In 'The Tempest', what is the name of Caliban's mother?

In “The Tempest,” Caliban’s mother is Sycorax, an unseen Algerian witch who died before the play’s main action begins. Her history shapes the island’s magical and political past.

Prospero explains that Sycorax was banished from Algiers while pregnant with Caliban. Sailors carried her to the island, where she used powerful magic to enslave its spirits. She imprisoned Ariel inside a pine tree after Ariel refused to obey her, and she taught Caliban to worship Setebos.

Sycorax never appears onstage, but her influence is everywhere. Caliban claims the island through his connection to her, while Prospero repeatedly invokes her cruelty to justify his own control over Ariel and Caliban. This creates an important parallel: both Sycorax and Prospero are exiles who rule the island through magic and coercion.

Setebos is not Caliban’s mother; he is the demonic deity Sycorax taught Caliban to worship. Ariel is the spirit Sycorax enslaved, and Caliban is her son. Later interpretations often examine Sycorax through colonial and feminist perspectives.