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Abuse of power: Caliban - Victim or Villain?


﻿Hello everyone. It's Mr. Dyke here, and this is another English lesson based on the Tempest, before we begin, make sure you've got a pen at the ready, kind of a different Caliban, so you can mark your answers, be aware any of the distractions that you might have around you. Prepare any notes from previous lessons that you think will be helpful to you, so that you have them nearby. When you're ready, just write down today's title, which is on the screen, abuse of power Caliban, victim or villain. Let's start as always with our recap, for the last lesson we were focusing on Act two, Scene two, and that involved Trinculo and Stephano. So I want you to write down everything you can remember, about the events of that scene. Anything you remember about the two characters, and that particular scene at all. So two minutes, write down everything you can remember, use the images to help you, off you go. So here are the key things I wanted you to remember. So you might have read more, you might phrase it slightly differently, but just make sure that you have these details in your response. So, first of all, Caliban sees the foolish Trinculo coming and hides under a gabardine. You may have remembered that because Caliban thought he was one of Prospero spirits coming to torment him. So that's the reason why I hit, Trinculo is looking to escape the thunder that's come in and the storm joins Caliban underneath the gabardine, which is like a cloak, essentially. I'm thinking he is a downed island er who looks like a fish. It was all very comedic drink, mistaken him for an island , assuming his dad as well and hit under that physical aspect of physical comedy to go and hide with caliban. Stephano the drunkard discovers the gabardine. So he's wandering along thinking he's alone and he's lost everybody. And he thinks, I find this strange two-headed and four-legged monster attempting to feed it wine. And he quickly discovered that as in factoring killer and they're kind of reunite, and you may have remembered that at the end of that scene, he feeds and Caliban with the wine himself. And Caliban's reaction to this is to treat Stephano like a god and decide that he is a really important person. And that is going to feed into today's lesson as we do some evaluation about Caliban because now we've discovered a little bit more about Caliban. We are going to decide what kind of character, he truly is. Is he a victim from a lot of people's different views and society's kind of issues, or is he a bit villainous himself? Is he a perfect preacher himself? So we're going to read a little bit more about Caliban and see a bit more, what happens in the scene, and then we'll decide on that. At the beginning of Act two, Scene two Caliban speaks about his torment and he writes, or he speaks and Shakespeare writes in the form of a soliloquy, which is where the character will address the audience and speak about that thoughts and inner feelings. And the audience can hear, which isn't necessarily directed to a character it's just to the audience and the characters, speaking, their thoughts and feelings out aloud. And this is just before, Caliban went off the fetch wood. And the reason why I skipped it last time, it was because I wanted you to focus on Trinculo and Stephano. We're going to focus on it this time so we can see a little bit more about Caliban's feelings and emotions. So that's what we're thinking about as we read, how is Caliban feeling and what was he thinking? And do we feel sorry for him or not? So let's find out. All the infections that the sun sucks up, from bogs, fens, flats, on Prosper fall and make him by inchmeal a disease. So Caliban is wishing disease upon Prosper. His spirits hear me, and yet I need most curse, but they'll know pinch frightened me with urchins-shows, pitch me in the mire, nor lead me like a firebrand in the dark, out of my way, unless he bid them. So he's talking about spirits from Prosper, which are instructed to torment Caliban and go after Caliban. So that's what Caliban has to deal with all the time. So we might feel a bit sorry for him, right? He feels like a victim a lot, but for every trifle are they set upon me, sometime like apes that mow and chatter at me, and after bite me, then like hedgehogs, which lie tumbling in my barefoot way, and mount their pricks at my footfall. Sometime am I, all wound with adders to snakes who with cloven tongues do hiss me into madness. So it's describing some of the different ways Prosper punishes Caliban. So using different creatures, and using different methods of kind of pain and suffering. Pausing that, answer this three questions for me. How is Caliban tormented by Prospero? How does this affect Caliban? So spend two minutes full sentences, answer