Visualizing Caliban

I can’t say I remember how I visualized Caliban the first time I read The Tempest because I was reading it as a script with an actor already cast in the role. This time, though, especially after I read Prospero’s description of him being a “freckled whelp… not honored with a human shape,” I envisioned him as physically resembling someone like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. That early description and Prospero’s clear mistreatment of him made me think of him as a young man with unfortunate physical deformities that was despised by society, simply because he did not look like them.

Then I watched the MFA production where Caliban was played by a handsome actor whose only “monster-like” qualities were an odd, seaweed-type wreath on his head and his pigeon-toed walk. However, I was still rather horrified by the choice because the actor who played Prospero was white and the actor who played Caliban was black.

Now, I know I’m qualifying, but before I continue with why I this caught my attention, I feel like I need to mention two things. 1) I got over my horror very quickly because the MFA cast is actually very diverse, and Miranda and Ferdinand were also played by African-American actors. 2) I have been in several classes recently that look more closely into racial constructs and how perceptions of race have affected past and present societies, so I feel like I tend to notice more situations like this.

This momentary horror got me to thinking about how people putting on the Tempest cast Caliban. Does the casting or visualization of Caliban reveal what we find monstrous and unacceptable in our society? I thought back to my high school production and realized that the actor who played our Caliban, though a brilliant actor, was also not known for his charming personality and he was considered a bit socially awkward around school. The MFA’s choice for Caliban did not really call into question issues of race, but I did look at the cast for the 2010 The Tempest and that Caliban really is the only black actor in a cast of white actors. Even my visualization of Caliban was of a human being with physical deformities rather than an actual monster.

All of this made me wonder, what would the Caliban actor in Shakespeare’s time have looked like? Would they have made him look fish-like as Trinculo claims later in the play?  Would they have used a person who looked physically different in skin-tone or body shape? Would they just have expected the audience to project their own vision onto the actor?

I decided to also see how The Royal Shakespeare Company performed Caliban. I was a bit surprised by their choice, but I liked it. According to the website I found, The Royal Shakespeare Company used a monster stage puppet for their Caliban. Now, even though I could probably find research on how monsters who do not have any semblance of human form can still represent a range of human fears and xenophobic tendencies, I personally believe that it effectively removes Caliban as a symbol of who we actually ostracize in society. If Caliban looks like an evil monster out of a fairy-tale, then it seems to me that it would be easier to place Caliban in the role of bumbling villain and focus on other parts of the story.

Caliban 2010 The Tempest (movie)

Caliban The Tempest (Royal Shakespeare Company Production)

I feel like I haven’t come to a definite decision on this topic. I like the idea of Caliban being an actual monster, so that the power struggle between Prospero and Caliban takes a more personal tone rather than a comment on the distribution of power and privilege in society. However, using the role for social commentary could be very effective if the audience is aware of it. Mostly what I have decided from this train of thought is that casting Caliban requires a lot of contemplation on what message his characterization will send to the audience.