A Question of Power: Dr. Faust vs. the Tempest

Christopher’s Tragical History of the Life and Death of Dr. Faustus (1604) and Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1610-11) were written during a period of European expansion in the Atlantic and address the issue of power. The story of Faust has been described as the myth of the modern world that is emerging during that period. The modern excitement surrounding the potential for human action and the medieval fear that such action is a sin is captured in the play. Shakespeare deals with a moment of colonization. This play is useful to the British in constructing an ideology to explain and justify the trade of slaves and colonization in the Atlantic. These two plays discuss the ways in which power is thought about, represented, acted out, and how it was a driving force that propels the West to a dominate position in world history.

The play, Tragical History of the Life and Death of Dr. Faustus, is set in the 1580’s in Europe, specifically Germany and Italy. Faustus, a magician, is stuck in a period of transition between the medieval world and the world of emerging Renaissance. The medieval world placed God at the centre of existence. The Renaissance movement brought an emphasis on the individual, classical learning, and scientific inquiry. Faustus rejects the medieval model where tradition and authority were key. Instead he embraces the Renaissance spirit and accepts no limits, traditions, or authorities in his quest for knowledge, wealth and power. This is seen when Faustus quotes every field of scholarship: Aristotle on logic; Galen on medicine; Justinian on Law; and the Bible on Religion. . He aspires to solve the mysteries of the universe and remake the map of Europe. His quest for power seems heroic.

Faustus decides that by selling his soul to Satan he would be able to fulfill his ambitions. He gains twenty-four years of absolute power for external damnation. Living in a Christian world, sin is defined as any act that is contrary to the will of God. When...