The Tempest : Ariel like caliban is entirely a creaure of shakespeare's imagination. He name has the significance of a type, for he is first and foremost an airy spirit. Though shakespeare owed many hints to medievel dem onology and fairy lore in creating ariel, the stuff is entirely shakespeare's own. ariel is a spirit much more than a fairy he is a creature of both the high imagination and higher aspiration. As coleridge remarks , ariel has everything the airy tint which gives the name. in air he lives , in air he derives his being, in air he acts, though he is endowed with reason, moral ties are irksome to him.they are not his proper sphere. his very speech is characteristic of him.
After describing how he has raised the strom and executed prospero's orders, he is discontented . no doubt he owes his release from sycorax to prospero but his present bondage is almost unnatural to him . simple and eternal liberty is his aspiration, but he is full of gratitude to prospero and realises that his freedom is only through service. He has also his lighter moods. and he shares with puck his fondness of musichievous sport.
- shakespeare
