“This Island’s Mine by Sycorax My Mother” from The Tempest (1611) SPEAKING There is hostility between Prospero and Caliban, who pronounces the phrase of the title: what do you think he means by that? Caliban accuses Prospero of having taken from him the island he inherited from his mother, the witch Sycorax.

GUIDED ANALYSIS Read lines 1 – 15 What does Caliban openly accuse Prospero of? He accuses him of having taken the land from him. Were your predictions right? Open answer. How did Prospero and Caliban get on when Prospero landed on the island. At the beginning their relationship was good What did Prospero teach Caliban on his arrival? He offered him sweet drinks (ll. 4-5); and taught him the name of the sun and the moon. What did Caliban show him in his turn? The good qualities of the island. What made Caliban repent of his previous behaviour? The fact that he, who was once the king of the island, has now become Prospero’s servant and prisoner (ll. 10-15)

GUIDED ANALYSIS Read lines 15-32 Read to the end How does Prospero react to Caliban’s words? Prospero accuses Caliban of having betrayed his trust by trying to rape his daughter, Miranda. What do we learn from Caliban’s answer? That he hasn’t repented and he regrets not succeeding in his purpose of peopling the islands with his descendants. What is Miranda’s attitude towards Caliban and what does she call him? Miranda really despises him; in fact she uses such words as “abhorred slave” (l. 23), “savage” (l.26); “A thing most brutish” (l. 28), “thy vile race” (l.29). Read to the end Miranda taught Caliban her own language: what use has he made of it? He has learnt to curse both Miranda and her father. What is Prospero’s behaviour towards Caliban? He behaves like a master to his slave.

GUIDED ANALYSIS The Tempest can be read as a metaphor of English colonization of the West Indies. How does the passage echo the clash between the colonization and the natives? Prospero embodies the colonizers who have imposed their dominion and civilization on the natives; Caliban voices the oppressed natives.