Prospero asks Miranda what she thinks about Ferdinand. Miranda is immediately struck by Ferdinand’s beauty; and she thinks that he is something more than human, that he is a “spirit” (line 415). Prospero explains to her that Ferdinand is merely human and that he is looking for any of his companions who may have survived the shipwreck. Miranda, though, who has only had the company of her father and Caliban for most of her life and has never had any companions of her own age, sees Ferdinand as more than human:
I might call him A thing divine, for nothing natural I ever saw so noble. (421-23)
Ferdinand is likewise struck by the beauty of Miranda when he first sees her, and his words echo or reflect those spoken by Miranda:
Most sure the goddess
On whom these airs attend. (425-26)
The word airs here refers to Ariel’s songs. Ferdinand is asserting that Miranda must most surely be a goddess, and the songs are being sung for her pleasure. The line is an allusion to Virgil’s Aeneid. When Aeneas, the protagonist of that epic, first sees the goddess Venus, who has disguised herself as a humble human, he is overcome by her beauty and asserts that she must certainly be a goddess.
Literary critics might refer to the similarity of the two lines (spoken by Ferdinand and Miranda) as dialogic. The meaning or intent of one line is reflected on and contributes to the other. Both Ferdinand and Miranda see the other as supernatural and noble and beautiful.
Ferdinand quite directly asks Miranda if she is a “maid or no” (431). The word maid actually has two meanings: (1) an unmarried virgin and (2) a human female. Ferdinand would certainly desire to know whether Miranda is married or not; but, given his earlier declaration that Miranda seems to be a goddess, the second meaning is uppermost. Miranda responds that she is a maid: she is both unmarried and a human.
In an aside (words not heard by other the characters but meant to indicate the thoughts of the speaker), Prospero reveals that he is pleased that Miranda is so attracted to Ferdinand. His plan is proceeding just as he desires (line 424). The magician is in control over the actions of the play. Prospero is so pleased that he promises Ariel that he will be released from his servitude in two days. Prospero is confident that his scheme will soon reach a conclusion.