Dolma 1

Hüsna Dolma
21301197
ELIT 351-01
Final Project-Creative Writing-Act 1 Scene 2
Patrick Henry Andrew Hart
04.01.2017

AN ADAPTATION OF THE TEMPEST’S CALIBAN

PROSPERO: scowlingly

Thou p’rnicious slave, son

of the devil and the beldam

Cometh out! Expose

thyself to the shining glam.

Enter Abellio, impassively

ABELLIO:

Thou Voodoo augurer, whose incantation enslav’d me

In mine own owneth island, yond thee villain dispossess'd me

Bid me thy wisheth, i prayeth thee

Thy defiant s'rvant is to obeyeth ye.

PROSPERO:

Thou cumb'rw'rld, who is't

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shall beest bedamn'd

F'r the sinful swears thee

has't hath used

I shall t'rment thee in

the w'rst way i can

To hind'r thee from

using these w'rds again

I shall ex'rcise mine

own witchcraft on thy

weak corse

To tameth thee
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ign'rant monst'r of

me.

ABELLIO:

I am neith'r monst'r n'r s'rvant to thee

I am not ign'rant did compare to thee

Yet thou did get ign'rant by causeth of thy evil practices

Thy devilish books art not pow'r but one of thy weaknesses

Thou art the evil parteth of mineth

Who taught me how to be violent.

Thou did betray mine own kindness i hath shown

F'r i wast lonely in this island, abandoned

I did teach thee all i kneweth of this island

Thou can't gain loyalty with betrayal thee own.

My mother Yemaya would beest depress'd

To has't seen me under thee wiche supress'd

Wait until mine own Lughnasadh cometh

The owner and master of mine own kingdom i shall becometh.

PROSPERO:
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Thou yaldson who is't hast

nay dignity

Thou art dethron'd with

the power of my ability

Shouldst thou weren't an

animal to violate mine

own baby

I couldst has't alloweth

thee wend free.

ABELLIO:

I nev'r did violate thy baby, the lady is the most sinful monster

Cause the lady seduc'd me f'r a de'd of disaster

Thou knoweth nothing but just keepeth bluster

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I becameth like this as a result of thy witchery spirits

I am just a creature of the wilding with animal instincts

Thou has't nev'r did achieve controlling any of these.

PROSPERO:

Thou seemeth so quite

quaint and pure but wicked

in heart

Cause i madeth thee

groweth up the way i want

Owing to the tongue i

bethought thee becameth

my child

To obey everything of
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the hateful revenge i

obliged.

Thus, Obey slave, to thy

master!

Who created thee out of

plaster.
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CRITICAL COMMENTARY

AN ADAPTATION OF THE TEMPEST’S CALIBAN

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, “Is it good, friend?”
“It is bitter—bitter,” he answered;

“But I like it
“Because it is bitter,
“And because it is my heart.”

Stephen Crane

In this adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, contrary to the original text,

Caliban is described as a pure, child-like, respectful human rather than a savage ugly

monster who uses a deformed language. Unlike the original text, in which he was

described as a bestial creature just like the character in Crane’s poetry, in this

adaptation he is a beautiful human being with a pure heart. The reason for this is the

slight changes in the characterization of Prospero. In contrast to Caliban, he is the

evil, devilish power, the monstrous violent witch, who forces Caliban to become his
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slave and so own Caliban’s island to use his witchcraft. The changes in the language,

particularly the semantic field, the characters use and the typography of the adaptation

suggests that this Caliban and Prospero changed places. Prospero becomes the

antagonist while Caliban is the protagonist of the play. Nonetheless, the doubling of

the characters is kept in the adaptation since the uncanny of these characters is what

makes this play outstanding.

Prospero’s speaking “scowlingly”, while Abellio, standing for Caliban, speaks

“impassively” shows the opposite and paradoxical attitude of these characters.

Additionally, the language used by Prospero is more vulgar, uncivilized, and ignorant

as he keeps cursing Abellio in a vengeful and hateful way. Yet, Abellio stays calm and

kind in his answers. His answers are wiser and wittier than Prospero’s as Abellio

argues Prospero’s books make him ignorant, and he does not know anything more

than these books. Yet, even though Abellio is educated by Prospero because he was

growing on his own in his island, he seems to know more than Prospero. Also, the

change of Caliban’s name as “Abellio” is to show that he is like a god in his own

island since Abellio is defined by Micha F. Lindemans as “the Gallic god of apple

trees. A local deity of the Garonne valley”. Thus, Abellio is to be the god his own

island in this adaptation. Besides, his mother was named as “Sycorax”, who was

described as a “damned witch” in the original text (I.II. 264). However, in the

adaptation, her name is “Yemaya” who is a “Mother Whose Children are the Fish”.

There is reference to the original text here as Caliban is questioned to be a man or a

fish. Having a mother with more positive connotations helps Abellio to have a better
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characterization. Therefore, unlike Caliban, Abellio is a good-looking human with a

pure heart rather than an ugly, evil monster.

Additionally, using a different typography for each character is to imply their

different characteristics. Whilst Abellio’s dialogs are serene and stable, Prospero’s are

more complex, dark and hard to understand, which complies with both of their

characterization. Moreover, the rhyming couplets used throughout almost the whole

scene asserts the doubling of Prospero and Caliban/ Abellio. In the original text

Caliban is the uncanny of Prospero whereas in the adaptation it seems the opposite.

Abellio’s calling Prospero as “Thou art the evil parteth of mineth” in this adaptation

identifies this doubling between the characters. According to Orgel, “The inner

conflict is reflected in the dramatic tension between Prospero and Caliban” (23). In

the original text, Prospero tries to educate Caliban and so he is very hard on him. This

idea of education and harshness is kept in the adaptation but exaggerated in order to

create a sense of doubling. The pure good and evil is described with opposite

characters, and yet there are different references to their “seemings” because both

characters argue that they are not like what they look like. For instance, Prospero’s

saying “Thou seemeth so quite quaint and pure but wicked in heart” shows that

according to Prospero Abellio does not seem as he is while Abellio argues the

opposite in his speeches. Hence, the paradoxes and oppositions of these characters

creates a doubling of them.

In conclusion, in this adaptation of The Tempest, Caliban has become a

completely different character that is not monstrous or evil but rather more childish
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and pure. Using a semantic field related to witchcraft with words such as

“Lughnasadh”, “Voodoo” or “wiche” shows that Prospero is the antagonist in this text

while Caliban is the protagonist. The doubling of these characters are shown with the

help of both context and form. The idea of uncanny between these characters are kept

in this adaptation as it is an important part of this play.

WORKS CITED

Crane, Stephen. "In the Desert by Stephen Crane | Poetry Foundation." Poetry
Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2017.
<https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/46457>.

Mythica., Encyclopedia. "Abellio." Abellio. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2017.

<http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/abellio.html>.

Shakespeare, William, Stephen Orgel, and Stanley W. Wells. The Tempest. Oxford:
Oxford U, 1998. Print.

Unknown. "Yemaya." Thaliatook. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Jan. 2017.

<http://www.thaliatook.com/AMGG/yemaya.php>.