‘Ariel is the voice of the island, he is the controller and the manipulator of the tempest’
The play ‘The Tempest’ written by Shakespeare in 1611, uses the character Ariel, to control and
manipulate the acts within the play as a whole. He is subject to the protagonist’s (Prospero) every
desire and wish, he is entrapped and enslaved by him. He is presented as a submissive character to
the main patriarchal figure, yet on further analysis, it is evident that he is the crafter and
manipulator of the entirety of ‘The Tempest’. He acts as the catalyst for all of the acts within the
play. Over time, the presentation of Ariel has changed, and the analysis of his changing
presentation over time is important in the conceptual analysis of his actions and his critical
understanding.
Within the play ‘The Tempest’, the character of Ariel is presented as submissive, he is subject to the
patriarchal control of the western world whereby his power is usurped by the protagonist,
Prospero, and he is confined to his control. The play is governed by ideas surrounding western
imperialism and its influence over native people. Ariel is one of the characters subordinated by this
western domination, he is controlled and governed by the patriarchal protagonist Prospero. Ariel
was first imprisoned in an ‘oak’ tree by the ‘foul witch Sycorax’ whereby Prospero released him,
due to this, Prospero demands his subservience. The Jacobean audience would not have found this
controlling nature of Prospero in regards to Ariel surprising, the normality was that the western
world controlled the ‘new world’ whereby its exploration led to domination and slavery. However,
over time, this mindset and school of thought has significantly differed to the extent where Ariel is
looked upon and considered a slave to Prospero. The modern audience would have found
sympathy in his metaphorical entrapment as in our history we have experienced the abolishment of
slavery and the marginalisation of humanity throughout events such as the Holocaust. The nature
of Ariel as a submissive character is furthered by the analysis of the hierarchy within Shakespeare’s
literary environment; Prospero, as the coloniser, is looked upon as the ruler whereas Ariel is seen as
a mere creature within the landscape. Literary critic Russ Mcdonald argues that ‘The Tempest’ is ‘a
play about the problem of power’ whereby the hierarchy assert their agency and domination over
the lesser regarded characters in the play, Ariel is viewed by the western colonisers as this. A
colonialist would argue that through the domination of the unnamed island, Ariel is subject to the
control of the hierarchy whereby a metropolitan centre rules a distant land. On evaluation, the
presentation of Ariel as submissive and dominated is crucial in the conceptual analysis of his
character as a whole and his manipulation of ‘The Tempest’.
Ariel is presented significantly as the catalyst for ‘The Tempest’, he acts as the accelerator for the
magical events, his manipulation of nature and his ability to control other characters present him as
the voice of the unnamed island. At the beginning of the play, Ariel crafts ‘The Tempest’, arguably
causing the rest of the play’s actions. Through this creation he acts as the manipulator and
controller of the events that follow; on further evaluation it is possible to conclude that
Shakespeare uses him to construct the story. Through time, Ariel has been presented as ‘airy’ and
‘otherworldly’, he is ungendered and appears elusive, through this, directors have used his
character in a variety of ways. Modern directors have presented Ariel as more magical and mystical
through the use of cinematography. Director, Julie Taymor, used CGI technology in her 2010
feminist interpretation to present him as ghostly and unimaginable. In her film, Ariel is depicted as
more see-through and ghost-like, which to a modern and Jacobean audience would make him seem
more cryptic and manipulative as a character, whereby his action appears inconceivable. His
presentation in this film also makes him appear god-like, which is crucial in the conceptual analysis
