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Power In Doctor Faustus

1184 Words5 Pages
Who’s got the power? Power as the core of the relationship between Faustus and Mephastophilis in Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus Power is nothing without the capability to use it. If one is not able to control their powers, it cannot be used to its full potential. Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus portrays this concept by pairing up Mephastophilis and Doctor John Faustus; one very much skilled in the use of magic, and one new and inexperienced. This would imply that Mephastophilis has the overhand in this relationship, being able to do the magic that Faustus cannot. However, Faustus’s attitude makes it so that he constantly mocks and taunts Mephastophilis, making it seem as if Faustus is the dominant and overpowering entity in this relationship. Nevertheless, it is still Mephastophilis who has the overhand in the power relationship between him and Faustus. Doctor Faustus shows how being capable of using a given power can work out by opposing two characters, Mephastophilis and Faustus, and showcasing both ends of power usage; a power relationship in which one is capable of using his powers, and one is not. Throughout the play, we can see Faustus working incredible magic. He gives Benvolio horns and when Benvolio tried to kill Faustus as revenge by decapitating him, Faustus rises from the dead. The lengths that Faustus’s powers can go is truly incredible but could have been even more impressing had he not stopped at the materialistic. Though Faustus worked incredible magic, it was never
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