Postcolonial Reading of The Tempest.

Perhaps the most important theme in the play is slavery, specifically, the effects of slavery on indigenous populations in colonized areas. Prospero takes on the role of the colonial ruler, ousting Caliban, the former leader, and instituting slavery. Caliban and Ariel represent those who are subject to this colonization, but take different tacks. Ariel believes that he will be liberated if he makes nice with his master and tries to win favor, while Caliban thinks contentious resistance is the only way to liberation.

The play stages the ways that non-white populations are demonized and exploited under colonial structures. Both Ariel and Caliban are subjected to poor treatment and put to work constantly. Additionally, the characters harbor racist resentments towards them. Miranda fears that Caliban is sexually threatening, and Prospero calls him a savage time and time again. When Trinculo and Stephano find Caliban on the island, they each immediately have dreams of bringing him back to Italy and putting him on the stage as a circus freak. By explicitly making Ariel and Caliban black characters, Césaire shows the ways that colonists exploit the indigenous populations of the land that they colonize. Caliban offers numerous critiques of colonialism, suggesting that Prospero has forced him to learn a foreign language, does not show him any respect, and has completely degraded him. The central conflict of the play is that between the master and the slave, the oppressor and the oppressed.