Hello everyone.

It's lovely to see you here today.

My name's Dr.

Clayton and I'm gonna guide you through your learning journey today.

Welcome to today's lesson.

The lesson is called Exploring the Relationship between Prospero and Ariel.

What we're gonna think about is how our interpretation of the relationship between Prospero and Ariel can be influenced by theatrical performances of "The Tempest".

And then we're gonna delve a little deeper into the language used between Prospero and Ariel and analyse what this tells us about their relationship.

Our key words for today are toil, service, noble, malignant, and staging.

The key words are appearing on your screen now.

These words have been selected to help you unlock the learning for today, and you'll see them throughout the material.

They'll be identified in bold on the slides and I'll try to point them out to you as well.

If you can, try to use them in your discussions and written work today.

So we have two learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to think about two different productions of "The Tempest" and how they staged Act One, Scene Two, and that first conversation between Prospero and Ariel.

We're going to think about how the characters have been positioned on stage and how this might influences the audience perception of the relationship between the characters.

Thinking about these ideas of staging and how it influences the audience's understanding, be incredibly useful to any play you look at.

For our second learning cycle then, we're going to look at extracts from Act One, Scene Two, and consider then what the language tells us about that relationship between Prospero and Ariel.

Now, how a scene is performed on stage can directly impact our interpretation of relationships between characters.

The way the characters use their body language as well as the costuming and makeup are incredibly influential in our understanding of the characters.

What we're going to consider in this first learning cycle is how the performance of Act One, Scene Two of "The Tempest" influences our understanding of the relationship dynamics between Prospero and Ariel.

So in one performance by the Royal Shakespeare Company, Ariel is first seen as floating in the air above Prospero.

What they've done is they've used a CGI interpretation of Ariel to show Ariel as humanoid, but very translucent and magical in the way the Ariel is floating above Prospero.

What I'd like you to discuss is Ariel is shown as above Prospero.

What do you think that could mean for their relationship? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing.

Had some fantastic ideas there.

Like Laura, you might have thought that having Ariel floating makes them look even more magical.

Specifically the use of CGI to make them look translucent as well would add this idea of Ariel being a magical being, and potentially, then a powerful being.

Like Alex, you might have thought that this would influence the relationship dynamics between Prospero and Ariel.

If Ariel is floating above Prospero, it makes it look as if Ariel is more powerful and looking down on Prospero, which would make it seem as if Ariel has the more power within the relationship.

In a different performance also by the Royal Shakespeare Company, Ariel is seen as emerging from a barrel with Prospero towering over them.

So all we can see is Ariel's head.

And rather than the CGI in the previous performance we talked about, this performance sees Ariel looking more human.

Now what I'd like to discuss is what is the effect of Ariel emerging from a barrel and what might it suggest if Prospero was above them and looking down on them? Pause the video and take a few moments to discuss.

Amazing.

That's some fantastic ideas there.

Like Jim, you might have thought that Ariel emerging from barrel could suggest they aren't allowed to be outside when Prospero isn't there, suggests that perhaps they're confined to the barrel and the only time they can leave is when Prospero comes and tells them to do something.

Like Sophia, you might have thought that since Prospero is standing over Ariel, it suggests he's the one who has more power and more control.

We might specifically think the idea we can only see Ariel's head suggests they aren't a very important character because we can't even see them in their entirety.

Whereas Prospero is standing in his entirety and towering over them, which suggests he has more power over Ariel.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is match the stage's positioning with the most appropriate interpretation.

So for the stage positioning, your options are Ariel floating above Prospero or Prospero standing over Ariel.

Now, which is the most interpretation for each of those stage positioning? Is it Prospero seems more powerful or Ariel seems more powerful? Pause the video and create your selections now.

The correct answers are the Ariel floating above Prospero suggests that Ariel seems more powerful.

This not only shows that the Ariel is magical, but also the very fact of Ariel being above Prospero suggests that Ariel has more power.

Prospero standing over Ariel then suggests that Prospero seems more powerful.

Again, the idea of standing over someone and looking down on them suggests that you have more power than them.

So very well done if you selected those answers.

You're doing incredibly well, everyone! We're onto our first task of the lesson.

What I'd like you to do is imagine you are a theatre director and you're putting on a performance of "The Tempest".

Which staging would you use for the scene? Remember that staging is one of our key words.

It means the manner of performing a play.

