Caliban

Caliban, the subhuman son of the sea witch Sycorax, is an important character in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.

Character

Caliban is half human, half monster. After his island becomes occupied by Prospero and his daughter Miranda, Caliban is forced into slavery. While he is referred to as a or mooncalf, a freckled monster, he is the only human inhabitant of the island that is otherwise "not honour'd with a human shape". In some traditions, he is depicted as a wild man, or a deformed man, or a beast man, or sometimes a mix of fish and man, a dwarf or even a tortoise.
Banished from Algiers, Sycorax was left on the isle, pregnant with Caliban, and died before Prospero's arrival. Caliban, despite his inhuman nature, clearly loved and worshipped his mother, referring to Setebos as his mother's god, and appealing to her powers against Prospero. Prospero explains his harsh treatment of Caliban by claiming that after initially befriending him, Caliban attempted to rape Miranda. Caliban confirms this gleefully, saying that if he had not been stopped, he would have peopled the island with a race of Calibans – "Thou didst prevent me, I had peopled else this isle with Calibans". Prospero then entraps Caliban and torments him with harmful magic if Caliban does not obey his orders. Resentful of Prospero, Caliban takes Stephano, one of the shipwrecked servants, as a god and as his new master. Caliban learns that Stephano is neither a god nor Prospero's equal in the conclusion of the play, however, and Caliban agrees to obey Prospero again.

Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears; and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again; and then in dreaming,
The clouds me thought would open, and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked
I cried to dream again.

Name

There is a long history of enthusiastic speculation on the name's origin or derivation.
One of the most prominent suggestions concerns Caliban being an anagram of the Spanish word caníbal, the source of cannibal in English. The character may be seen as a satire on "Noble cannibal" from Montaigne's Essays.
Also popular has been comparison to kaliban or cauliban in the Romani language, which mean black or with blackness.
The first Romanichal had arrived in England a century before Shakespeare's time.
Since 1889, it has been suggested that Shakespeare may have named Caliban after the Tunisian city Calibia that is seen on maps of the Mediterranean dating to 1529.
Many other, though less notable, suggestions have been made, primarily in the 19th century, including an Arabic word for "vile dog", a Hindu Kalee-ban "satyr of Kalee, the Hindu Proserpine", German Kabeljau, etc.

Notable stage portrayals

1960 – Patrick Wymark in the Marlowe Dramatic Society And Professional Players unabridged recording
1963 – Roy Dotrice in the RSC production
1964 – Hugh Griffith in the Shakespeare Recording Society unabridged recording
1968 – Peter Brook and the RSC expressed the character of Caliban through violence and homosexuality, dubbed as Brooks' "experiment".
1974 – Patrick Stewart in the BBC Radio 3 production
1978 – David Suchet in the RSC production directed by Clifford Williams
1982 – Bob Peck in the RSC production
1983 – William Hootkins in the Bard Productions videotaped production
1990 – David Bennett in a production directed by Peter Brook and debuting at the Boffles Du Nord
1993 – David Troughton in the RSC production
1998 – Robert Glenister in the RSC production
2000 – Zubin Varla in the RSC production
2009 – John Kani in the RSC production
2023 – Hassiem Muhammad and Ryan Sellers in a Round House Theatre production co-directed by Teller and Aaron Posner

Art

1775 – Etching of Caliban by John Hamilton Mortimer with the caption "Do not torment me prithee / I'll bring my wood home faster"

Books

1878 – Ernest Renan, Caliban, suite de "La Tempête", Drame philosophique,.
1891 – The preface of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde includes two sentences referring to Caliban: "The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his face in a glass. / The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his face in a glass."
1978 – Life A User's Manual by Georges Perec uses Caliban as the brand of a raincoat.
1982 – Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls references Caliban in the title to her novella about a lonely housewife who finds companionship with an amphibious sea monster named Larry.
1994 – Caliban's Hour by Tad Williams features Caliban, presented as a more noble character than the original.
2003 – Dan Simmons publishes the first book of his Ilium/Olympos duology, in which Caliban is an antagonist.
2003 – In Ilium, Caliban is a destructive, powerful humanlike entity who vacillates who he serves; at one point he served Prospero, later works only for himself, but also sometimes aligned with the malevolent destroyer of worlds Setebos.
2004 – The title of Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation by Silvia Federici references The Tempest.
2006 – The first book of the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman is published. It centres around Caliban "Cal" Leandros, a half-human, half-monster hybrid who kills monsters.
2012 – The title of the second book of The Expanse space opera series by James S. A. Corey, Caliban's War, is a reference to the ambitions and rationalization of the villains, as well as the literal monsters in the story; the name itself is not mentioned in the story, however.
2017 – The novel Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey is a backstory to and retelling of the events of The Tempest from the perspectives of the two titular characters.

