Still, it would be an overstatement to say that postcolonial scholars speak with one voice
as regards readings of English literature in general or The Tempest in particular. As Ania
Loomba and Martin Orkin state in their Post-Colonial Shakespeares, postcolonialism “is not, it
may be helpful to remember, a homogenous body of writing, or a single way of approaching
the question of colonial power relations” (7). Many postcolonial scholars approach the
character of Caliban and his use of language as does Habib, emphasizing the ways Caliban
subverts Prospero’s authority through the language Prospero has taught him to speak. Such a
reading emphasizes Caliban’s agency and the personal power that he retains despite
Prospero’s rule. Other postcolonial readings of The Tempest think it naive to assume Caliban
had any power at all, as colonial rule is so overpowering that even Caliban’s assertions of
power can be seen as merely parroting the power structure imposed on him by Prospero.
Loomba and Orkin ask, “in what voices do the colonized speak - their own, or in accents
borrowed from their masters?" (7).
An example of Caliban acting, or at least attempting to act, in accordance with the
dominant colonial power structure is found in Act 1, Scene 2, where Prospero accuses Caliban
of having attempted to rape Miranda. Caliban responds to Prospero, “Thou didst prevent me; I
had peopled else / This isle with Calibans” (l.ii.353-354). In this passage, it is Caliban himself
who expresses the colonialist desire to populate the land with his own kind. He does not deny
Prospero’s accusation but instead justifies his actions in a way that a colonizer would
understand. Whereas in the past, Caliban was “[his] own king,” he has been deposed by an
individual who killed his mother and forced him into slavery (l.ii.345). As the play progresses, it
seems that Prospero is intent on seeing Ferdinand and Miranda marry and themselves
populate the island with children. Caliban’s words in Act 1, Scene 2, then, merely express a
desire to regain power over the island in a way that Prospero would understand, through the
violent overpowering of others and colonization of the land with his own people.
The traditional reading of The Tempest would see Caliban’s wish to rape Miranda and
populate the island with “Calibans” as evidence of his brutal and barbaric nature (l.ii.354).
Certainly, Miranda’s response to Caliban sets forth this sentiment: “Abhorred slave, / Which
any print of goodness wilt not take, / Being capable of all ill!” (l.ii.354-356). These lines begin a
speech wher ein Miranda tells Caliban that teaching him to speak had the effect of “endow[ing]
thy purposes / With words that made them known” (l.ii.360-361). In other words, the colonizer’s
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