''Ariel'' is a 1900
essay by Uruguayan author
José Enrique Rodó. Drawn from William Shakespeare's
The Tempest, in which Ariel represents the positive, and
Caliban represents the negative tendencies in human nature, this essay is a debate on the future course of history, in what Rodó intended to be a secular sermon to
Latin American youth, championing the cause of the classical western tradition.
''Ariel'' belongs to the movement known as ''
modernismo'', characterized by its elegance, artistic prose, and worldly references and allusions. Even though it is an essay, its ideas are expressed through Prospero's narrative voice. Prospero, the teacher, and Ariel are references to the characters in ''
The Tempest'', and the use of their names is an example of ''modernismo's'' desire for cosmopolitism. In ''Ariel'', Prospero's seminar includes both famous and lesser-known European authors. He makes frequent reference to
Goethe,
Gaston Deschamps
Charles Pierre Gaston Napoléon Deschamps (5 January 1861 – 15 May 1931) was a French archaeologist, writer and journalist.
After he joined the École normale supérieure in 1882, Deschamps was appointed a member of the French School at Athe ...
,
St. Francis of Assisi,
Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...
, and
Guyau
Jean-Marie Guyau (28 October 1854 – 31 March 1888) was a French philosopher and poet.
Guyau was inspired by the philosophies of Epicurus, Epictetus, Plato, Immanuel Kant, Herbert Spencer, and Alfred Fouillée, and the poetry and literature ...
. Prospero also focuses on locations such as
Ancient Greece, and he emphasizes Hellenic beauty as the only ideal worthy of imitation. Rodó uses Ariel as a metaphor that symbolizes beauty, the spirit, and that which is good. The opposite of Ariel is the
utilitarian, symbolized by Caliban, and he cites ''positivismo'' and ''nordomanía'' as two reasons why this movement has gained popularity. ''Ariel'' is structurally based on binary opposition, and the figures of Ariel and Caliban are diametrically opposed.
[A Vaughan, ''Shakespeare’s Caliban'' (Cambridge 1991) p. 153]
In ''Ariel'', Rodó surveys the situation Latin America was facing at the end of the 19th century. He points out that utilitarianism relies on specialization and materialism, and that consequently, the wealth of our minds is affected. Such practice can and will affect the spirit. In order for Latin America to revive its spirit, Rodó proposed strict adherence to the aesthetic ideals of the Ancient Greek and Roman cultures. He believed both of these embody a sense of beauty, and most important, both realms recognize the significance of devoting oneself to an activity of the mind. Art is then a form of learning that finds and enriches the spirit and negates utilitarianism.
See also
*
Ariel Award
References
External links
Humanistics texts: RodóMariana Alvarado: Rodó y su Ariel. El ''Ariel'' de Rodó
1900 essays
Uruguayan essays
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