Slavery and Colonialism
Perhaps the most important theme in the play is slavery, specifically, the effects of slavery on indigenous populations in colonized areas. Prospero takes on the role of the colonial ruler, ousting Caliban, the former leader, and instituting slavery. Caliban and Ariel represent those who are subject to this colonization, but take different tacks. Ariel believes that he will be liberated if he makes nice with his master and tries to win favor, while Caliban thinks contentious resistance is the only way to liberation.
The play stages the ways that non-white populations are demonized and exploited under colonial structures. Both Ariel and Caliban are subjected to poor treatment and put to work constantly. Additionally, the characters harbor racist resentments towards them. Miranda fears that Caliban is sexually threatening, and Prospero calls him a savage time and time again. When Trinculo and Stephano find Caliban on the island, they each immediately have dreams of bringing him back to Italy and putting him on the stage as a circus freak. By explicitly making Ariel and Caliban black characters, Césaire shows the ways that colonists exploit the indigenous populations of the land that they colonize. Caliban offers numerous critiques of colonialism, suggesting that Prospero has forced him to learn a foreign language, does not show him any respect, and has completely degraded him. The central conflict of the play is that between the master and the slave, the oppressor and the oppressed.
Revolution
Caliban's response to his colonial subjugation is to become a revolutionary. In contrast to Ariel, he feels that he has nothing to lose by being openly defiant and rebellious. He wants to break free through force and show Prospero that he has wronged him, rather than bowing to Prospero's authority and accepting it. Midway through the play, he enlists the help of the bumbling and incompetent Trinculo and Stephano to stage a coup against Prospero, but this plan fails.
Caliban's revolutionary spirit derives from his knowledge that everything that Prospero has earned on the island was stolen, taken from the indigenous population there. He is able to muster the strength to defy this powerful magician because he knows that his power lies in his entitlement to the island and its resources.
Despotism
Prospero is a despot and has assumed the role of leader without going to the trouble of having an election. He is unelected and unchallenged in his rule and consequently does whatever he wants, without resistance. His decisions are often very unwise and his rule leads to the gradual decline and downfall of his "kingdom." Throughout, Caliban refers to him as a tyrannical ruler, someone who does not care about the well-being of the island or its inhabitants. Whereas in Shakespeare's version, Prospero is positioned as a kind of rightful authority and brave ruler, here Césaire exposes him as the worst kind of colonial oppressor.
Obedience and Submission
In contrast to Caliban's resistant and impassioned response to colonial control is Ariel, an obedient and submissive fairy and indigenous inhabitant of the island. He believes that the best way to win his freedom is to do whatever Prospero tells him to do unquestioningly, in hopes of earning rewards. In spite of the fact that Prospero still treats him poorly and forces him to work all the time, Ariel believes that in accepting this subjugation so willingly, he will pave the way for a happy future.
The irony is, of course, that when Prospero does grant Ariel his freedom, Ariel hardly knows what to do. He is ecstatic, but his excitement comes at the expense of his sanity, as he maniacally talks about his sudden freedom. In accepting so readily his lot under Prospero's thumb, Ariel becomes attached to his role as a submissive minion, and seems almost unable to fathom the liberation for which he has always longed.
Nature
The natural world also plays a role in the play, especially in its relationship to colonialism. While Prospero is a sorcerer and can conjure certain magical powers, he relies on Ariel and Caliban to use magic to bend nature to his will. As indigenous inhabitants of the island, Ariel and Caliban have a special affinity with nature, and are connected to its preservation. Prospero, as well as the other Italian characters that land on the island, are more interested in plundering and controlling nature. When Prospero suggests that Caliban's mother, Sycorax, is dead, Caliban insists, "...you only think she's dead because you think the earth itself is dead... It's so much simpler that way! Dead, you can walk on it, pollute it, you can tread upon it with the steps of a conqueror."
Then, later, Antonio, Gonzalo, and Sebastian explore the island and make plans to irrigate and colonize the island. They are in the business of taming nature and making it work for their own commercial aims, in contrast to the native inhabitants of the island who value the natural world for its own sake.
Love
In Césaire's version of Shakespeare's play, the love story takes a supporting role. Ferdinand and Miranda fall almost instantly in love, much to Prospero's delight. The romance is as much a politically advantageous situation as it is a personal one for the young lovers. Prospero sees that if Miranda marries Ferdinand, she will be securing them a place in the court of Naples once again.
African spirituality
Besides making Caliban and Ariel's race explicit in his play, Césaire's only other addition to the play is the inclusion of Eshu, a Yoruba trickster god, in the entertainment that Prospero plans for his royal guests. While the gods that Prospero gathers are Roman gods, Eshu sneaks in and subverts the entire gathering, even causing the Roman gods to rush off in frustration. This inclusion of a god from the African pantheon, in a play that typically only features Western gods, is Césaire's way of further showing colonial dynamics.
