Miranda and Caliban (Carey) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, please use these LitLovers talking points to help start your discussion for Miranda and Caliban…then take off on your own:

1. While it's not necessary, it would be helpful to read The Tempest by Shakespeare to determine how Jacqueline Carey has reimagined the original. If you are all ready familiar with the play, what alterations has Carey made in the bard's characters and plot.

2. How do you describe Miranda? Does her dutifulness to her father make her seem passive to you?

3. Talk about Prospero, the island's god-like character, who in Shakespeare's play is kind and wise. How does Carey portray him in her version? In what way does Prospero view his daughter as a tool for his own purposes? How is he blinded by prejudice to Caliban?

4. Given his bestial appearance and behavior, what attracts Miranda to Caliban? What does she see in him at first, which, of course, later blossoms under her tutelage. What does she learn from Caliban about her father and his plans for her?

5. What is Prospero motivations for capturing and civilizing Caliban? What are his intentions for the boy?

6. Discuss the role of vengeance in this story?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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