The Nature of Judgement

The Tempest it is not clear what Caliban actually did to Miranda. Prospero accuses him thus
“Thou dids’t seek to violate the honour of my child” to which he replies “O ho! I would it had
been done; thou didst prevent me, I had peopled else this isle with Calibans” . From this we
can deduce that Caliban attempted to have sexual relations with Miranda – from his point of
view an act of procreation and from Prospero’s a violation of honour. Sadly Miranda never
mentions the incident and so her own opinion on how ‘vile’ the encounter was is hard to
assertain although it is certain she is not overly fond of Caliban as she calls him a “villain”.

Caliban’s actions are those we would generally condemn, and yet many readers (men and
women) long to forgive him so let’s look at some of the arguments they use to do so:
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/ 1. Prospero is an unreliable narrator who has his own agenda in accusing Caliban. This
argument usually presents Prospero as a racist whose opinion of Caliban mating with his
daughter has more to do with a bigoted fear of miscegenation  than his perception of the act
as one of assault. In this scenario Miranda is usually presented as rather more accepting of
Caliban’s advances. Although, on the face of it, the text suggests she is not enamored of
Caliban.
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/ 2. That Caliban does not know what he is doing. This point usually focuses on Caliban’s
isolation from western cultural norms. If he did not know that sexual assault was wrong then
he cannot be fairly condemned for committing it. To be fair Caliban has had very limited
exposure to anyone of very sound judgement.  In his life he has known his Mother Sycorax
(who was apparently a rather earthy witch whose morals hardly seem impeachable) Ariel
(who may be seen more as spirit than human and may have little concern for the niceties of
human sexual mores) and Prospero and Miranda who may or may not have attempted to
teach him about the birds and the bees and why it is good manners to gain consent. In this
interpretation Miranda may also be portrayed as innocent about such things, her father
having never found the time for that particular discussion.
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3. Caliban is not human and cannot be judged on human terms. In the text it is not clear
exactly how human Caliban is. We may see him as racially different or actually a different
species. If we see him as powerful and almost human the sexual assault is frightening in the
extreme. However if we see him more as an overgrown puppy dog then the assault becomes
almost a laughing matter  – something akin to your pet dog attempting to procreate with a
stranger’s leg at a bus stop – embarrassing for sure but by no means a crime.