Why does Prospero give up magic? Please wait while we process your payment. Sign up and get instant access to save the page as your favorite. Characters Ariel. Previous section Caliban Next section Gonzalo. Popular pages: The Tempest. Take a Study Break. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email.
By Lee Jamieson Lee Jamieson. Lee Jamieson, M. He previously served as a theater studies lecturer at Stratford-upon Avon College in the United Kingdom. Learn about our Editorial Process. Featured Video. Cite this Article Format.
Jamieson, Lee. Understanding Ariel in "The Tempest". Quotes From Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'. Overview of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'. Power Relationships in "The Tempest".
Analyzing Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'. The Role of Caliban in 'The Tempest'. Your Privacy Rights. Ariel can shapeshift, exert control over the elements, put people under a form of stupor, create powerful illusions, mimic voices perfectly and become invisible to all but himself and Prospero.
The question of Ariel's gender - assuming he has one - is left ambiguous in the text and has been subject to considerable debate.
He's referred to by male pronouns, although that happens only twice in the entire text - one of these instances being in a stage direction rather than dialogue.
On the other hand, he also assumes the form of a sea nymph and a harpy - both creatures being exclusively female. Being an air spirit, it's likely that Shakespeare intended the character to be viewed as genderless. It's perhaps notable that Miranda - when she admits that, having been raised in the island, she has never seen any men other than her father Prospero and the monstrous Caliban - doesn't mention Ariel.
However, it isn't at all clear whether Miranda is even aware of Ariel's existence, as she never interacts with him or mentions him. There are in fact evidences that Prospero may be actively preventing her from finding out about Ariel.
For instance, Prospero sends Miranda off to go to sleep just before summoning Ariel. And when she questions him about the titular tempest, created by magical spells, Prospero speaks as if he had created it himself and omits the fact that he ordered Ariel to do it.
In a latter scene, Miranda does also mention that she's never seen a female face either, other than her own reflection. This would suggest that, if she's aware of Ariel, she considers him to be neither male nor female. However in this scene, unlike the earlier one, she claims that the only male face she's seen before Ferdinand was that of Prospero - therefore omitting Caliban and implying that she could be talking about human faces specifically.
0コメント