What is the relationship between Prospero Ariel and Caliban in acts 1 and 5 of 'The Tempest'?

Answer 1

The Tempest, a romantic comedy often considered as one of Shakespeare's greatest works, begins with act one a scene typical of Shakespeare, throwing the audience directly into the story. It is not until scene two that we meet Prospero, the story protagonist, and the character that Caliban and Ariel generally revolve around. Before we even meet Caliban Shakespeare already begins painting a picture of him 'a freckled human whelp, hag-born not honerd with human shape' we are already being fed information on Caliban so that we have formed an opinion of him before he enters the story. The first things we hear about Caliban forms an almost animalistic view of the man. Ariel on the other hand is not mentioned before her sudden appearance seconds after Miranda falls asleep, which makes us question the possibility of magical influence. Calibans entrance, directly after Ariel's stormy exit contrasts between the two characters with Ariel's light sprit as opposed to Caliban blunt and unattractive character. Before Caliban even enters view we are hearing of how Miranda is repulsed by Caliban 'I do not love to look upon' which once again gives us an opinion of Caliban before we meet him. Prospero's abrupt order, 'what ho! Slave! Caliban!'. The word 'slave' gives us a clear example of Calibans status. Shakespeare has purposefully made Calibans first line after many negative and animal like prose from Miranda and Prospero, this is so before he even speaks we have formed a very clear opinion of what we feel Calibans personality and appearance is like. 'There's wood enough within' although quite a simple line holds many meanings. The first being the fact that the line comes from off stage, which means we still don't know what he looks like, which in turn means that we are speculating what Caliban looks like. The second meaning this line has is showing us that Caliban directly disobeys Prospero's orders, which shows that Caliban has no respect for Prospero and prospero does not have all the power we first thought he had. The contrast in tasks given to Ariel and Caliban by Prospero also shows us the contrast between Ariel's and Calibans roles The Tempest. Caliban is only allowed near Miranda because he is given the menial jobs 'he does make our fire, fetch our wood and serves in offices' which once again reminds us of the idea that Caliban is a slave. Ariel on the other hand is given much more important jobs, but this is not because Ariel means any more to Prospero than Caliban does but simply because of her magic which means Prospero need something from her, Prospero relies on Ariel to help him. The language used by Prospero and Caliban changes slightly as the act progresses. Although prospero continues to use harsh words that shows us the hatred he has for Caliban, 'thou poisonous slave, got by the devil himself', Calibans attitude is slightly different. Although it is clear that he currently hates Prospero, ' drop on you both! A south- west blow on ye, and blister you all o'er!'. Calibans speech comes as a shock, as it is unexpected that a slave would be able to speak like this, but it also shows the clear love he once had for Prospero ' thou strok'est me and made much of me' but this small part, where for the first time Caliban is shown with emotions in a more human way, is instantly replaced with anger towards Prospero for taking his island.

Answer 2

He uses Caliban to do menial physical labor, while he uses Ariel to carry out his magical schemes.