Monday, April 14, 2008
Q- Ariel (more questions forthcoming)
And what about Ariel? A spirit in the service of the magician Prospero, he is similar to the fairy Puck who serves the Fairy King Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Note passages which make clear these parallels. But there are essential differences. Consider e.g. the bonds that tie them to their respective lords. Is their service offered willingly? Is it equally justifiable in each case? (Service to one's king or rightful lord is considered to be part of the "natural order" in Shakespeare’s time. But is Prospero Ariel's rightful king?) On the other hand, Prospero seems to feel genuine affection for Ariel, who for the most part serves him cheerfully enough. What do we make of that relationship? Finally, in A Midsummer Night's Dream we noted that in addition to being forces of Nature, the Fairies represented something concerning the power of dreams -- or of poetry, or of art -- to change "reality." Is anything analogous going on in The Tempest? Look for passages that emphasize the link between education (books, poetry, art), magic and power. Recall that TheTempest, Sheakepeare’s last complete work before retiring to Stratford, has commonly been considered Shakespeare’s "farewell to poetry" (Prospero breaking his staff, source of his magic, equals Shakespeare breaking his "pen," source of his magical artistry). To what extend can we equate Prospero’s magic with Shakespeare’s literary artistry or, more generally, with the magic of the theater?
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The magic within theater, especially in shakespeare plays, allows for a wide range of interpretation. The element of magic within The Tempest, atleast for me, is that it surrounds the theme with illusions and reality. I believe Prospero's magic gives him power to deal with and punish his enemies.
I don't think Ariel's service to Prospero was given freely. There was a point where Ariel wanted to be set free from service, but Prospero did not allow him to. He actually got mad at Ariel for asking to be set free early than what his time had been allowed. Prospero reminds Ariel that he saved him from evil and that Ariel should be thankful that Prospero came around. This is different than what happened in a Mid Summers Night Dream. There didn't seem to be any ties that the puck had do. They were both mystevious and both enjoyed toying with people's lives. The puck also looked up to the king because he was the king and had no want of being let go.
Both Ariel and Puck are subservient characters who spend their time doing their respective master’s bidding, devoid of their own personal objectives. They both seem to wnjoy the work they do. However, I agree entirely with Marisa in that puck conveys a sense of complacency with his position, but Ariel does not. While enjoying the ways in which he manipulates and strings along other characters, Ariel is still somewhat unhappy with his current state and longs to be free of Prospero’s control. We see Ariel remind Prospero of his obligation to set him free rather often throughout the play. On the other hand, Puck appears in all ways satisfied. The playful meter in which he speaks sheds a very affectionate light on his service to Oberon, and he always seems eager to please him. Unlike Ariel, Puck makes no mention of when his service is to end (if at all). I think that these slight differences in outlooks on their service reflect how voluntarily Ariel’s and Puck’s service has been offered.
I also agree that Ariel is portrayed as obligated to her services, while Puck seems to enjoy his duties. However, I feel Ariel does enjoy being mischevious, but all the while desires to be free from Prospero's control.
To respond to what Lindsay said -- Puck seems to enjoy his duties *because* they allow him to be mischievous -- because he serves the Fairy king and is loyal to him, it is harder for him to get in trouble.
Puck makes no attempt to leave Oberon or to remind him of any sort of retribution, whereas Ariel tells Prospero about the desire to be free. my feeling is that it's a matter of happiness of the characters -- Puck has it made (he works for Oberon, and can therefore be a pain in the neck, since his rapport with the king will save him).
I think adding the element of dreams allows Shakespeare to play in a different realm. This allows the writing to enter into a world of mystic creatures and allows the characters to do things that would not be realistic in a real world setting. I think Puck and Ariel are characters that act as narrators of their respective dream worlds. They help the plot move along and either fix or complicate things.
I also believe that Shakespeare uses Puck of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Ariel of The Tempest in similar fashions, primarily to complicate their respective plotlines and make the plays more interesting. They both act as a means by which Shakespeare can allow the dream world plotlines of their respective plays to progress. In this sense, the two characters do have very similar roles.
It seems that Shakespeare is able to work some additional themes into his works through the added freedom of using dreams and magic to better portray certain situations. This creates some hypothetical freedoms that can add to the quality of his works and continue to intrigue his readers.
I agree that I don't believe that Ariel willingly gives service to Prospero in the same way that Puck gives service to Oberon. Prospero holds power over Ariel and totally controls his freedom. Puck serves willingly, whereas Ariel is totally a servant to his master.
Ariel of The Tempest and Puck of A Midsummer Night's Dream both are in very similar situation in regards to that they both are under the control (both are servants) to another major character in their respective plotlines. However the difference here is that Ariel's service to Prospero is made unwillingly because Ariel is promised that if he performs these tasks without complaint he will be let go a year early. So in this way Ariel is forced to perform these tasks to gain his freedom. In Puck's case, he enjoys what he does despite the fact he is under the control of Oberon so that sets Puck's situation different from Ariel's.
