Relationship Between Ariel And Caliban's Relationship In The Tempest

History tends to repeat itself, and this lends it to creating interesting and unique ways to retell the tales from long ago. This often lends itself to some criticisms of the past, making a statement as to what the author thought about the times, including his or her own when composing their text. William Shakespeare is an example of this, which his play, The Tempest, can be seen as a critique of the social hierarchy that takes place in his own society, set to his own tune. There are two main relationships that the main character in the play, Prospero, has with Ariel and Caliban, two natives of the island that he is banished to with his daughter, Miranda, in tow. They are drastically different, and reflect a bit of the mindset that European explorers held on to when they met native people in their homelands, a prime example of this being Christopher Columbus and his first encounter with the Native Americans. Though both Caliban and Ariel are serving Prospero as servants, Ariel 's relationship is not as negative as Caliban 's when looking at the overall picture. Caliban 's relationship reflects the ideas that anyone outside of the dominant …show more content…
His eagerness to acquiesce to Prospero 's every whim is expressed when he states, “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 curl 'd clouds, to thy strong bidding task Ariel and all his quality,” (1.2.306) He even does Prospero a favor when he warns him of the plot to assassinate him, which was set by Stefano, Trinculo, and Caliban. Throughout The Tempest, Ariel does not go against Prospero 's wishes, nor does he badmouth him in any way, shape, or form. This appears to be Shakespeare 's emphasis as to what a good servant should be, whether they are indentured or are serving their master for their entire