A) Caliban Seen as Nature Vsersus Nurture

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Shakespeare portrays Caliban as a natural man ‘on whose nature, nurture can never stick.’ In this his final play Shakespeare is once again concerned with subversion and disorder. Here the focus is upon which is superior; the civilized nurtured man or the uncivilized ‘natural man’. Those in favor of the cultivated nurtured man present the ‘natural man’ as being primitive, barbaric and unrestrained whereas the cultured man is quality in character, enlightened, dignified and forward-thinking. On the other hand supporters of the natural man portray him as being uncontrived, unaltered, genuine, and incorruptible and the civilized man as being distorted, pretentious and with a cunning that allows him to hide his evil actions and habits. The parallel debates over whether behavior owes more to genes or environment and whether nurture is superior to nature are as old as the earliest studies of the nature of man. The quotation in question suggests that Caliban is a man of nature indeed one who is sub-natural or unnatural and further that he is one who is not be capable of being civilized, cultured, educated or enlightened. In this respect, nature is seen in a negative way; that is base whereas nurture is positive and superior as it is about molding people, about cultivating better-quality beings. In their first conversation with Caliban, Miranda and Prospero say very little that shows they consider him to be human. Miranda reminds Caliban that before she taught him language, he gabbled “like / A thing most brutish” and Prospero says that he gave Caliban “human care” implying that this was something Caliban ultimately did not deserve. Caliban’s exact nature continues to be slightly ambiguous later. In Act IV, scene i, reminded of Caliban’s plot, Prospero refers to him as a “devil, a born devil, on whose nature / Nurture can never stick” . Miranda and Prospero both have
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