Essays

1974 – Roberto Fernández Retamar, ''Caliban: Notes towards a Discussion of Culture in Our America''

Film and television

In the 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet, Caliban is reimagined as "the Monster from the Id", a wild and violent monster that is invisible to the naked eye. The monster later turns out to be born of the subconscious of the film's Prospero character, Dr. Morbius, using the advanced technology of the Krell. Like Caliban, the monster ultimately rebels and attempts to kill its master. Captain Adams confronts Dr. Morbius with the fact that he is giving form to his subconscious, and his guilty conscience, from having brought it into existence, finally ends the monster's destructive rampage.
In 1960, Richard Burton portrayed Caliban in the Hallmark Hall of Fame television adaptation.
In Derek Jarman's 1979 film adaptation, Caliban is portrayed by Jack Birkett.
In the 1980 BBC Television adaptation, Caliban was portrayed by Warren Clarke.
Caliban appears as the wild and lustful Greek Kalibanos in Paul Mazursky's film adaptation Tempest.
The 1981 film Clash of the Titans features a villain named Calibos, the evil son of the sea goddess, Thetis, who is based on Caliban. After slaughtering Zeus's herd of flying horses, Zeus punished Calibos by transforming him from a handsome prince into a hideous monster.
In the 1989 animated Swedish film The Journey to Melonia, loosely based on The Tempest, Caliban is presented as a creature made of vegetables and branches. While he still resents his servitude, this Caliban, voiced by Ernst Günther is kind at heart.
In Peter Greenaway's 1991 film Prospero's Books, Caliban was portrayed by Scottish dancer Michael Clark.
In the 1992 animated version, Caliban was voiced by Alun Armstrong.
Caliban appears as the bayou-dwelling "Gator Man" in Jack Bender's 1998 TV film The Tempest.
In Julie Taymor's 2010 film adaptation, Caliban is portrayed by Djimon Hounsou.
In The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Caliban is a prince of Hell competing for Sabrina's throne, portrayed by Sam Corlett. This character happens to be knowledgeable and skilled in witchcraft, a reference to Shakespeare's Sycorax.

Other references and adaptations

Robert Browning's 1864 poem "Caliban upon Setebos" portrays Caliban speculating on the nature of Setebos, the god he believes in.
Kamau Brathwaite's 1973 poem "Caliban" explores themes of colonialism and creolization in the context of Caribbean island life.
In the 1900 essay Ariel by Uruguayan author José Enrique Rodó, Caliban is the antagonist.
In 1933, Ralph Richardson portrayed Caliban in a BBC National Programme radio production.
Caliban was the central character in James Clouser's rock ballet Caliban, a 90-minute adaptation of The Tempest that was scored with live performances by St. Elmo's Fire. The rock ballet was performed in Houston, Dallas, and Chicago in 1976 and 1977.
Caliban is the name of a character from Marvel Comics. He is an albino mutant who lives underground with the Morlocks.
Caliban is also a boss, and later, a standard enemy in Silent Hill: Origins, of which The Tempest is featured heavily in the Artaud Theater stage.
Adrian Herrero danced Caliban in the choreographic adaptation of The Tempest by the Ballet Contemporáneo of the Teatro General San Martín in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2008.
The 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony titled Isles of Wonder was heavily influenced by The Tempest. The musical piece played during the torch lighting ceremony was entitled "Caliban's Dream", and Caliban's monologue from Act 3, Scene ii was quoted by Kenneth Branagh in character as Isambard Kingdom Brunel at the start of the Industrial Revolution set piece. "And I Will Kiss", the title of another specially commissioned track from the ceremony, is also a quote from The Tempest. These two songs also appeared on the ceremony's official soundtrack. The 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony also featured a recitation of the same monologue, this time by Timothy Spall playing Winston Churchill.
In 2017, Sophie Stanton portrayed Caliban in Phyllida Lloyd's all-female Donmar Warehouse production set in a women's prison and performed by its inmates.
In the Warhammer 40,000 universe and tabletop game, a planet named Caliban was the homeworld of the First Legion of the Space Marines, the Dark Angels. The planet was destroyed after a war against traitor legions; what little remains of it has been turned into a ruined fortress, possibly in a reference to the island in the original play.
In the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, Calibarn is the name of a "monstrous" mobile suit used by the series protagonist, replacing the prior Gundam Aerial, itself a reference to The Tempest's Ariel.
In Warframe, Caliban is a warframe said to be a combination of "Helminth" and "Sentient" life. This is effectively a merging of traditional warframe creation and the alien-like robotic designs of the Sentient faction, itself a reference to the half-human half-monster origins of its namesake.
In Destiny 2, Caliban's Hand is an exotic armor piece which enhances the abilities of the Hunter Proximity Knife, the lore attached to the armor piece details that Caliban-8 was a character who, through cheating, beats the Hunter Vanguard in a card game, costing her her life, a decision he regrets as he ends up replacing her as is Hunter tradition according to the Vangaurd Dare. He is unable to rally hunters together until the Speaker motivates him.