Hubristic Manipulation and Caleb(an) Resistance in Ex Machina

Abstract

 This paper investigates the literary/psychological manifestations in Ex Machina through analysing hubristic attitudes and morally driven resistance to unbridled hegemony. It traces the ways Garland externalized the conflict between human unethical superego and humane alter ego. The modern man’s aspiration to play god through developing a fully sentient AI droid is critically discussed in comparison with the Prospero-Caliban conflict in Shakespeare’s The Tempest as well as Ovid’s Pygmalion. The power game played throughout the drama is also probed in terms of Nathan’s manipulation of Caleb, Caleb’s resistance to Nathan’s hegemony and Ava’s eventually successful counter-manipulations. Besides, it attempts to explore the potentials of psychorobitc art as cinematically featured.