The Tempest and the Newfoundland Cod Fishery

Upon first seeing the beastly Caliban in The Tempest, Trinculo ponders: “What have we here? A man or a fish? Dead or alive? A fish! He smells like a fish; a very ancient and fishlike smell; a kind of, not of the newest Poor John” (2.2.25–28). Scholars frequently identify Caliban’s symbolic monstrosity—half-man, half-fish—with an inhuman and preternatural creature, a “thing of darkness,” a servant, savage, or a slave. His finny half, however, remains obscure. By stating he is a “kind of … Poor John,” Shakespeare places on stage what his contemporaries would unmistakably recognize as the name for Newfoundland salt-dry cod.¹ When The Tempest was first performed in 1611, England dominated the lucrative market in salt-dry codfish, trading with France, Spain, and other Mediterranean countries. Not only did this international commerce fill English coffers, but it also strengthened England’s navy, supplying the English with seaworthy vessels and experienced seamen. English fishermen had harvested Newfoundland waters since at least the 1550s, using temporary spring fishing stations to dry cod ashore and abandoning them in autumn at the end of the fishing season; migratory fishermen made no attempt to settle in America.