Prospero And Ariel

The nucleus of the plot in Shakespeare's The Tempest revolves around Prospero enacting his revenge on various characters who have wronged him in different ways. Interestingly enough, he uses the spirit of Ariel to deliver the punishments while Prospero delegates the action. Prospero is such a character that can concoct methods of revenge but hesitates to have direct involvement with disillusioning his foes. In essence, Prospero sends Ariel to do his dirty work while hiding his involvement in shipwrecking his brother, Antonio, from his daughter, Miranda.

     In Shakespeare's The Tempest, Prospero's magic is the means that Prospero teaches his lessons to the plays various characters. Whether or not those lessons were learned or not is irrelevant. The main issue is that Prospero's character is indeed a complex one, and one that deserves much attention. Two essays that look at the complexity of Prospero and his magic are Stephen Miko's "Tempest," and Barbara Mowat's "Prospero, Agrippa, and Hocus Pocus." Both of these essays, in dealing with Prospero and his magic reveal things about Prospero that only enhance the mystery of his character.

 Soon after we learn that Prospero controls Miranda, we discover that he magically controls the weather and that he also commands a spirit named Ariel to do tasks for him.  When a ship carrying

One example of someone struggling to move to a higher level of thought as described by Plato is Ariel in The Little Mermaid. Ariel always dreamed about going to the surface of the ocean but her father always reminded her of the dangers up there. So for a while she stayed under with her animal friends and collected thing that either fell into the water or her segal friend Scully had given to her. One stormy night, there was a shipwreck and Prince Eric was drowning in the water. When Ariel saved him she brought him to the shore. Before he could thank her she was gone. Ariel had remembered the troubles her father warned her about. However, Ariel was in love. So she went and asked the witch of the sea, Ursula, to give her human features in exchange

In “The Tempest”, Prospero is the one controlling everyone and everything for his own personal reason. He controlled the tempest (1.2-195), the spirit Ariel (1.2-246-249), the monster Caliban (1.2-310-313) and the men of the ship; Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, Adrian and Francisco (3.3.82-90). Prospero’s control is at it’s highest when it comes to Ariel. In this passage, Ariel responds to Prospero after refusing his liberation “I prithee, Remember I have done thee worthy service, Told Thee no lies, made no mistaking,

The concept "knowledge is power" is reaffirmed through Prospero’s character. As long as he has his books he has knowledge and thus power. Prospero uses his knowledge to attain reason and consequently power. The play begins with his creation of a storm, giving him the ability to initiate and control problems. Using his knowledge as a catalyst for power David L. Hirst argues, “From the extension of reason, Prospero derives a power which he uses in an attempt to influence everyone on the island” (9). To Miranda, he is the strong protective father, who educates; to Caliban he represents the colonizer. Prospero describes Caliban as “a poisonous slave got by the devil himself” (1.2 323-324) who serves as his oppressed slave. To Ariel he represents the rescuer and constantly reminds her that it was he who freed him, yet he fails to grant the very liberty from which he saved. To the shipwrecked “he is a surrogate providence who corrects errant aristocrats and punishes plebeian revolt” (Brown 59). Recognizing themselves as subjects to Prospero validates Prospero’s position as governor.

He seeks for control in his nemesis towards his brother Antonio, control of the fate of his daughter Miranda, and the control of his servants Ariel and Caliban. Prospero uses force and debt to have greater authority over the spirit Ariel. When Ariel asks for his freedom and “liberty,” Prospero brings up the “damn’d witch Sycorax” from whom he saved him (1.2.247-264). Sebastian and Antonio also abuse their powers by plotting an attack on Alonso, the King of Naples, so they could gain even more political power in the real world. Eventually after all the words of encouragement from Antonio, Sebastian finally says, “Thy case, dear friend, shall be my precedent. As thou got’st Milan, I’ll come by Naples. Draw thy sword,” (2.1.270-272). The desire for political power and authority becomes the core from which other minor themes develop in this play. This improper use of power eventually only harms everyone, not benefit.

Prospero’s intentions throughout the play was to seek out vengeance towards his brother and all those who helped him in his betrayal. Through the work of Ariel, Prospero was able to capture those he shipwrecked but decides to forgive them. He also forgives Caliban after plotting to kill him while serving another master, these acts of change are key to the improvement and empowerment Prospero learns after being on the island. The is a growth and arch shown about the character as he states, “ The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance.” Prospero also shows enrichment of character when he sets Ariel free after commanding him to make smooth sailing upon the return to Naples and Milan, contrasting to the beginning of the play when Prospero seems ungrateful about the service of Ariel. The problem Prospero had that paved the way to him being exiled, was his obsession with studying his art/magic. It is through his experience on the island where he finally comes to realize that the source and self-improvement that he needed to make was giving up his magic. This is symbolized by the throwing away of his books and his plea to the audience to “release him from his bands”. By giving up his magic,the reason he couldn’t be an affective Duke, shows how his alienation on the island benefited him by allowing him to focus on his role and duty as

Prospero operated in the three facets of power relation, as did Columbus. He attacked the social, psychological and cultural facets of the natives as was able to thwart them to his good pleasure. In attacking the social facet, Prospero threatened the class system that was already in effect on the island. After fleeing from Italy, he no longer belonged to a specific class and sought to regain a regal position by taking control of those he encountered on the island. In attacking the psychological facet, Prospero used his power of influence to persuade others to change the way they think or redirect their morality. This influence on morality can be seen when Ariel returns from performing a task for

From the moment Ariel enters the scene appearing as a terrifying monster with a woman’s face and and the body of a bird, flaps his wings making the banquet vanish to when Ariel tells the men, “that you three/ From Milan did supplant good Prospero, / Exposed unto the sea, which hath requit it, / Him and his innocent child." What I find most fascinating about this scene is the visuals it creates in the mind of the reader. For me,

Ariel is Prospero's servant, yet he is also his assisting companion. Ariel voluntarily does Prospero's work. He is loyal and yet Prospero sees him as a means to an end and manipulates Ariel's willingness. His manipulation is seen where he affirms: "Dost thou forget, from what a torment I did free thee? (1.2. 383-383) Prospero’s actions are contradictory. This exemplifies the idea that justice in the Tempest is primarily depicted as what is best for Prospero.

In the play, Prospero in many cases takes advantages of things such as Ariel. Although he did free Ariel from being trapped in a tree, he keeps him as a servant for a very long time. Sometimes when Ariel mentions the fact that one day Prospero has to let him free, Prospero then counters it by saying if it weren’t for Prospero, Ariel

Throughout the years since The Tempest was first published in the 1623 Folio, there has been much debate among Shakespeare’s contemporaries and critics as to the significance of the figure of Prospero and other major characters featured in the work. In this paper, I want to examine the figure of Prospero and his relationship with the character Ariel. In doing this, I want to show how Prospero is a figure for the artist, how Ariel is a figure for the poetic imagination, and how the relationship between Prospero and Ariel explores the relationship between the artist and his or her poetic imagination. By showing this, I wish to argue that Shakespeare’s intention in portraying

Making use of character Prospero, the author shows how the ideologies of an individual assume a different direction after suffering some of the transformation in the society. As the play kicks off, Prospero’s conduct displays a contradiction from the basic tenets of Christian forgiveness. Depending on his good fortune, the character seizes the opportunity to take vengeance of his enemy. The passage that presents the central focus of the book is one that "Prospero hopes that his plan to

Prospero is a character that seems to stand at the very centre of The Tempest. Throughout the play, he prompts most of the action, and he has the last word.