Scene from the Tempest: Caliban, Prospero and Miranda
Etcher Thomas Rowlandson British
After John Hamilton Mortimer British
Subject William Shakespeare British
Not on view
Prospero here shields Miranda from the malevolant Caliban in an image inspired by act 1, scene 2 of Shakepeare's "Tempest." The text of the play reveals that, when the magician and his daughter exiled to this remote island, they encountered this sub-human offspring of a witch, welcomed him into their cave, and taught him to speak. Later, when the monster attempted to rape Miranda, Prospero devised spells to control him and force him into servitude. Rowlandson based this etching a drawing by Mortimer, a close friend, for a series published between 1784 and 1788.
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