those two questions for me. Now that was that particular soliloquy, which preceded meeting Trinculo and Stephano. So that's where you need to place that into contact. That soliloquy will become important when we start to evaluate Caliban later. Cause that's a really, really, really makes him seem like a little bit of a victim. We might feel a bit sorry for him in that instance, but we know that he's not always good. And that's what we're going to find out as we move through the rest of this scene. So let's remind ourselves of why we're up for it up to here. So Trinculo now calls out to Stephano, and Stephano pulls his friend from under the cloak. While the two men discuss, how they arrived safely on the shore. Caliban enjoys the liquor and begs to worship, Stephano is enjoying the wine that's been given to him. So he's being influenced by Stephano. The men take full advantage of Caliban's drunkenness, mocking him as their most ridiculous monster, as he promises to lead them around and show them the island So that's what's going to happen in this particular scene now, so Caliban is going to try and join forces with these two men and treat he's going to treat Stephano like a god. And promised to lead him around the island , a bit like he once did with Prosper . Stephano to Trinculo. How, didst thou escape? How camest thou hither? Swear by this bottle how thou camest hither? I escaped upon a butt of sack, which the sailors heaved overboard by this bottle, which I made the bark of a tree with mine own hands, since I was cast ashore. Caliban to Stephano, I'll swear upon that bottle to be thy true subject, for the liquor is not earthly. So Caliban is saying you will be a subject, which means essentially someone who is ruled by a king. And he's saying Stephano you are that King. And he says, the liquor, the wine is not earthly. So it's so magical, he must be a god. Stephano to Trinculo, here swear, then how about escapedst? Swum ashore man, like a duck. I consume like a duck, I'll be sworn. Here, kiss the book. Though, thou can't swim like a duck, thou art made like a goose. Caliban, hast thou not dropped from heaven? Stephano, out to the moon. I do assure thee. I was the man in the moon when time was, I have seen thee in her and I do adore thee. My mistress showed me thee and thy dog and thy bush. Stephano, come swear to that, kiss the book. I will furnish it and not with new contents swear. Caliban drinks some more wine. So Caliban is essentially worshipping Stephano, and these two characters. By this good light, this is a very shallow monster. I have feared of him, the very weak monster, the man of the moon and most poor credulous monster. Well drawn monster in good sooth. So Trinculo is recognising that this monster is easily manipulated, and that Caliban is easily manipulated. And that's something that they might be able to do. Caliban to Stephano, I'll show thee every fertile inch of the island and I will kiss thy foot. I prithee, be my god. Trinculo, by this light, a most perfidious and drunken monster. When god's asleep, he'll rob his bottle. I'll kiss thy foot. I'll swear myself thy subject. Come on, then down and swear. I shall love myself to death at this puppy-headed monster. A most scurvy monster, I could find in my heart to beat him. Stephano to Caliban, come, kiss So Stephano is happy being treated like a god. Caliban is happy being a subject. He's found a new leader, someone to worship. And Trinculo is just kind of a bit disgusted by Caliban is being quite offensive about him calling him a monster. But that the poor monster's in drink, an abominable monster. So Trinculo is in the wine is made in more monstrous and more horrible. Caliban, I'll show you the best springs I'll pluck the berries, I'll fish for thee, and get thee wood enough. I plague upon the tyrant that I serve. I'll bear him no more sticks, but follow thee, thou wondrous man. So Caliban here, you'll notice that these first two lines I'll show thee is very similar to what he once said to Prosper. I'll show you the island , I'll show you where things are and is that a plague upon the tyrant that I serve? So a tyrant is essentially an evil, oppressive leader. So he's describing Prosper that, and wishing a plague upon him. And instead he's saying I will follow you Stephano and he calls him a wondrous man. So Caliban is getting some more evil ideas here, so he can abandon and maybe betray Prosper and instead follow Stephano. Then pausing that spend a little bit more time with ease because we spent quite a lot of time reading that scene. So how do Trinculo and Stephano speak about Caliban? And how does Caliban behave towards the two men? So pause that, spend around three or four minutes, at least on this question, of you go. So as I always get ready to mark your responses are there anything you might be missing? And then obviously