Ariel

Links between femininity, fertility, and creation are among the oldest in Western art and narrative. Fertility deities such as Demeter in ancient Greece and Brigid in pre-Christian Ireland are represented as women and play dual roles as Gods of harvest and of childbirth. These connections rely primarily on the fact that biological females tend to be able to give birth, creating another life. Figures of divine creativity, like the ancient Greek muses, play on this connection between femininity and creation. The act of horseback riding is also associated with female independence and sexuality, particularly in Regency and Victorian literature.

“Ariel” draws on a number of these associations, including the broader connection between human and agricultural fertility. The poem’s speaker and their horse “grow” (Line 5) into “one” (Line 5) before passing through a “furrow” (Line 6) that “[s]plits” (Line 7) as they pass through. This moment of birth plays on the agricultural connections to female genitalia and reflects the moment of insemination at the poem’s end (See: Analysis).

Plath extends and solidifies many of these connections through Ariel, the horse in the poem. By changing Ariel from a male spirit to a female horse, Plath simultaneously feminizes and materializes Ariel’s creative powers.