So how would you position the characters on stage and what would you think about their body language and how you want the relationship to be perceived? What you might consider is the following information about the play to help you think about how you would stage it.

So Prospero enslaved Ariel after freeing them from magical imprisonment.

Prospero forces Ariel to perform magical tasks for him.

And Prospero promises to free Ariel once they performed all the tasks.

So thinking about that information, what does that information tell you about the relationship between Prospero and Ariel? How would you stage it to show the dynamics between that relationship? Pause the video and create your answers now.

Amazing, some fantastic ideas there.

Like Laura, you might have said, you'd use the idea of Prospero standing over Ariel as the positioning for the scene since it reflects the idea that Prospero is in control of Ariel.

We know that Prospero controls Ariel since he's able to enslave Ariel and force Ariel to perform magical tasks for him.

So he might want to reflect that in the power dynamics between them on stage.

Or like Izzy, you might have thought you'd use the idea of Ariel floating above Prospero for your performance.

The idea of Ariel floating reflects how magical they are since they're able to cause storms, turn invisible, and put people to sleep within the play.

You also might have thought that having Ariel on a separate path of the stage from Prospero might represent the emotional distance between them since we imagine their relation to be strained since Prospero is forcing Ariel into his service.

You're all doing really well, everyone.

We're onto to our second learning cycle of the lesson, where we're going to analyse the language of Act One, Scene Two of "The Tempest", and consider what it tells us about the relationship between Prospero and Ariel.

So let's start having a look at the language used between Prospero and Ariel and what that might tell us about their relationship.

So Ariel opens by saying, "Is there more toil?" Now remember, "toil" is one of our key words.

It means to work extremely hard.

So Ariel here is asking, is there more hard work to be done? "Since thou does give me pains, which let me remember thee what thou has promised, which is not yet perform'd me." So Ariel is saying that Prospero has promised them something and he hasn't yet delivered on that promise.

Prospero responds, "How now? Moody? what is't thou canst demand?" So Prospero who's asking, "Are you in a bad mood? What is it possibly you can ask of me?" Ariel simply responds, "My liberty." So Ariel is saying the one thing they want is their freedom and Prospero then responds, "Before the time be out? No more!" So he's saying that Ariel still has time to serve with him and is actually seeming quite angry about the idea that Ariel is asking for their freedom.

Now, the first word I'd like us to zoom in on is "moody".

So Ariel is asking, is there more hard work to be done? You've promised me something, but you haven't done it yet.

Prospero responds by asking them if they're moody.

Now what do you think that suggests? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing.

And some fantastic ideas there.

You might have thought that what it might suggest is that Prospero feels that Ariel shouldn't be complaining about this service to him.

It almost suggests if he feels Ariel should be grateful to perform these tasks for him.

The second thing I'd like us to zoom in on is Ariel's short sentence, "My liberty".

So Prospero's asked them, what is it possibly that you can demand of me? Ariel simply responds by saying, "My liberty".

What I'd like to discuss is why is that short sentence so powerful? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing.

That's some fantastic ideas there.

You might have said it's powerful because it suggests the only thing that matters to Ariel is being free.

It all suggests an element of frustration from Ariel since they're bluntly asking for their freedom, suggests that perhaps they've asked for it before in nicer ways, more polite ways, but actually they're tired of asking and they simply want Prospero to grant them their freedom.

Let's continue looking at language used between Prospero and Ariel.

So Ariel says, "I prithee", meaning I pray, "Remember I have done thee worthy service." Now service is another one of our key words that means to work for somebody.

So Ariel here is reminding Prospero of the hard work they've done for him.

"Told thee no lies, made thee no mistakings." So Ariel here is saying they haven't lied to Prospero and they've made no mistakes.

"Served without or grudge or grumblings." So again, Ariel's saying at this point, they've served without complaining about this service Prospero's asked them to do.

"Thou didst promise to bate me a full year." So they're reminding Prospero of his promise to Ariel.

Prospero then response, "Does thou forget from what a torment I did free thee?" So instead of responding compassionately to Ariel, Prospero is instead reminding them that he freed them from this magical imprisonment that they were trapped within.

It's almost making Ariel feel guilty about asking for their freedom.

So a summary of this extract is, here, Ariel is reminding Prospero of all the things Ariel has done for him.

Prospero responds by asking Ariel if they've forgotten that Prospero freed them for imprisonment.

