Quote 1
ARIEL
I told you, sir, they were red-hot with drinking,
So fun of valour that they smote the air
For breathing in their faces, beat the ground
For kissing of their feet; yet always bending
Towards their project. Then I beat my tabour,
At which, like unbacked colts, they pricked their
ears,
Advanced their eyelids, lifted up their noses
As they smelt music: so I charmed their ears
That, calf-like, they my lowing followed through
Toothed briers, sharp furzes, pricking gorse, and
thorns,
Which entered their frail shins. At last I left them
I' th' filthy-mantled pool beyond your cell,
There dancing up to th' chins, that the foul lake
O'erstunk their feet. (4.1.190-205)
Ariel's actions often emphasize the whimsical parts of magic, like luring bad guys into pools that smell of horse urine. These tricks are perhaps more suited to Ariel's connection to nature than Prospero's austere practicality.
ARIEL
I prithee,
Remember I have done thee worthy service,
Told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings, served
Without or grudge or grumblings. Thou didst promise
To bate me a full year.
PROSPERO
Dost thou forget
From what a torment I did free thee? (1.2.294-300)
Servitude in Prospero's vision is a necessary gratitude for the kindness he has done. Does Prospero do anything in the play without expecting something in return?
ARIEL
Before you can say 'come' and 'go,'
And breathe twice and cry 'so, so,'
Each one, tripping on his toe,
Will be here with mop and mow.
Do you love me, master? No?
PROSPERO
Dearly, my delicate Ariel. (4.1.48-53)
Ariel's relationship with Prospero is greater than master and servant—Ariel takes care of the details that would otherwise worry Prospero. In turn, Ariel is sensitive enough that he cherishes the loving affection the sorcerer gives him in return. They have a Pat Sajack and Vanna White kind of relationship, without all the sequins and vowels.
Quote 4
ARIEL
Full fathom five thy father lies.
Of his bones are coral made.
Those are pearls that were his eyes.
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell.
Burden, within: Ding dong.
Hark, now I hear them: ding dong bell. (1.2.474-482)
Ariel isn't just being callous with his song, but pointing out that death is part of the natural process. Ferdinand is perhaps drawn away from his grief because the natural calls out to him, just as it now influences his father (were his father under the ocean).
Quote 5
ARIEL
Where the bee sucks. there suck I:
In a cowslip's bell I lie.
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the bat's back I do fly
After summer merrily.
Merrily, merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bow. (5.1.98-104)
Ariel sings of the natural world as he dresses Prospero in his hat and sword so Prospero can be recognized by the courtly folks. This is Ariel's last direct act for Prospero—he embraces the natural world while he dresses Prospero for the world of the court. This seems to be Ariel's delicate way of saying goodbye, which is kind of beautiful.
ARIEL
All hail, great master! Grave sir, hail! I come
To answer thy best pleasure. Be 't to fly,
To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride
On the curled clouds, to thy strong bidding task
Ariel and all his quality. (1.2.224-228)
Ariel is loyal to Prospero, but he is also loyal to nature—his source of power and home. Ariel serves two masters, but seems to delight in the natural more than the community service aspect of his job.
ARIEL
The King,
His brother and yours, abide all three distracted,
And the remainder mourning over them,
Brimful of sorrow and dismay; but chiefly
Him that you termed, sir, the good old Lord
Gonzalo.
His tears run down his beard like winter's drops
From eaves of reeds. Your charm so strongly works
'em
That if you now beheld them, your affections
Would become tender.
PROSPERO
Dost thou think so, spirit?
ARIEL
Mine would, sir, were I human.
PROSPERO
And mine shall.
Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling
Of their afflictions, and shall not myself,
One of their kind, that relish all as sharply
Passion as they, be kindlier moved than thou art? (5.1.14-31)
Ariel shows that mercy should be in the nature of human beings—he imagines he would feel tenderness if he were human. By saying this, he calls Prospero's humanity to task. Is it more human to seek vengeance, or forgive? Is forgiveness not the best way to stick it to your enemies?
Quote 8
ARIEL
You are three men of sin, whom Destiny,
That hath to instrument this lower world
And what is in 't, the never-surfeited sea
Hath caused to belch up you, and on this island,
Where man doth not inhabit, you 'mongst men
Being most unfit to live. I have made you mad;
And even with such-like valor men hang and drown
Their proper selves. (3.3.70-71)
Anyone whose conscience yelled at him for being a traitor would see this reality as a punishment for his wrongdoing. Sebastian and Antonio have such warped views of reality that only Alonso actually benefits from the reality check of the harpy. The other men have no consciences worth noting, and feel their reality is beyond moral consequence.