Shifting Power in Christopher Marlowe's "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus" - The power relationship between Faustus and Mephastophilis.

In Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus", the relationship between Faustus and Mephastophilis is in essence based only on power. For Faustus, it is the power that forbidden knowledge brings; for Mephastophilis, it is the power he needs from Faustus' soul. The necessity of the relationship stems from this, as each one needs the other, which in itself is a form of power. However, time is an element here, since Mephastophilis needs only to serve a set amount …

…-31). This speech embodies the inevitable result of Faustus' actions; he has now gone so far that he has completely lost the power he held so much faith in when he first met Mephastophilis, and all without realising this gradual process of shifting power. In a way, it was knowledge in the first place that caused his downfall; having mastered all earthly knowledge he assumed he could master everything else, and was proven terribly wrong.