¶ … Tempest and "On Cannibals" have something to say to the emerging modern world order of the 16th century about non-Western peoples. What is Shakespeare trying to say about such peoples through the character of Caliban? What is Montaigne trying to say through the figure of the cannibal?
The Western Empire began to spread more through its use of knowledge than power. Through great explorations and intellectual predictions nations began to spread, conquering lands that lay beyond their borders and taking over people who were natives to these lands. The superiority of the West began to emerge and the concept of 'civilization' took a new form as the Western people invaded foreign lands, subjugating the natives with the notion of 'civilizing the savages'. It was considered a 'higher purpose', for the natives were seen as savages who had to be shown the path to knowledge and thus, salvation. The concept people of the times had of natives or foreigners was that they were all barbarians. No one could accept the intricate differences apparent between the nations of the West and those yet to develop and this led to a condemnation of the way of life of the foreigners.
Consider the words of MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE in his essay,...
Non-Western Societies Tempest and of Cannibals The idea that Europeans brought enlightenment to the savage colonies has always fascinated modern writers so much so that many of them employed their imagination to create pictures of 'barbaric' individuals who inhabited these colonies. Shakespeare and Montaigne in their attempts to recreate those savage communities gave us the powerful characters of Caliban and Cannibal. Focusing on this obsession of writers with the image of a
All without distinction were branded as fanatics and phantasts; not only those, whose wild and exorbitant imaginations had actually engendered only extravagant and grotesque phantasms, and whose productions were, for the most part, poor copies and gross caricatures of genuine inspiration; but the truly inspired likewise, the originals themselves. And this for no other reason, but because they were the unlearned, men of humble and obscure occupations. (Coleridge Biographia
biases present in our culture that encourage those whose primary culture is rooted in Western civilization to view their culture as the most significant and important one. It calls this view "Eurocentric," and gives many, many examples of how Eurocentric bias has been presented in textbooks about world history. The author gives examples of how people are indoctrinated to accept an Eurocentrist view using examples from movies as well as
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