take anything that is accurate. So first of all, Caliban is tormented by Prospero is plagued by various tricks and spirits such as animals that hurt him. He is harried and harassed to ensure he does his job well. So that was from the soliloquy right at the beginning. About how he's being tormented and this effect, Caliban he's suffering from lots of mental and physical torment and pain, because he talked about how he is almost the spirits, speak to him and chatter to him and torment him, as well as physical pain. How do Trinculo and Stephano speak about Caliban? They are insulting towards Caliban, describing him as a monster and a mooncalf, and implying he is evil and abhorrent. They exercise power and control. So Stephano in asking Caliban to kiss his foot, is happy to be that powerful person. Remember we've looked at the theme of power here, Trinculo and Stephano feel like, they can get some power of this creature. How does Caliban behave towards the two men? Caliban affected by the alcohol, is treating the two men with reverence, which means respect offering to kiss their feet and show them the island This is similar to how he once treated Prospero. So we can see a pattern in Caliban's behaviour, worshipping people and really letting them have power over him. We're going to think about this question now? Is Caliban a victim or a villain. So to define those two words, just write down these two definitions for me. So a victim is a person who has come to feel helpless in the face of mistreatment, and mistreatment is just not being treated well or properly or being treated badly. Then villain, is a character possessing evil intentions. So write those two definitions down now, just pausing to do that. So really the question that we're dealing with here is, is Caliban someone who is mistreated, or is he someone who has evil intentions? I mean, the hint here is that he probably has a bit of both. So I want you to come up with as many reasons, as many examples to prove each of these two words about Caliban. So for example, he is tormented by Prospero's spirits, which suggests to me that here's a little bit of a victim sometimes. However, there are also different reasons we can add to demonstrate that he is a little bit villainous as well. He has evil intentions. So I'd like you to do is to put the victim on one side of your page, villain on the other side of your page. So you've got two columns and you're going to write underneath each one. There's many examples of Caliban demonstrating both of these qualities, spend four minutes doing that for me. So pausing here to do that. Hopefully you could remember lots of different reasons, and here are some to make sure that you have plenty of ideas at your disposal. So let's look at victim first. So obviously we said he's tormented by Prospero spirits. So sometimes Prospero does mistreat him. He's kept imprisoned by Prospero. So you might argue that that makes him a better victim. He's insulted by Prospero, and he's insulted by Trinculo and Stephano. He behaves with a servant attitude towards Prosper, and then Trinculo and Stephano, also kissing their feet. So it's almost like he assumes that is always the least powerful one and that he will be oppressed and that he must worship other people rather than taking control himself. So those are hints, at why he could be seen as a bit of a victim. However, Shakespeare certainly wants to see him as a slightly more complicated and flawed character. So that he's got villainous qualities too. So let's look at the villain column. Here's the offspring of the evil, which Sycorax. So the fact that he is her son, immediately gives him an evil nature. He curses Prospero, and he actually is very horrible towards Prospero. And he's quite violent towards him too. He's got a history of attacking Miranda. So we know that he can behave apparently towards other people. And ultimately he wants the island for himself. So he wishes Prosper were no longer in charge of the island. It feels like it's been taken away from him, but he wants ultimately to gain the island back. And as we see Caliban develop as a character, he will come up with a plan, by which they will try and take Prospero powers away from him. And we know from the plot summary that he tries to get too drunk Stephano, to pull the plot to kill Prosper. So we do know he's very villainous too. We're going to do a little bit of an evaluation now. So we should have lots of reasons, both for and against and for victim and for villain. And evaluation is making a judgement . So it could be about the value of something, the amount of something, or the number of something. So in this case, we're evaluating how Caliban is a victim or a villain. Is he more villainous? Is he more of a victim or is he a mixture, and maybe why is a bit stronger than the other one? That'll be up to