In the play The Tempest written by William Shakespeare and the Gothic novel Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley, both explore the theme of power and control and within their individual texts and the theme power and control is profoundly influenced by the social and historical contexts of their lives and the time period in which they lived in. power the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events, whilst Control is having the ability to direct or influence the behaviour. Frankenstein is about an intelligent man who delves too far into his studies and creates the complete opposite of his desired intentions abusing the power he has acquired. He then abandons his creation as he is so disgusted with him and then finds himself in a power struggle with the monster. Frankenstein was written during one wet summer in Geneva at a countryside villa in Mary Shelley and Percy Byron along with a couple companions decided to write a short part of a horror story it was here that she wrote the first few pages of Frankenstein. Like all writers Mary Shelley was influenced to write Frankenstein in 1818 to the recent/ latest big events. one of such which is the Aldini experiment in which Giovanni Aldini, an Italian physicist underwent a public demonstration of the galvanic process of the electro-stimulation technique of deceased limbs was performed on the executed criminal George Foster at Newgate in London in 1803, in which when high electrical currents flowed through his body causing limbs to move and an eye to open for a split second. Another thing that may have influenced Mary Shelley was the Romantic Movement in which caused writers to start describing nature as a beautiful setting. The Tempest starts out with a ship caught up in a tempest some of the passengers are a group of nobles comprised of Alonso, King of Naples, Sebastian, his brother, Antonio, Gonzalo, and others. The ship then becomes victim to the tempests sheer force and everyone on board is thrown into the sea where they end up on a mysterious island that appears to have no inhabitants. This is where we meet Prospero the main character who has used his power of magic combined with his slave Ariel to cause the tempest with the intention of killing all those who were on board however his daughter Miranda convinces him otherwise. As they go back to the cave in which they live, we meet a second one of his slaves. Cali ban. Throughout the story we see the way in which power is portrayed through Prospero and his two slaves and witnesses the control he has over them. Like Mary Shelley, Shakespeare was also influenced into writing this play due the actions and events that took place in his era. The tempest was based on the tragic event of an English fleet crashing onto island due to a tempest which had spurred out of control, again this was what everyone was talking about at the time. Seeing as this was one of the main topics of conversation at the time, it is only natural for Shakespeare to take an interest in the topic. The name of the character Caliban, came from a book called “The Cannibals” which was one of the most read books of its time.
In Act 1 scene 1 of the tempest we see how power can overrule social status and hierarchy as shown through the use of experience and knowledge. When the ship is caught up in the tempest we see that everyone turns towards the boatswain for help as he is the one and only person who knows what to do in this situation. Normally he would not be able to order/talk to these people (Alonso King of Naples, Antonio Duke of Milan, etc….) in Quite an audacious manner due to their level of status in the hierarchy chain, but because of the circumstances at hand he is able to. It is also because he is the ships officer and that it is his ship that he is able to command anyone to do anything. His position allows him to exert his control over his shipmates and massively influence their actions. “When the sea is. Hence! What cares these roarers for the name of king? To cabin, silence! Trouble us not.” the language techniques used in this passage are quite bold and passively aggressive towards them. This helps us to understand the amount of power and control the boatswain has. “What cares these roarers for the name of king?” Boatswain is explaining to Alonso and Antonio that the ocean is a cruel place that claims’ the lives of all types of people whether you are a king or a peasant, when at sea everyone is equal. Boatswain then goes on to say, “To cabin, silence! Trouble us not.” This is a case of pathetic fallacy because the storm is violent and strong in its nature as is the boatswain by telling his shipmates that they assist the storm in such a violent manner. This is where we see Boatswain exert his power and control over the king and duke of Milan. He is telling the king and duke that there presence on the deck is only a hindrance to him and the rest of the crew. He then orders them to go below deck to the cabins for two reasons, the first is to ensure that they are safe, and the second to help himself and the rest of the crew focus on the task at hand. This language structure is very solid and highly effective in portraying the use of power and control.
