Faustus Question

Reread the comic scenes in 3.1/4.1. How far do you agree with William Tydeman's assertion that 'All the incidents demonstrates a streak of spitefulness in Faustus; and an urge to humiliate and score off others, very much in keeping with the cruelty displayed by the demonic fraternity towards him'

Faustus' actions appear more petty than spiteful. He prefers smaller tricks in order to prove his point such as taunting and teasing the Pope, while invisible, creating horns on the knight's head, creating a horse from straw and detaching his leg to scare the horse- courser. But doesn't attempted anything bigger. All of these appear a waste of his power which would allow him to 'turn thyself into what shape thou wilt;' 'bring whirlwinds, tempests, thunder and lightning' or 'raise spirits' 'ready to execute what thou desir'st.' However it could therefore be more about spite than power as he feels the need to directly humiliate these people instead of using his powers to their full extent. The people he chooses are specific to his feelings of class and religion however get less significant the more powerful Faustus gets.
Faustus starts by visiting the Pope, who at the time was the most important and powerful man alive. However Faustus firstly has to be talked into it by Mephistopheles; 'i know you'd fain to see the Pope', because he'd rather see the sights. When he is persuaded he abuses his power by becoming invisible, a comedic device for the audience. The Pope is seen as gluttony and proud which Faustus uses to his advantage by taking away his food and scaring him. This could be seen as spite as Faustus is ignorant to his own power and grounded by his parental base heritage and therefore takes it out on those with power, seen again with the Knight.
As seen throughout the play most of Faustus' own power comes from his words which he uses to mock the people he preys on. Among the church he mocks their rituals and chants, 'bell, book and candle, candle, book and bell.' without noticing that his necromancy uses similar rituals and symbols such as 'forward and backward' to grant him his power. The friars even retaliate by cursing Faustus, 'maledicat dominus' instead of trying to bring him to redemption which could suggest that Faustus is predetermined to go to hell and the only one who can offer redemption is God or could be interpreted as the hypocrisy of the Church who fail to practice their beliefs.
With the Knight, Faustus acts out of pride after feeling insulted by the Knights lack of belief in him. He takes this as a challenge and spitefully takes his revenge too far by creating horns on his head. Again his actions are based from his need to humiliate others in order to feel more powerful however he still stoops to the hierarchy when the Emperor asks to 'release him'.
Lastly his actions with the horse-courser are to prove that he is higher than the man who is more of a criminal. His last trick could be consider the cruelest as he willingly takes the man's money, despite not needing it, he even bargains for more. He also scares the horse-courser into giving him more money for seemingly no reason except for his own enjoyment. This could be considered as him becoming more demonic as he gets closer to damnation or simply 'keeping with the cruelty displayed by the demonic fraternity towards him.'