you to decide, we're going to do that through paragraph form. So I'm going to give you the framework here and you're going to explore how this evaluation works, and explore how Caliban is exactly presented. So look at my sentence opener there, firstly Caliban could be interpreted as having the qualities of a victim or villain. So you're choosing one of those to focus on, don't write victim and villain, you're choosing one to focus on first. So maybe you're going to say the qualities of a victim, and you going to focus on that. And after that you need to provide one of those examples that we explored. So for example, you might say, as he escaped in prison by Prosper, then as you can see, you need a quotation. So I want you to go back and select a quotation, which supports, which suggests, or that suggesting that. So I want you to explain that quotation and what it means, then you're going to focus on the technique or world class. So the use of the word, whatever it is, these the noun, these the verb, these the adverb, use the phrase, connote. What does it tell you about, whether it was a victim or villain. And this demonstrates his victim-like, or villainous or his victim-like nature, villainous nature as... So that final bit, you're linking it back, to how that shows he's a victim or villain. So polls, now I want you to spend 10 to 12 minutes on this paragraph. Once you resume, you will see an example, so that you can use that to either help you, or mark your response. Poll's time probably got the task. Let's look an example. So you are either using this to help you develop your answer further or finish an answer, or you're going to mark your own with this. So giving yourself a tick, first of all, if you've created a really clear statement like mine, firstly Caliban could be interpreted as having the qualities of a victim. So I focused on victim. So check that you've either said victim, as he feels the need to behave like someone lacking in power towards Trinculo and Stephano So give yourself a tick, if you provided an example from the text. Caliban States, "I swear myself, the subject." Give yourself a tick, if you use the quotation, check, if you've used quotation marks, suggesting that he is automatically placing himself as a servant to the man he encounters, despite this being his native land. Give yourself a tick, if you've explained your quotation, suggesting that, the use of the noun subject connotes power and authority versus servitude. So give yourself a tick, if you've zoomed your word, and also stated what word class it is or whether it's a phrase or even a technique. Caliban is prepared to lower himself in status to appease Trinculo and Stephano. So I'm give myself a tick there explaining what that word really tells us. This demonstrates his victim-like nature, as he never assumes that he's the one who possesses power. He has always been oppressed, and oppressed just need to push back. So I'm giving myself a tick, because I've linked my exploration to why Caliban is a victim at the end of that. So pause again now, and I want you to spend five minutes, improving your paragraph, and you also need to write a second paragraph. So you need to do the other one. So either you do victim or villain, depending on what you've already done. So you need to do one of each. So now's the time to make sure you've got two paragraphs overall. So you might spend another 10 minutes. And also they have time to mark and correct. The one you've already written. Off you go. If you want a little bit of support in writing your second paragraph, this is how you may have begun it. However, it could also be debated that Caliban possesses villainous or ill-intentioned qualities. So for me, I'm doing the opposite. I'm saying villainous, some of you might be doing the opposite villainous, which is victim-like. Once you've done that, I want you to try and finish with a sentence, which gives you your overall opinion. So, overall, I feel like Caliban is, because... So do you feel like he's more of a victim overall or more of a villain overall? I want you to decide. So that is your final job. So pausing here, making sure you've got your two full paragraphs, and then that final statement overall, about who Caliban is. Off you go do that now. As always, thank you for your focus in this lesson. And I look forward to next time.

Exit Quiz: 
Abuse of power: Caliban - Victim or Villain?


Completed: 
Abuse of power: Caliban - Victim or Villain?


In this lesson we will evaluate whether Caliban is mistreated and a victim, or whether he is villainous in his own right. We will reflect on his thoughts and things that torment him, as well as how Trinculo and Stephano treat him.


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Abuse of power: Caliban - Victim or Villain?

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