The Tempest Caliban Quotes

Caliban

Quote 7

CALIBAN
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 methought would open, and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked  
I cried to dream again. (3.2.148-156)

Nature is beautiful enough to bring out the very best in even its most "unnatural" creatures.

Caliban > Prospero

Quote 8

CALIBAN
I say by sorcery he got this isle; 
From me he got it. If thy greatness will,
Revenge it on him, for I know thou dar'st,
But this thing dare not. (3.2.59-62)

If we can believe what Caliban says, then Prospero won the isle from him through betrayal. Why then does Caliban not dare to betray Prospero? Is it anything more than the pinches and cramps he knows he'll get as punishment?

Caliban > Prospero

Quote 9

CALIBAN
As wicked dew as e'er my mother brushed
With raven's feather from unwholesome fen
Drop on you both. A southwest blow on you
And blister you all o'er.
PROSPERO
For this, be sure, to-night thou shalt have cramps, 
Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up. Urchins
Shall, for that vast of night that they may work,
All exercise on thee. Thou shalt be pinched
As thick as honeycomb, each pinch more stinging
Than bees that made 'em. (1.2.385-394)

Anger only begets more anger—both Caliban and Prospero expect the other to be awful, and they only get what they expect. Neither Caliban nor Prospero forgives the other's past wrongs, and this keeps their relationship at a complete standstill.