Hi there! Just wanted to get some feedback on my AOS essay - would be great if you could (I'm not good at writing essays). Please mark it as harsh as possible.
Thank you very much for your help!
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“The seeker embarks on a journey to find what they want and discovers, along the way, what they need.”
How accurately does this statement reflect the ideas that discoveries can offer renewed perceptions of ourselves and others?
In your response, make detailed reference to your prescribed text and ONE other text of your own choosing.
Discoveries can offer renewed perceptions of others and ourselves. In the play, The Tempest (1611) by William Shakespeare, it is the careful planning of revenge by Prospero and Ariel’s advice that leads Prospero to gain a new understanding and renewed perceptions of himself and others. For Alonso, it is the supposed death of his son that takes him on a journey where he is confronted by Prospero and repents for his wrongdoings. In the poem, Ariel (1965) by Sylvia Plath, the speaker gains a renewed perception through a discovery which is necessary for her to survive. In both texts, the seeker embarks on a journey to find what they want and along the way, they discover, what they need and lack, allowing them to gain a different perspective, and hence, a renewed perception of themselves and the others around them.
A transformative journey is one where the individual gains a new understanding or a new perception. This is portrayed by Prospero in The Tempest where initially, he felt vengeful towards Alonso and his brother, Antonio, when he uncovered their shocking betrayal. At the beginning of the play, pathetic fallacy is used where Prospero’s chaotic emotions are mirrored by a “Tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning” (the very first stage direction), emphasising Prospero’s thirst for revenge. Prospero’s perception of Antonio changes from a dear brother to that of a traitorous one when he is confronted with Antonio’s unexpected betrayal; “That a brother should be so perfidious – he, whom next thyself all the world I loved” (1, ii), expressing Prospero’s grief and pain which fuelled his rage. In Act 4, Scene 1, Prospero calls off the masque for Ferdinand and Miranda when he recalls Caliban’s plot to kill him and tries to calm the couple by explaining to them that the masque was all an illusion through the metaphor; “We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep” (4, i), highlighting the impermanence of human life. The simile in the next act where Ariel reports to Prospero of the king and courtiers’ state and expresses compassion for them; “His tears runs down his beard like winter’s drops from eaves of reeds”, makes Prospero question himself with “Shall not myself, one of their kind, be kindlier moved than thou art?” Ariel’s declaration moves Prospero and he struggles with his conscience to forgive the suffering wrong-doers. Ultimately, it is Ariel that teaches Prospero of humanity and forgiveness – to believe and follow the path of “virtue” than “vengeance”, deepening Prospero’s humanity by making him overcome his nature and feeling merciful towards his enemies, gaining a renewed perception of himself and the others around him.
Anaphora used by Prospero; “I’ll break my staff, / Bury it certain fathoms in the earth, / […] / I’ll drown my book.” (Act 5, Scene 1), highlights Prospero becoming a mortal and throwing away his art. The impermanence of life has led Prospero to choose forgiveness than vengeance as if he had chosen vengeance, he would be resentful for the remainder of his life. Choosing forgiveness allows him to approach different aspects of life, for example, freedom (he frees Ariel and the spirits under his control) and reconciliation with the king of Naples through his daughter’s marriage. Prospero embarks on a journey to exact revenge but along the way, he discovers his human side with the help of Ariel, gaining a new understanding and a renewed perception. On the other hand, Alonso griefs for his son’s supposed death and embarks on a journey to find him but along the way, he discovers that Prospero is alive and is confronted by his betrayal leading him to feel guilty and remorseful. In this way, Alonso understands his wrong doings and gains a new perspective which allows him to gain a renewed perception and accepting Miranda as the future queen.
In comparison to Prospero’s control of power evident at the beginning of the play (as he raises powerful storms), the speaker is powerless in the poem Ariel, depicted by her inability to calm the horse in stanza 3; “The furrow / Splits and passes, sister to / The brown arc / Of the neck I cannot catch.” The alliteration of the sharp ‘k’ sounds in the last half makes the reader visualise the sharp jerkiness she must be feeling while riding the horse. The consecutive use of enjambment fastens the pace, expressing her fear at the sudden uncontrollable gallop. Only glimpses of the surrounding world are captured by the speaker whilst riding; “Pivot of heels and knees! […] Thighs, hair; / Flakes from my heels.” These fleeting moments symbolise the impermanence of human life, making her reconsider the world around her as she is confronted by death and soon realises how fleeting life is. “Flakes from my heels” symbolises the speaker in letting go parts of herself that dragged her down as well as other constrictions on her life, signifying the speaker’s new birth whilst the consonance of ‘f’ sounds put forward the idea of the fragility of life. The use of the word ‘Pivot’ by Plath holds connotations of this moment being the speaker’s central turning point in life – because of this sudden journey, her understanding of the world is transformed by the close of the poem as she reconsiders her prior knowledge. In stanza 7, we see the speaker let go of everything weighing her down and becoming free “I unpeel – / Dead hands, dead stringencies”, and becoming one with the movement of the wild horse, learning to channel the power of the horse and face death, as depicted by the metaphor “And I / Am the arrow / Suicidal and at one with the drive”. By the end of the poem, the speaker has let go of the thoughts of being in danger as well as feeling fearful and confronts death head on.
Ariel is written in free verse with an irregular but frequent rhyming scheme. Where the rhyme will occur next is unpredictable, similar to the movement of the horse, reinforcing its wild behaviour. First person and present tense is maintained throughout the poem depicting Plath’s own experience with her horse called Ariel whilst the present tense builds suspense and heightens the thrill. The title of the poem also has other connotations – Ariel in Shakespeare’s 1611 play, The Tempest. “Substanceless” at the beginning of the poem also alludes to the airy spirit, Ariel in the play who is a compassionate spirit that acts as a catalyst for Prospero’s change. Similarly, in the poem, Ariel’s wild ride becomes a catalyst for the speaker’s change from fear to acceptance of death by understanding that a human life in finite through experiencing a life and death situation. By the end of the poem, the speaker also learns how to channel the wild horse’s energy correctly, and thus, gain control and insight about the world around her which arise through her new understanding that death can occur at anytime, anywhere.
Both texts illustrate a seeker embarking on a journey to find what they want and discovering along the way, what they need through their exploration of intensely meaningful and confronting discoveries that offered renewed perceptions of themselves and others. Hence, it is evident that William Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1611) and Sylvia Plath’s poem Ariel (1965) both explore the concept of discoveries offering renewed perceptions of ourselves and others, to a large extent.
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