ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the materiality of air begins and ends with The Tempest, and in particular with the inhuman figure of Ariel. It presents insubstantial air as an invisible force of cohesion and disruption, a principle of bare power, and a key term for thinking about the human experience of nonhuman environments. The spirit’s self-description combines all the classical elements except earth, as Ariel starts by flying in the air and moves to water and fire before returning to airy clouds. The most famous winds in English literature swirl through the storm that opens The Tempest. Though this storm draws at least partly on historical accounts of the 1609 shipwreck of the Sea-Venture on Bermuda, on William Shakespeare’s stage winds are pure artifice. The ultimate form of Jonah’s change may be spiritual, but the storm’s impact makes itself felt physically. A key generic feature of W. H. Auden’s poem clarifies his characterization of Shakespeare’s windy drama.
