The caliban world.

Once at one of our literature class, at +2. Shakespere's Tempest to be precise. Our teacher threw a general question to the class "can any one of  give me a consise summery of the character of 'CALIBAN' ?". This Caliban was one of the crooked villains of the play.

I don't quite remember if anyone did answer the question or not... but i do clearly remember her mumbling " I hope none of  you become one of him ".  At the time i could not understand what she meant or intented...

Now after all these years(6 on my count), I thought of those words again. so i googled the question ( miracle of internet).. and i found this..

"As he did in many of his plays, Shakespeare uses The Tempest to ask questions about how well society and nature intersect. Most of the characters in this play exist in a civilized world, although certainly not all of them are civilized. Caliban, though, is referred to several times as a "natural man." What then does it mean in Elizabethan society to be a natural man, to exist as a natural man, as Caliban exists?

Caliban serves to illustrate ideas about the social hierarchy of the Renaissance world, which formulated a socially rigid — and very political — hierarchy of God, king, man, woman, beast. This order was based on the patriarchal tradition and the teachings of religious leaders, which postulate a hierarchical order for mankind based on physiological and physical characteristics. Other means of defining a place within this order were emotional stability and the ability to reason. According to this rather rigid social hierarchy, Caliban belongs at the bottom of the Elizabethan social hierarchy, having little perceived social worth.

Caliban is more closely defined as an innocent — more like a child who is innocent of the world and its code of behavior.

Shakespeare describes this creature as an innocent — perhaps half man and half fish.  What is clear is that Caliban's behavior suggests many questions about what is natural and what is unnatural. Some acts represent Caliban's attempts to survive, but this is not acceptable behavior among civilized men. These are the actions of wild, untutored animals. Caliban demonstrates no sense of morality nor any ability to understand or appreciate the needs of anyone other than himself. In Caliban's self-centeredness, he is little more than an animal. He wants to indulge his desires, without control. This is what being free means to Caliban, whose cry for freedom clarifies many of his actions."

I read this for  a long time and took a look around .. and may be, just may  i understand what my teacher meant.. or intended.

He

He looked around, to the endless brightness surrounding him. A rarity to where he belonged and when he belonged. Tress and grassy ground beneath the trees splendid at light. He could see, twinkling of the suns along the shiny roofs of houses. He cared never to look around and was glad he did. Glad that his eyes shore, glad that he smiled, glad that it happened unprovoked. Then he felt the wind, he breathed the air. Cold, unwarmed. He felt happy. unprovoked.

he watched everyone,
and saw none.
he listened to all,
and heard null.
he wants to be lost,
with crowd, he is cursed.