All hail, great master! Grave sir, hail! I come
To answer thy best pleasure. Be ‘t to fly,
To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride
On the curled clouds, to thy strong bidding task
Ariel and all his quality.
– William Shakespeare
The Tempest, Act 1, Scene 2. Speaking his first lines in the play, the spirit Ariel shows his loyalty to Prospero by telling him that he is willing to do whatever his master Prospero asks of him. But his is also the language of a slave and submissive who does his master’s bidding without question.