Quilting Relationships Between Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and William Shakespeare’s The Tempest

Quilting Relationship between Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and William Shakespeare’s The Tempest – A Comparative Study

Christopher Marlowe is called the father of English romantic tragedy. Meantime, William Shakespeare is the greatest dramatist, whose writings are very powerful and effective. The word quilting means act of making blankets from layers of fabric soft padding. Here blanket refers to Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The two dramatists are not only creating varied characters but also whose characters have some similarities and contrast themselves. We can analyse Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus portrays the self-conceit of Faustus. He is a bachelor and the man of education. His unquenchable thirst for studies makes him adamant and arrogant. So, he is not satisfied with his studies. Hence, he chooses black-magic. The play opens with the chorus, which depicts the mentality Faustus.

“Nothing so sweet as magic to him

Which he prefers before his chiefest-bliss

And this the man that in his study sits.” [Prologue 69]

Faustus thins magical power is more than any other things. He believes physical pleasures and powers are supreme. He asserts:

“O, what a world of profit and delight,

Of power, of honour, of omnipotence,

Is promised to the studious artisans!

All things that move between the quiet poles

Shall be at my command; emperors and kings.” [1.1.73]

For the above mentioned reasons he calls, an evil spirit, and slave to Lucifer.

Good spirits or Good Angels are warned and condemned Faustus activities and they ...

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...e Tempest the marriage between Mirand and Ferdinand is occurred. Faustus acts as a slave for spirits where as Prospero acts as master for spirits. Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus is a Tragedy but Shakespeare’s The Tempest is a tragicomedy.

Even the dramatists have some similarities and dissimilarities with themselves. They were born in 1564 and their lives ended with tragedy. The total numbers of their name alphabets are eighteen. Marlowe is considered one of the university wits but Shakespeare is not well-educated. Marlowe is famous for his four tragedies but Shakespeare is famous for tragedy and comedy.

Works Cited

Marlowe, Christopher (1980), Doctor Faustus Ed. By Kitty Datta, New Delhi,

Oxford University Press.

Shakespeare, William (2009),The Tempest Ed. by SARBANI CHAUDHURY, New Delhi,

Dorling Kindersley