The way Shakespeare uses the theme of magic in The Tempest and in A Midsummer Night's Dream really added another element to his plotlines in his plays. I believe the way he used the theme of magic in his plays really helped expand people's interpretation as well as introduce a new way of thinking.
I think that Shakespeare's use of magical elements in his plays allows him to further develop his plot lines. The use of magic complicates most of the plots and encourages the audience to question what is going on. Shakespeare seemed to enjoy making his audience think and question reality and magic is another way for him to do this.
The magic in this play is good magic. Shakespeare's audience probably took magic more seriously than we do. Black magic would have been demonic, like in Macbeth versus Ariel's magic which is done in good faith. The magic underscores the appearance versus reality theme that informs the artistry of many Shakespearean works. Ariel is an obedient, although I think frustrated (because of the freedom issue) spirit. Ariel seems to be pretty neutral about his duties although he does ultimately seem interested in the outcome. Theatrically, it would be an entirely different play without Ariel because Ariel is responsible for moving the plot forward several times. I'm trying to think of how The Tempest could work without this character's magic and I think the answer is it wouldn't work which is what makes me think he is somewhat of a theatrical device.
I thought that Puck was different from Ariel. Puck was playful and silly whereas the things that Ariel does are of a more serious nature. And Puck doesn't seem to mind that he's a "servant" whereas Ariel only wants freedom.
I believe Shakespeare uses the magical element to broaden his plot. Magical elements allow for an escape from reality much like The Tempest. Illusion vs. reality is allowed to set in. Ariel is alot different than Puck. Puck is a fairy who appears to be happy with his master. Ariel is a demonic spirit unhappy with his servitude towards Prospero's. Prospero's power comes from within his books. The more books he has the more powerful he becomes. His strength and identity are represented through his masculinity.
I would agree with the other comments above that Ariel's situation is different because he is not happy with being bound in service to Prospero and lets him know it. Prospero's real power over him seems to be in manipulation: "I saved you, therefore you are bound to me until I say so." It makes me wonder if Ariel's "cheerfulness" of service is in fact genuine or not.
I also thought it was poignant and sad in the way that Shakespeare put his farewell into the Tempest. He speaks of burying his magic and drowning his books, and gives an epilogue that no doubt is asking for release from the stage by applause. It's fitting for his last work.
Ariel's service to Prospero can also be viewed in terms of colonization. His willingness to serve seems more a tactic to gain his freedom eventually, through negotiation and by developing a good relationship with Prospero. Puck appears to serve Oberon more willingly and so the master/slave relationship is more transparent than in the Tempest with Ariel. The focus for freedom is more evident in the Tempest.
I see Ariel as Prospero's slave. Sure Prospero rescued Ariel by pulling him from the tree, but it seems Prospero is over extending his privileges of being a "hero" in a sense. Maybe this is one thing that has changed since Shakespeare's time. That is, today it is considered immoral and unjust to own or totally control the actions of another person. In Shakespeare's time however, Kings certainly had servants that could be considered owned.
Both puck and ariel are mischievous and represent the mysterious and not well understood magical side of life. In Shakespeare's day the world was little-understood and much was attributed to the supernatural. This obsession with the supernatural seems to dominate much a his writing. It was presumably of great personal interest to shakespeare and it was definitely of great interest to the general public of his day. This added a level of sellablility to his work and even today these magical aspects help maintain great interest in his plays. Back to your question, Ariel is indebted to Prospero and is as much a slave as caliban is. Puck, on the other hand has allegiances but is able to exercise free will to a greater extent than Ariel. But inherent in magic is a greater ability (especially to not get caught) than morals, this enables both Puck and Ariel to have a little playful fun.
In all of shakespeare's plays he often reuses characters, or develops very similar characters that play very similar roles in different plays. Pucka dn Ariel have their slight differences, which is to be expected. I agree with many others in this class in saying that Ariel is more forced and monotonous in her duties while puck enjoys his work. Also pertaining to shakespeare compared with prospero's breaking of his magical staff. I have heard this before and I think shakespeare's writing and plot details have most likely always reflected or meant something that was relative to something in his life. I do think that he wrote this in for a reason and that it represents the breaking of his magical pen in which he wrote plays and poetry.
I can see the similarities in characters which Shakespeare writes about. In a way I think that this aspect ties people to his plays. Puck and ariel both follow orders from their respective masters, but the relationship between Puck and Oberon is much different to that of Ariel and Oberon.
Ariel spends time as a slave to Prospero and the magic element of this play can justify much of Prospero’s treatment of Ariel. The magic allows characters an escape from the real world and portray situations in an easily understandable manner. As another classmate wrote, Puck is comfortable with his position in serving where as Ariel is not. Ariel continues to remind Prospero of the promise to be set free. She does enjoy playing and being mischevious with her position however.
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