Shakespeare's brilliant depiction of Prospero's use of magic and power continues to attract readers and audiences with the many meanings and interpretations of The Tempest . As the main character, Prospero is someone that many people can relate to, with his desire to achieve his desires and gain power over others through the use of magic. It is this identification that extends beyond Shakespearean works, with The Tempest both imitating and presenting themes from other works of the Elizabethan period. Like Christopher Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus", a play written twenty years before The Tempest, containing the same themes of magic and power. Furthermore, Faustus and Prospero describe the idea that power, like magic, comes from books: whether works on "secret studies" or "liberal arts" (Tempest 1.2.91 -95). Magic and power are two forces that are both found in the literary works of the play, and it is through the works of Marlowe and Shakespeare that the audience is brought into the play of power. This essay will explore the idea of ​​overcoming the Renaissance and its relationship to books. A magician uses knowledge of magic to control his own life and experience the world, which also allows him to influence natural and supernatural powers. It is this knowledge of the supernatural, gained through books, that allows a magician to rise above other influences and act as a power. These books are written by curious and gifted scholars who hope that by merging and delving into various religious and philosophical dogmas, everything will combine and create one ultimate truth. Scholars produce enormous books, filled with their knowledge of the universe. Often, these books lead the scholar to their destruction, by consuming the middle of the paper......3. 47-48. Google Book. Rabelais, François. The sequel to Pantagruel: Being books III, IV and V of Rabelais' Gargantua and the heroic acts of Pantagruel. Ed. G. Routledge. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1888. Google Book. Shakespeare, William. The Storm Eds. Mowat, Barbara A. and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc, 2009. Print. Shapiro, James S. Rival Playwrights: Marlowe, Jonson, and Shakespeare. New York: Columbia University Press, 1991. Google Book. Smith, Nicole. "The Forbidden Quest for Knowledge in Doctor Faustus and Paradise Lost". Myriad article. Published: December 6, 2011. Accessed: November 18, 2013. Web.Woodman, Tony. Poetry and politics in the time of Augustus. Ed. Anthony John Woodman, David Alexander West. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. Google Book.