See the new shakespeare.com. This feature, while it still provides useful information, is no longer maintained.
Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries & Replies From Everyone Else 3.15.97: Top | Help
Caliban comes directly from Montaigne's Essay "On Cannibals"
which Shakespeare was very familiar and enamoured with. Caliban
is a wordplay on cannibal and the figure comes from the
idea of the noble savage and the indians that were found in the
new world. They weren't actually flesh-eaters(this was grossly
exagerrated) but represented natural man in nature, uninhibited
with noble qualities, but a dark side as well.Posted by Jason T. Yang on March 24, 1997 at 18:13:17
In Reply to "Origins of Caliban" posted by Peg on March 22, 1997 at 00:31:12
Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries & Replies From Everyone Else 3.15.97: Top | Help