ACTS 2 AND 3 POST

Through Act 2 and 3 Caliban has been pushed around by everyone on the island.  They look at him as a slave.  When they ended up on that island they tried to make it theirs even though they weren’t the first ones there.  Just like how the settlers came to the New World and toke the lands of the Native Americans and made them servants and slaves.  Shakespeare’s portrayal of Caliban is that of a Native culture that was colonized by another culture because of the lack of superiority of the influence to the people.  As Caliban meets Stephano, he gives Caliban some wine “He’s a good god, who brings liquor from the heavens” (Act 2 scene 2).  This quote reminds me of how Cortez was considered a god when he had met the Aztecs.  He brought them things that they have never seen before so, they assumed they came from the heavens.  So, when Stephano gave him wine, he enjoyed it.  He was under the impression that Stephano was the master that he needed to follow.  When new influences are presented the out dated ones won’t stand a chance.  We can say that Shakespeare makes Caliban just like the people whose lands were taken because of the sense of loyalty that he has for the person that is more superior.  In a colonized country the people must follow who has the most power because they don’t have enough strength to overcome the law.  By the 19^th century the British, “were biologically superior to any other race” (236).  Prospero and Stephano both think that they are superior to Caliban.  They see him as a drunk and worthless person who they can do anything with.  Who can stop them if they are the “superior race”?  Caliban can’t break free from these influences.