In chapter 2 of Frankenstein, Frankenstein witnesses the destructive power of nature when, during a raging storm, lightning destroys a tree near his house. A philosopher specializing in the natural world who happened to be accompanying the Frankenstein family explains to Victor the concept of electricity. This then inspires Frankenstein to then create life which turned out to be a monster. ” on a sudden I beheld a stream of fire issue from an old and beautiful oak which stood about twenty yards from our house; and so soon as the dazzling light vanished the oak had disappeared, and nothing remained by a blasted stump.” Frankenstein is marvelled by this experience and yearns for the knowledge to control this immeasurable power that can either create or destroy. We can see this through the powerful imagery Mary Shelley has used.
In Act 1 Scene 2 of the tempest In the Tempest act 1 scene 2 Prospero and Ariel are having a discussion on the tempest which Ariel has spurred up because Prospero has ordered him to. Towards the end of the discussion, Ariel feeling as though he has deserved the right, asks Prospero for his freedom and Prospero who feels outraged by this remark replies in a very vicious and threatening manner. “If thou more murmur’st, I will rend an oak and peg thee in its knotty entrails till thou hast howl’d away twelve winters.” Shakespeare uses this to portray how power and control can cause people to abuse their power and take full control over someone/something. The distressing imagery Shakespeare uses emphasises just how much power and control Prospero has over Ariel. “…peg thee in its knotty entrails….”Power and control is explored through the violent language used in this scene.
Chapter 4 – In Frankenstein chapter 4 Frankenstein starts to stitch the various dead body parts together ready for his final experiment and finally succeeds in reanimating life and through this also acquires the knowledge of this galvanic process, along with how to collect the power of electricity and take control of it in order to use electricity in the attempt to reanimate life. “I had worked hard for nearly two years for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body.” As well as gaining the power of reanimating life he has also acquired the power to control the deceased as he can reanimate any life whenever he wants. Shelley uses imagery of Victor stressing over choosing the best body parts and his considerable amount of hard work in order to portray his obsession for power and control over the dead.

In chapter 9 of Frankenstein victor has travelled to the Swiss Alps presented as ‘Mont Blanc’. His journey to the Swiss Alps was to pursue rehabilitation and recuperate. As he analysed and interacted with the many different sceneries in which the Swiss Alps had to offer, it allowed him to witness the utter sublimity of it which was the feeling of very great excellence or beauty which had the ability to prevail over any other emotion or any mental state due to its magnitude. ‘‘These sublime and magnificent scenes afforded me the greatest consolations that I was capable of receiving”. The word ‘Sublime’ allows the reader to fathom that what he was viewing through his eyes was heavenly and outstandingly beautiful comprehensive sight. This in turn enabled Victor to recuperate. Mary Shelley is trying to portray the sublimity of nature through the Alps and how this had the power to assist people recuperate from any hardships and other types of mental stress that they are facing, but she also notes that the sublimity grants people the opportunity to regain control of their emotions and mental state. The word ‘consolation’ used in the text as a form of recuperation for Victor. ‘Consolation’ is when a certain experience that enables sorrow and depression to dissipate. Mary Shelley was inspired to write about ‘The Romantic Movement'(which was the beauty of Mother Nature that enabled people to experience the sublime) in her work. She portrays the Romantic Movement in this chapter by portraying its power through the sublimity and how it enabled Victor to recuperate.
In act 5 scene 1 of the Tempest Stephano, Trinculo, Prospero, Caliban, Antonio, Alonso and Ariel are in the same room conversing about the incidents that have developed, Antonio has not seen Caliban before and, says “One of them is a plain fish and no doubt marketable” because Antonio the Duke of Milan he thinks that he can make profit from someone who doesn’t have power or control and uses Caliban’s lack of knowledge of freedom to exploit him for profit. Shakespeare is saying that power and control can lead to manipulation of others that are not powerful or do not have control to do what the powerful and controlling people want. Shakespeare uses the line “… and no doubt profitable.” to show Antonio’s arrogance.