CALIBAN

a feral, sullen, deformed creature in Shakespeare's The Tempest. The son of the sorceress Sycorax, Caliban is the sole inhabitant of his island (excluding the imprisoned Ariel) until Prospero and his infant daughter Miranda are cast ashore. Prospero makes the creature his servant and over the years teaches him to speak. The character Caliban has been seen by some as Shakespeare's negative representation of the natural human and by others as an example of native peoples suffering under imperialist oppression. He is a complex and interesting figure, whatever is made of him.