Caliban upon Setebos - Robert Browning
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A Creature’s Musings on Power, Suffering, and a Higher Deity
CALIBAN UPON SETEBOS
or, Natural Theology in the Island
by Robert Browning
(“Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself.” – Psalms)
[Excerpt]
‘Will sprawl, now that the heat of day is best,
Flat on his belly in the pit’s much mire,
With elbows wide, fists clenched to prop his chin.
And, while he kicks both feet in the cool slush,
And feels about his spine small eft-things course,
Run in and out each arm, and make him laugh;
And while above his head a pomp of flies
Flickers to and fro, or rests and is again,
Then he looks up, and, though it be the sky
Of cloudless June, thinks “This is world enough,”
And wonders what may please the Hideous God
Who minds him; for He peddles in the bran
And sprinkles vermin on the spiteful ape
And bruised the nut’s meat out. . . .
“Setebos, Setebos, and Setebos!
‘Thinketh, He dwelleth i’ the cold o’ the moon.
‘Thinketh He made it, with the sun to match,
But not the stars; the stars came otherwise;
Only made clouds, winds, meteors, such as that:
Also this isle, what lives and grows thereon,
And snaky sea which rounds and ends the same.
‘Thinketh, it came of being ill at ease:
He hated that He cannot change His cold,
Nor cure its ache. “Hath spied an icy fish
That longed to ‘scape the rock-stream where she lived,
And ends her lease with the struggle in the mud:
But thou—thou canst not slough the clay that’s thee.”
And so He makes and mars, destroys and builds,
And shapes not, hardly caring what He does. . . .
[In the complete poem, Caliban—drawn from Shakespeare’s The Tempest—freely speculates on the nature of his “God,” Setebos, interpreting divine power through his own limited, creaturely experiences. This excerpt is provided for brevity. The full text is in the public domain and can be found in literary archives.]
Robert Browning’s "Caliban upon Setebos" is a dramatic monologue in which the character Caliban—famously portrayed in Shakespeare’s *The Tempest*—reflects on the nature of his deity, Setebos, from the vantage point of a creature both cunning and primitive. Through Caliban’s musings, Browning questions how mortal or limited minds construct an image of the divine and wrestle with the problem of suffering and power.
Caliban’s worldview is shaped by his experiences as a subordinate being living on an isolated island, subject to an enigmatic higher power. He interprets all events—painful or pleasurable—in terms of Setebos’s whims, imagining a temperamental god who creates life to alleviate boredom or frustration. This perspective highlights Caliban’s assumption that the deity must share his own character traits, such as capriciousness and spite. The poem thus offers a study in anthropomorphism: Caliban attributes to Setebos the same impulses he feels—fear, anger, or the arbitrary urge to crush or torment.
By placing Caliban in the role of theologian, Browning raises broader questions about how any finite being might project personal limitations onto a higher power. Caliban’s reasoning is simplistic but earnest; he sees cruelty in the universe and decides his god must be cruel, just as he interprets any beauty in creation as a momentary whim. The monologue becomes an exploration of "natural theology"—how one might reach conclusions about a divine presence by observing nature and life’s cruelties.
The poem’s dramatic quality also rests on Caliban’s internal conflict: although he describes Setebos with contempt, he must remain careful not to anger this deity by speaking too plainly. Thus, the monologue is laced with moments of paranoia and fear that Setebos might overhear. Browning’s style—meandering, colloquial, and vivid—immerses us in Caliban’s headspace, revealing both the rawness of his intellect and the depths of his emotional experience.
“Caliban upon Setebos” can be read as a critique of rigid or crude theology that deems God arbitrary or tyrannical, especially when derived solely from observing suffering in nature. It also reflects Victorian-era debates over religion and scientific discovery, echoing the era’s struggle to reconcile faith with the apparent harshness of the natural world. Through the lens of this monstrous figure, Browning examines how theology can become skewed if based on fear, isolation, and personal bias. Ultimately, the poem invites readers to question how humans conceive of the divine—and to recognize that such conceptions reveal as much about us as about any heavenly power.
Key points
• Browning uses Caliban to explore how limited beings conceive of a god through their own biases.
• The poem critiques simplistic views of divinity that stem from fear or personal suffering.
• Caliban’s character reveals a primal grappling with questions of creation, power, and cruelty.
• Browning echoes Victorian discussions on faith, nature’s violence, and the nature of a higher power.