Quotes from The Tempest
The Patriarchy
• “the fair soul herself weighed between loathness and obedience” – Sebastian says
about Claribel’s unwilling participation in marriage with an African
• “And women too, but innocent and pure” – Gonzalo presents women as an
afterthought in the commonwealth, and suggests their value lies in virginity
• “virgin-knot” “given” – Miranda in marriage
Caliban’s humanization
• “And then I loved thee, and showed thee all the qualities o’ th’ isle” – his kindness to
Prospero and trustworthy nature
• “the isle is full of noises, sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not” –
appreciation of nature beyond its ability to aid his survival
• “when I waked I cried to dream again” – he has an imagination and is thus capable of
progress and development
• “and I’ll be wise hereafter and seek for grace” – his self reflection and intrinsic
examination leads to a self reconciliation
• “It is but trash” – his view on the glistering apparel is far more mature than Trinculo
or Stephano’s, showing his morals transcend those of ‘civilized’ men
Caliban’s enmity
• “freckled whelp, hag-born – not honoured with a human shape”- Prospero’s
description
• “tis a villain sir, I do not love to look on” – Miranda’s description
• “poisonous slave - got by the devil himself” - Prospero
• “abhorred slave” - Prospero
• “monster” “man or fish” “beast Caliban” – Trinculo and Stephano
• “on whose nature, nurture can never stick” – Prospero
Caliban’s hatred of Prospero
• “This island’s mine, by Sycorax my mother” – he feels the island was stolen from him
• “You taught me language, and my profit on’t is I know how to curse” – colonized and
colonizer dynamic
• “I must obey” – forced servitude
• “A plague upon the tyrant that I serve”
• “possess his books, for without them he’s but a sot”
Caliban’s foolishness
The Patriarchy
• “the fair soul herself weighed between loathness and obedience” – Sebastian says
about Claribel’s unwilling participation in marriage with an African
• “And women too, but innocent and pure” – Gonzalo presents women as an
afterthought in the commonwealth, and suggests their value lies in virginity
• “virgin-knot” “given” – Miranda in marriage
Caliban’s humanization
• “And then I loved thee, and showed thee all the qualities o’ th’ isle” – his kindness to
Prospero and trustworthy nature
• “the isle is full of noises, sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not” –
appreciation of nature beyond its ability to aid his survival
• “when I waked I cried to dream again” – he has an imagination and is thus capable of
progress and development
• “and I’ll be wise hereafter and seek for grace” – his self reflection and intrinsic
examination leads to a self reconciliation
• “It is but trash” – his view on the glistering apparel is far more mature than Trinculo
or Stephano’s, showing his morals transcend those of ‘civilized’ men
Caliban’s enmity
• “freckled whelp, hag-born – not honoured with a human shape”- Prospero’s
description
• “tis a villain sir, I do not love to look on” – Miranda’s description
• “poisonous slave - got by the devil himself” - Prospero
• “abhorred slave” - Prospero
• “monster” “man or fish” “beast Caliban” – Trinculo and Stephano
• “on whose nature, nurture can never stick” – Prospero
Caliban’s hatred of Prospero
• “This island’s mine, by Sycorax my mother” – he feels the island was stolen from him
• “You taught me language, and my profit on’t is I know how to curse” – colonized and
colonizer dynamic
• “I must obey” – forced servitude
• “A plague upon the tyrant that I serve”
• “possess his books, for without them he’s but a sot”
Caliban’s foolishness
