Caliban - victim or villain

Answer 1

I don't think that Caliban is necessarily either one or the other. Characters can be sympathetic AND villainous, and I think that Caliban is one of those. In the play, Caliban obviously has feelings and a deep humanity even though others dismiss him, and he tries to cover it up himself at times. ... he also does, and encourages, some very bad things. You could defend either side with evidence from the play, but I think the real answer is that he is both... much like a real human. :)

Answer 2

Both. He was a victim in that he had no life. He was born deformed to a witch on a deserted island and then made to act as a slave to Prospero. But a villain too who had plotted plotted to rape Miranda and swore a lot. These days he would be considered a bit of a rogue, freely admitting that he would have raped Miranda if he had had the chance. He did not have a lot of choice; she was the only female on the island.

Disagree: Caliban had a great life before Prospero and Miranda showed up! Read his speech in 1.2.334-47. It makes clear that the island was HIS; he was king until Prospero showed up and took it from him, which addresses colonialization issues of the period, as well as showing the island as a complicated and, therefore, interesting place in which to live. Additionally, there is no direct evidence of "rape," and saying "she was the only female on the island" practically supports rape, which is never supportable! The term rape is not even used in the play. Caliban, as a "natural" creature, certainly could not know about or even be asked to understand English Renaissance societal rules of sexual engagement, which, by the way, certainly favored men, not women, during that period, anyway. A husband could rape his wife without punishment, for it was not considered rape then; any man could rape a prostitute, and prostitution, like today, was often the only profession some earlier abused women could find. During the Renaissance, a woman was only identified in relation to some man in her life: father, brother, or husband. If she had none, she could work in the mines or a match factory (where sulfur fumes killed many) and not earn enough money to eat, or she could turn to prostitution, which afforded her a little more independence and money but was very dangerous. A lone woman during the Renaissance period (and again, still today) faced many dangers. Please think as far from the tip of your nose as you can and read history. :o)