The first thing I'd like us to zoom in on is this extended list of jobs that Ariel says they've done for Prospero, and the fact they keep repeating the word "thee".

"I have done you worthy service, I have told you no lies." What is the effect of this extended list of things that Ariel's done for Prospero and the repetition of "thee"? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing.

Some fantastic ideas there.

You might have thought that by having this extended list, it shows all of the things that Ariel has done for Prospero and it tells the audience that Ariel has toiled for Prospero.

So it tells that Ariel has worked really hard for Prospero and done all of these things solely for him because he asked them to.

The second thing I'd like us to zoom in on is what Prospero responds to Ariel with.

So Ariel has just given Prospero a list of all the things they've done for him and said they have done these things without complaining up until this point.

Prospero responds by telling them, "Dost thou forget from what a torment I did free thee?" So saying, do you forget what a horrible situation I freed you from? What is the effect of Prospero saying this to Ariel? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, some fantastic ideas there.

You might have thought, it suggests a bit of an emotional manipulation here.

Prospero feels as if Ariel should be grateful, but it's also subtly reminding them that if Prospero has the power to free them from imprisonment, he also has the power to return them to that imprisonment as well.

Now, if you remember from the end of the previous extract, Prospero says "Dost thou forget from what a torment I did free thee?" So what he's saying is to Ariel, do you remember the magical imprisonment I freed you from? Now Ariel respond by saying, they do remember.

This is Prospero's response.

Prospero says, "Thou liest, malignant thing!" Now "malignant" is one of our keywords and means something evil.

What I'd like you to do is discuss the following questions to really analyse this quotation.

So first of all, Prospero says, "Thou liest".

Now how would you feel if someone accused you of lying about something? Prospero calls Ariel malignant.

So how would you feel if someone called you evil? And finally, Prospero calls Ariel a thing.

So how would you feel if someone called you a thing? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, had some fantastic ideas there.

Now nobody likes to feel as if they're being accused of lying.

So if someone accused you of lying, like Prospero's doing here, you might feel really angry and indignant about that.

Now as we said, malignant is one of our key words and it means evil.

So if someone called you evil, you'd probably feel quite upset and offended because there's very negative connotations attached to that.

Finally, if someone called you a thing, you'd probably feel really upset about this.

If you call someone a thing, it's taking away their humanity.

It's as if they don't matter and as if Prospero's saying that Ariel isn't even a person to him.

Now Prospero's just accused Ariel of lying and now he's doubling down in his statement that Ariel doesn't remember the magical torment the Prospero freed them from.

"O, was she so? I must once in a month recount what thou hast been." So Prospero here is saying that once a month he has to remind Ariel what Ariel went through.

"Which thou forget'st.

This damn'd witch Sycorax, for mischiefs manifold and sorceries terrible to enter human hearing, from Argier.

Thou know'st was banish'd: for one thing she did, They would not take her life.

Is this not true?" So here, Prospero's reminding Ariel of the witch Sycorax, because the witch Sycorax was the one who magically imprisoned Ariel in the tree.

And Ariel simply responds, "Ay, sir.", meaning, yes, sir.

Now rather than zooming on specific words, what I'd instead like us to think about is how this extract has been constructed.

Now what do you notice about the amount of lines that each character has and what do you think this might suggest about the power dynamics between them? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, had some fantastic ideas there.

What you might have noticed is that Prospero has many more lines than Ariel.

Now that means that he's dominating the conversation and it suggests to us that perhaps his voice and opinion is considered more important.

This is a really useful thing to take away to any further play you might study.

Look at the amount of lines each character has and think about what that might tell you about what the playwright is trying to tell us about which character's voice is more dominant and therefore, which character might be considered more important in that particular moment.

Now, after accusing Ariel of lying, Prospero now begins to threaten Ariel.

"If thou more murmur'st", meaning if you keep complaining, "I will rend an oak and peg thee in his knotty entrails till thou hast howl'd away twelve winters." So what Prospero is saying here is that Ariel keeps complaining, Prospero's gonna trap Ariel within an oak tree and the Ariel's gonna stay there for 12 winters.

Ariel then says, "Pardon, master, I will be correspondent to command and do my spiriting gently." So here Ariel's saying they're gonna do what Prospero says because they don't want to be returned to the oak tree.

