Skibinski 1 Nick’s Key Passage Analysis on Robert Browning’s “Caliban Upon Setebos” “Thinketh, such shows not right nor wrong in him, Nor kind, nor cruel: He is strong and Lord. ‘Am strong myself compared to yonder crabs That march now from the mountain to the sea, ‘Let twenty pass, and stone the twenty-first, Loving not, hating not, just choosing so. ‘Say, the first straggler that boasts purple spots Shall join the file, one pincer twisted off; ‘Say, this bruised fellow shall receive a worm, And two worms he whose nippers end in red; As it likes me each time, I do: so He.” Page 1368, Lines 98-108 In this poem, Browning uses Caliban’s prayer as a thinly veiled criticism of Christianity. This is hinted at in this passage by the usage of the word “Lord” in reference to Setebos, which is also used in Christian references to God. The intent of this section is stated very clearly in the first lines: “Thinketh, such shows not right nor wrong in him,/ Nor kind, nor cruel: He is strong and Lord.” This offers insight into Caliban’s issues of faith. While Caliban still believes in and worships Setebos, he cannot bring himself to see a deity that allowed him to be enslaved as kind. This in turn shows what this section is arguing: that God is neither good nor evil, rather, God is capable of enacting whatever arbitrary judgements he pleases. There is no fairness to God’s actions, and there is no judgement, merely the exercise of power by a being that is impossible to comprehend. It is almost a coping mechanism, arguing that being abandoned by God is due to God’s arbitrary nature rather than a person’s sin. Caliban does not see Setebos as divine, rather as a being like him that is infinitely more powerful, but just as prone to human faults. There is no higher plan, no impossibly complex machinations. Merely the same bored cruelties Caliban might indulge in, as shown in this quote Skibinski 2 “‘Am strong myself compared to yonder crabs . ‘Let twenty pass, and stone the twenty-first,/ Loving not, hating not, just choosing so.” There is no judgement of the twenty-first crab. It did nothing wrong. It was not a sinner who deserved to suffer. It was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time, a victim of fickleness rather than cruelty or judgement. Kindnesses are just as arbitrary, as seen in this quote “‘Say, this bruised fellow shall receive a worm,/ And two worms he whose nippers end in red.” Prospero and Ariel were not placed in power of Caliban because there is anything better about them. Rather, they benefit from pure, arbitrary chance. Rather than position in society being some God given decree on a person’s worth and place in the world, it is a meaningless system. On the surface, Caliban criticizes the arbitrary nature of his god. Below the surface, this section explores Caliban’s attempt to understand the motives of his god. Below that, Browning offers a criticism of a Christian belief in God given superiority. But, at its core, this section argues that all beings are created equal, and differences in fortune or station are meaningless as assessments of a person’s goodness. Word Count: 426 “I hereby declare upon my word of honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized help on this work.” Nick Skibinski .