Caliban as legal subject: The Tempest and Renaissance juridical thought.
In this paper the author reads the figure of Shakespeare's Caliban from The Tempest through the lens of the legal dispute on how the inhabitants of lands colonized by European countries are legal subjects. Half human, half monster, son of a witch, forced into slavery by Prospero, Caliban represents...
| Published in: | Law & Humanities Vol. 18; no. 2; pp. 239 - 265 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Nov2024
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=180429876&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 180429876 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 17521483 3PX8 jtl: Law & Humanities issn: 17521483 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Nov2024 vid: 18 iid: 2 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 180429876 10.1080/17521483.2023.2298001 ppf: 239 ppct: 26 formats: tig: atl: Caliban as legal subject: The Tempest and Renaissance juridical thought. aug: au: Engelking, Wojciech affil: Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland su: International law Enslaved persons Slavery International organization Theologians sug: subj: International law Enslaved persons Slavery International organization Theologians keyword: Alberico Gentili international law Shakespeare The Tempest the Valladolid Debate Alberico Gentili international law Shakespeare The Tempest the Valladolid Debate ab: In this paper the author reads the figure of Shakespeare's Caliban from The Tempest through the lens of the legal dispute on how the inhabitants of lands colonized by European countries are legal subjects. Half human, half monster, son of a witch, forced into slavery by Prospero, Caliban represents an issue considered in 1550 during the Valladolid Debate, and his portrayal reveals the tension between the views of Bartolomé de Las Casas (who believed that Indigenous peoples and Europeans should be equal before the law) and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda (who believed that Indigenous peoples are predestined to be slaves and legally traded items). In Shakespeare's case, however, it is interesting to see who decides on Caliban's status – and the decision belongs to Prospero, who is the exponent of the state. Shakespeare therefore mirrors Alberico Gentili's theories of that time on banishing theologians from the field of law and ceding the sovereignty to determine its subject to the ruler of the state as a basic element of international order. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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