So a summary of this extract is, Prospero threatens to imprison Ariel in a tree if Ariel continues to talk back to him.

What I'd like to think about is what does this tell us about Prospero? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, had some fantastic ideas there.

You might have thought that Prospero's threatening of Ariel suggests that Prospero is willing to do anything to get Ariel to obey him.

Now let's think about Ariel's response.

Ariel response to Prospero's threat by saying, "Pardon, master." Now what does that tone suggest? If you're asking someone's pardon, what does it suggest about how you want them to respond to you? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing and some fantastic ideas there.

There are two ways we might interpret this.

On the one hand, you might see the Ariel asking Prospero's pardon is a respectful thing that confirms Prospero's power over Ariel.

Or you could perhaps see it as Ariel being sarcastic and pretending to be respectful to Prospero.

Now we're gonna look at our final extract from Act One, Scene Two.

So Prospero says, Do so, and after two days I will discharge thee." So what Prospero is saying here is if you do what I say for another two days, I will then set you free.

Ariel responds, "That's my noble master! What shall I do? Say what, what shall I do?" So here we can see an air of excitement around Ariel.

They're repeating themselves, they're using exclamation marks.

We can tell Ariel's very excited about the prospect of being free.

Now, if you remember from our previous extracts, Prospero had previously threatened Ariel, however, despite threatening them, Prospero now says he'll free them in two days if they complete all the tasks.

Now what does that tell us? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, had some fantastic ideas there.

You might have thought that even though Prospero has the power to imprison Ariel again, he doesn't want to.

We see this throughout the relationship between Prospero and Ariel.

Even though Prospero does insult Ariel, ultimately, he never actually hurts Ariel.

Now, if we zoom in on Ariel's response, Ariel is using an exclamation mark and repeating, "What shall I do?" Now, what does this suggest about how they feel about performing tasks of Prospero now? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, had some fantastic ideas there.

You might have thought that the use of exclamation mark shows a heightened emotion.

So it now suggests that Ariel's excited and happy to perform the tasks, now that Prospero's said he'll grant them freedom in two days.

Finally, let's zoom in on this idea of Ariel calling Prospero their noble master.

Now "noble" is one of our key words and it means someone who's higher in status, rank, or in moral qualities.

Now what does that suggest about their relationship? Pause the video and take a few moments to consider.

Amazing.

That's some fantastic ideas there.

There are two ways we might interpret this.

We could either interpret this as Ariel acknowledging that Prospero is their superior, or it could be seen as Ariel suggesting that Prospero is a moral, kind master to them.

Now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is complete the following two sentences.

So Ariel desires their, something.

When they speak of this desire to Prospero, he first asks if they remember.

He then threatens to.

if they keep asking for their freedom.

Pause the video and complete the sentences now.

Amazing! You might have said that Ariel desires their freedom.

When they speak of this desire to Prospero, he first asks them if they remember that he freed them from imprisonment.

He then threatens to imprison them again if they keep asking for their freedom.

So very well done if you created those answers.

Amazing.

You're all doing incredibly well, everyone.

We're onto the final task of the lesson.

A student has said, "Prospero is a powerful ruler of the island who doesn't treat others fairly." What I'd like you to do is think about what we've learned about the relationship between Prospero and Ariel within this lesson and use that to complete the table.

So what is it about the relationship between Prospero and Ariel that makes you think that Prospero doesn't treat Ariel fairly? And then what is it about the relationship that makes you think actually, Prospero does treat Ariel fairly? Pause the video and complete the table now.

Amazing.

I saw some fantastic ideas there.

You might have said the idea that Prospero threatens to return Ariel to imprisonment if they ask about freedom shows Prospero treating Ariel unfairly.

You might also have said, the idea of Prospero calling Ariel "evil thing" and accusing them of lying also shows Prospero treating Ariel unfairly.

On the other hand, you might have thought that Prosper doesn't actually ever follow through with the threat to punish Ariel and therefore, perhaps he is treating Ariel fairly.

Finally, Prospero does agree to free Ariel at the end.

So again, perhaps we can see this as Prospero treating Ariel fairly.

You all did incredibly well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we learned today.

Ariel's language shows both deference and frustration towards Prospero.

Ariel is forced to be obedient to Prospero because of his threats to return Ariel to the tree.

Prospero having more lines than Ariel suggests that his voice is considered more important.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson, everyone.

Goodbye!.