Caliban Portrayed as a Child in The Tempest - 1901 Words

Caliban Portrayed as a Child in The Tempest Can a grown adult develop and act like a child? Shakespeaers answer would have been yes. This fact is depicted through the character of Caliban. Calibans speech and manners, as well as his thought, all display the very basic reactions and notions of human beings. He is also controlled by a parent figure who comes in the form of Prospero. An analysis of Caliban can hold him up to Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development, which focuses on the development of children. Caliban, unquestionably, fits one of Piagets developmental stages. Jean Piaget developed his Theory of Cognitive Senses in 1952. According to Piaget, as children develop, they must make constant mental†¦show more content†¦His thoughts about the attempted rape and his revenge against Prospero are not the only items that demonstrate that Caliban is childish. Caliban also thinks and talks about his mother quite often, also similar to a child. Mentally developed adults usually do not do such a thing; of cour se, they think about and care about their mothers, but not nearly as much as children do. Miranda, the second most naà ¯ve character in the book, does not think about her absent mother nearly as much as Caliban does. This serves to help create a comparison of the developed child to the underdeveloped one, and the contrast brings out the child-like nature of Caliban. Again, these factors help prove the fact that Caliban can be fit into Piagets second stage because of the childlike attributes Caliban demonstrates. Caliban further demonstrates his childish instincts when he rebukes Prospero for first stroking and then disciplining him, and he claims to object to being made a subject when he was mine own king. Again, like a child, the character of Prospero is outraged at his parent-figure Prospero for punishing him when he has done wrong. Also like a child, the idea of being his own ruler runs rampant through every child, who is treated like a royal until he or she is forced out into the real world and then expected to follow laws and social concepts. Childhood can be defined as theShow MoreRelatedEssay about More Than Meets The Eye1643 Words   |  7 Pageshow inequality is derived.   Shakespeare’s The Tempest tells the tale of a usurped Duke, Prospero, who suffers a life of exile on a mystical island.   Overthrown by his own brother Antonio, Prospero seeks revenge.   In a series of carefully planned events, Prospero strands a group of European lords on his isle, one of whom i s Antonio.  Ã‚   Using his knowledge of magic, Prospero succeeds at obtaining control over his kingdom of Milan.   On the surface, The Tempest appears unrelated to the work by Rousseau.  Read MoreHow Shakespere Portrayed the Charactor of Caliban in The Tempest661 Words   |  3 PagesDescribed in the character list as a savage and deformed slave, Caliban is the son of Sycorax, an evil witch who has since died but who once held authority over the island now ruled by Prospero. 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