The Tempest

Roles

• Caliban - Young Adult (20-35), Adult (36-50), Senior (>50), Male

About this piece

Caliban plans revenge against Prospero

Summary

The play starts with a storm hitting a ship that carries the King of Naples, Alonso, his son Ferdinand, Alonso's brother Sebastian, Antonio the Duke of Milan and two servants, Trinculo and Stefano. In the second scene we find Miranda with her father Prospero on the shore of an island close to the shipwreck. Miranda asks her father to help the people on the ship. After Prospero confesses that he is actually responsible for the shipwreck (using his magic powers), he tells her the story of his and her past, of how they got to the island. He used to be the Duke of Milan until his brother Antonio, with the help of the King of Naples, usurped his position and he was forced to flee to the island with his daughter. We are then introduced to two servants of Prospero, Ariel and Caliban. Ariel is a spirit servant who carries out Prospero's magic. We learn that he was actually the one that made the ship sink in the beginning of the play. The other servant is Caliban, the son of the witch that rules the island before Prospero's arrival. Caliban is always cursing Prospero and Miranda for the way they treat him. Prospero sends Caliban to get firewood. Caliban eventually runs into Trinculo and Stefano. Stefano gives Caliban drinks and they all get drunk and start singing. They wander around the island and in his drunkenness Caliban tells them the story of how Prospero controls him and tortures him and usurped his island. In this monologue Caliban tells them that he is planning revenge against Prospero by stealing his books about magic and then killing him.

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