Blog Post – How are the themes of servitude and freedom explored through the characters of Ariel and Caliban in Act III of The Tempest?
In Act III of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Ariel and Caliban’s actions explore the theme of enslavement and freedom. Ariel, a spirit with supernatural abilities, is forced to serve Prospero. He chooses a tactic of obedience, viewing his compliance as the path to eventual freedom. Even though Ariel dislikes submission, he tolerates his enslavement patiently, believing that his loyalty will ultimately lead to his liberation. In contrast, Caliban seeks freedom through rebellion. He actively resents his enslavement and attempts to overthrow Prospero’s control. The contrast between Ariel’s compliant patience and Caliban’s active resistance highlights their different choices and interpretations of freedom under enslavement.
This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
One Comment
Tsering Choedon
In Act III of The Tempest, Ariel, and Caliban show two different ways of dealing with being controlled by Prospero. Ariel obeys patiently, hoping that following orders will eventually lead to his freedom. Caliban, however, rebels and tries to fight for his freedom right away. Through these two characters, Shakespeare shows different views on freedom: