Master Servant Relationships in the Tempest and Dr...

Master-Servant Relationships in ‘The Tempest’ and ‘Dr Faustus’ Prospero, in ‘The Tempest’, resides on the island with his daughter Miranda and two mythical creatures; his favourite being Ariel who performs magic for him and is a trustworthy servant- this would cause controversy with the audience as magic was a concept both feared and believed in at the time this play was performed. The other is Caliban, son of Sycorax- the witch who used to ‘own’ the island; he is more suited to the role of reluctant slave. Again, this is very relevant to the time as the ‘new world’ was being explored and consequently the native people were falling victim to the power of the explorer. Whereas Dr Faustus has a servant that he acquires through magical†¦show more content†¦Of course Ariel may believe this is an equal relationship but he doesn’t know any better, he has been submissive his whole life. In real-life colonising situations it would be rare that the slave was offered such a good deal or was willin g in the first place without being tricked into it through promise of education and money. Both servants are threatened by Prospero but the difference between them is that Ariel has not acted in a way that has scared Prospero like Caliban has- the supposed attempted rape of his daughter or the fact that a sexual being might want to ‘taint’ his precious virginal daughter. Caliban has effectively dug his own grave, possibly through no fault of his own and is not offered the freedom that Ariel is promised. That is what distinguishes the happy and not so happy relationship that Prospero has with his servants. On the other hand ‘Dr Faustus’ has a more complex relationship, the one between Mephistopheles and Dr Faustus. They first meet when Faustus gets frustrated about his everyday-life , gets extremely power-hungry and decides to conjure up a devil who can fulfil his every desire, ‘I charge thee wait upon me whilst I live, To do whatever Faustus shall com mand’. He is very demanding; this may be because of his ever-growing pride and perhaps to cover-up his fear. Mephistopheles is informal when addressing his ‘master’ ‘Now, Faustus, what wouldst thou have me do?’ Thou is historically an informal term of ‘you’ would be sued toShow MoreRelated Supernatural in Shakespeare’s The Tempest And Marlowe’s The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus3393 Words   |  14 PagesThe Supernatural in Shakespeare’s The Tempest And Marlowe’s The Tragical History of D. Faustus The supernatural forces are at once alike and distinct in Shakespeare’s The Tempest and in Marlowe’s The Tragical History of D. Faustus. The supernatural is kind to Prospero and his daughter Miranda in The Tempest, while the devils in Dr Faustus eagerly wait for the day that Faustus would join them in Hell. In both plays, the supernatural provides recurrent waves of sounds and feelings, lending special