The BlogPolitics

The Origin of Terrorism

Shakespeare thought of everything first, including the model for Islamic terrorism. He can be found inin the character of the rebellious monster Caliban.
By 

Contributor

Contributor
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

Shakespeare thought of everything first, including the model for Islamic terrorism. He can be found in The Tempest in the character of the rebellious monster Caliban.

Like the Jihadists, Caliban's violent behavior has been stimulated by the occupation of his land by Western powers, in his case the Milanese magician, Prospero. Caliban believes that Prospero, anticipating recent colonial incursions in the Middle East, has been suppressing his rights, especially his freedom to rape Prospero's daughter Miranda. He even has a God (Setebos) who lends justification to his violent actions. And like the killers in Paris, he believes in the suppression of all knowledge that contradicts his own beliefs: "Burn but his books."

Is it simply coincidence that Caliban rhymes with Taliban?

|
Submit a tip

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot