Forsaken

Forsaken

Oh Sycorax you have forsaken me!

Was I a lonely spirit? Yes, of course.

However solitude is better than

The life I live inside this cloven pine.

(5) Oh why, oh why do I possess this heart

Of shining fool’s gold! Unable to carry out her wretched requests,

She has sequestered me to this life of isolation!

A dozen years have I been trapped! A dozen years too long!

Hark! What is this? A man, dressed as a king but wearing the face of a peasant?

(10) Lines of salt, dried and painted onto his fair face,

And his hair! Caked with the scrap of the sea.

Help me, sir, help! You brave thing! I raise my voice and scream to you

Help! But alas, my captor hath passed, and I am destined to rot in this desolate grave.

(15) Like a decaying carcass trapped under the Earth for all of eternity,

In this wooden coffin I will stay.

Do you hear me? Oh, good sir, by the look of your visage clenched in confusion,

You do! Wave your great, wooden staff, my lord, and I will be forever grateful!

I shall provide for your desires, obey your commands, and realize your wishes

(20) Until the end of my days!

Are you a son of hers? A nephew, perhaps? Ah, this is no time for questions,

This momentous occasion! I feel the cuffs of my confinement, the scars of my

Solitude, all wasting away! You art a man of magic and mystery, my savior!

My mighty, powerful master! I am freed!

I choose to write a monologue for the character of Ariel in The Tempest because I believe that his character is rarely given any time on stage to express his private emotions, despite having arguably the most complex and interesting backstory. This scene, Ariel’s liberation from the cloven pine, is of particular significance to the play as a whole because it illustrates why Ariel is so obedient to Prospero’s every command. In this monologue, I want to illustrate how Ariel’s tremendous sadness from his situation augments his gratitude to his “savior,” Prospero, and clouds his rational thought.

In line six of my monologue, I employ the phrase “shining fool’s gold” as a metaphor to describe Ariel’s heart. Gold carries such value, but fool’s gold is worth nothing. While having a moral heart is admired, this integrity is worth nothing to Sycorax and results in his imprisonment due to his refusal of her horrible commands. By highlighting Ariel’s personality traits that lead him to his captivity, I convey the regret and sadness he feels over his current situation, as he reflects upon his life and what choices have brought him to his confinement with remorse.

In line fourteen, I describe the cloven pine which Ariel is trapped in as a “desolate grave,” however this description is a paradox. By describing a tree, a source of life, as the place where Ariel will “rot” and decay, I use this paradoxical idea to highlight his hopelessness and misery in order to explain why the spirit will eventually become Prospero’s slave. As indicated by this paradox, Ariel faces the reality that he will remain in this prison for the rest of his life, creating feelings of desperation and despondency, and a yearning for any sort of relief from his situation. Therefore, Ariel is willing to give anything for his freedom, failing to think of the possible consequences of his actions.

In line twenty-two and twenty-three of my monologue, I implement alliteration to illustrate the misery that Ariel has endured for twelve years, and how this agony results in extreme gratitude to Prospero. By using harsh “c” sounds for the phrase “the cuffs of my confinement,” and transitioning to softer “s” sounds for the phrase “the scars of my / Solitude,” I suggest that Ariel’s sadness and despair fade away as he begins to escape. After his sadness has subsided, Ariel describes Prospero as a “man of magic and mystery.” In this context, I use alliteration in a different sense: to draw attention to Ariel’s worship of Prospero. These words, “magic and mystery,” serve to describe an other-worldly being, suggesting how Ariel, a spirit himself, even views Prospero as all-powerful. Ariel has already begun to assume the role of Prospero’s slave, a position he undertakes for the duration of the play. Therefore, this alliteration reinforces the idea that Ariel’s grief over his imprisonment clouds his common sense, as he pledges to become a servant until Prospero dies.