So, shall we have a look at this little scene in Act 1 Scene 2.
Mark, do you want to tell us what has just happened? What has Ariel just done?
Yes, so Ariel has just performed this incredible, magical act of summoning a sea storm, a Tempest,
in order that the various nobles aboard the King's ship have been washed ashore, so that
Prospero can enact his revenge. And we'll be looking at the point where Prospero is
about to say 'we've got more work to do' and I think Ariel believes this to be his last
act before he's granted freedom.
Prospero's been sitting on this island for twelve years, and suddenly this chance arrives
to enact his revenge. Personally, I don't think he quite knows what he's going to do
next, so he's said to Ariel "Go and do the storm". Ariel comes back and says "I've done
the storm", and then Prospero has to work out what to do next.
It might be that Prospero wasn't anticipating there was going to be more work but now has
to somehow persuade the servant that he's just promised to let free that there's still
more stuff to do.
Yes, yes, yes and I think funnily enough right the way through the play that happens, doesn't
it, and I think he spends a lot of the play saying to Ariel - which is why I think Ariel
probably resents it - 'Oh, it isn't finished yet, I promise you it'll finish soon, it isn't
finished yet', and that goes right the way through the play, doesn't it.
There are therefore different ways in which you could play this scene. I guess one of
which is with Ariel being defiant, and that his liberty, you know, that he is saying,
'this is the contract, you are reneging on the contract', which provokes Prospero's response.
Ariel thy charge exactly is performed but there's more work, what is the time of the
day?
Past the mid season.
At least two glasses. The time ’twixt six and now. Must by us both be spent most preciously.
Is there more toil? Since thou dost give me pains,
Let me remember thee what thou hast promised Which is not yet performed me.
How now! moody? What is thou canst demand?
My liberty.
Before the time be out? no more!
I prithee. Remember, I have done thee worthy service;
Told thee no lies, made no mistakings, served without or grudge or grumblings: thou didst
promise to bate me a full year.
How about Prospero's few jokes, by the way...moody?
Yes, he's not a man known for his sense of humour, but that's one of them.
It can go in any number of ways, his relationship with Ariel, and his own anger can go in any
number of ways. But the thing about the moody joke, saying 'oh, you're moody', is you can
only make jokes like that to people who you know very well, isn't it, I mean, you can't
or trust, or like, you know, and I think their relationship is not affectionate.
Yes.
It's a really interesting thing to call Ariel actually, given that he is seemingly emotionless.
Moody is also a rather demeaning insult to him isn't it because if he has done this spectacular
job of wrecking the ship and saving all the mariners and depositing all the relevant people
on the right bits of the island, he a) deserves more congratulation than he gets, but also,
at that point when he is expecting his liberty, to demean him by saying he's being a bit moody,
and a bit sulky, is...
It's infuriating, I mean the difficulty for Ariel of course is that he does owe these
years of servitude to Prospero, who freed him from being trapped in a cloven pine. But,
Ariel's magnificent. He performs all your biddings. I get up a midnight to fetch dew
from the Bermuda Triangle!
Perhaps we should look at Ariel being more anxious and perhaps more subservient to his
master who is all powerful as far as he's concerned.
Ariel thy charge exactly is performed but there's more work, what is the time of the
day?
Past the mid season.
At least two glasses. The time ’twixt six and now. Must by us both be spent most preciously.
Is there more toil? Since thou dost give me pains,
Let me remember thee what thou hast promised Which is not yet performed me.
How now! moody? What is thou canst demand?
My liberty.
Before the time be out? no more!
I prithee. Remember, I have done thee worthy service;
Told thee no lies, made no mistakings, served without or grudge or grumblings: thou didst
promise to bate me a full year.
What is thou canst demand? My liberty.
There's something very familiar about knowing the breathing pattern of the other person,
that you know when they're coming to a conclusion and you can get your point in quickly, or
assert that opinion.
Although they might not have had this specific argument before, you get the feeling that
they've had arguments before, and arguments about the contract. In fact, a couple of lines
later in the scene, Prospero does say, 'can I remind you what I've done for you' and 'I
have', 'once in a month I have to remind you', and there's a sense in which Ariel's constantly
just checking that the contract is still in place.
I think it's very clear that there is a power struggle, and that the power fluctuates.
It's odd, I think they're sort of equals, bizarrely, and because, as Mark said earlier,
this thing about human feeling, that Ariel supposedly doesn't have, and he learns during
the play about human emotions; if he's very subservient, there's something rather more
human about him. If he's just giving Prospero facts, 'I've done this, I've done this, that's
according to my contract, let me go', then it becomes both less human and more equal.
And I think Prospero quite enjoys the power play.
Since thou dost give me pains, Let me remember thee what thou hast promised
Which is not yet performed me.
How now! moody? What is thou canst demand?
My liberty.
Before the time be out? no more!
I prithee. Remember, I have done thee worthy service;
Told thee no lies, made no mistakings, served without or grudge or grumblings: thou didst
promise to bate me a full year.
Dost thou forget from what a torment I did free thee?