evident that it is impossible to fully tame a wild animal, which is what Caliban essentially is. Caliban is more of an
Human beings no longer had to worry about being killed or being looted as much as long as they were within the confines of a civilization. These are present because life is easier with rules like this. What is vital to survival in society is not necessarily important in nature; and vice versa. While Caliban is perceived as being evil and monstrous, he really is not. While he is labeled a monster throughout the play due to his appearance, he is in fact an animal. However, Antonio is much more malicious than Caliban because he knows what he has done is evil This goes back to the concept of nature vs. society and their clash, both physically and as a character within the play. Shakespeare's message is that no matter how hard we try we cannot unlearn things that have become our nature, what we are cannot be changed, it can be tamed to an extent, but the beast within will eventually shine through (physical image of Caliban). Its almost of a blind perversion of human nature. The character of Caliban fully exemplifies nature vs. We will always revert back to what has been imprinted into our minds from the beginning of our lives, everything else will always seem foreign and no matter what we will always slip up somehow. Caliban is Shakespeare's representation of natural instinct and how it collides with society. Now the individual was not responsible for every aspect of survival but contributed to the overall survival of a civilization. Through bettering our situation, we have corrupted ourselves to an extent (greed).
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