Which character relationship in The Tempest gives the best insight into colonialism during Shakespeare's time?

Answer 1

prospero & Caliban

Answer 2

Prospero and Ariel or Prospero and Caliban. Bear in mind that the colonialist reading of the play is a twentieth-century gloss. Shakespeare did not think that it was a play about colonialism, nor did his audience. Although we might think that Prospero's enslavement of the locals in the persons of Ariel and Caliban mirrors the enslavement of aboriginal peoples, we do this because we have a vision of colonialism which is warped by the rhetoric of our time. In fact, it was the Spanish colonialists who enslaved the local people, whereas the English just drove them deeper into the bush. In this sense, the type of colonialism practised by the English is not well-reflected in the play viewed as an image of colonialism.

Answer 3

prospero & Caliban