Jul 6, 2008
He is a spirit of the air. In I.ii.250-93, we learn that Ariel was once the servant of Sycorax, a wicked sorceress who had imprisoned the spirit in a "cloven pine" for refusing to fulfill her "earthy and abhorr'd commands" (I.ii.277,273). Ariel remained trapped inside the tree for twelve years, crying out in pain, until Prospero arrived on the island, released him, and bound the airy spirit to his service. Thus at Prospero's command, Ariel stirs up the tempest which strands Alonso and his followers on the island (I.i). Again acting on his master's instructions, he beguiles Alonso's son,...
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