Perhaps he didn't adore the Master...so much as well admired? After all the best form of flattery is the attempt to copy and outdo your patriachial figure's works? He saw The Master as boss, not Darla, and worked hard to impress The Master and move past him.
It's not about obey, so much as impress and obtain approval. Angel and Angelus have that fatal flaw in common - both seek male approval, specifically an authority. For Angelus - that was the Master or the Old Ones or whoever was the biggest and baddest. For Angel - that was the PTB. Both saw themselves as the "chosen" son - who needed Daddy's approval. And his relationship with his own sons, biological or otherwise, is similar - they want his approval, he refuses to give it.
Note - Spike brags to Angel (whom he believes to be Angelus) that he killed a slayer. But at this point, that's not an accomplishment.
Part of it is surpassing the father figure, the other part is obtaining the father's approval...kill thy father, become thy father, become thy own man - typical mythological trope.
His relationship with Spike is both father/son and older brother/younger brother. In the first relationship - it's the dynamic of Spike striving to obtain Angel's approval. In the second - it's Spike striving to best his brother, sibling rivalry.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2012-11-18 10:35 pm (UTC)It's not about obey, so much as impress and obtain approval. Angel and Angelus have that fatal flaw in common - both seek male approval, specifically an authority. For Angelus - that was the Master or the Old Ones or whoever was the biggest and baddest. For Angel - that was the PTB. Both saw themselves as the "chosen" son - who needed Daddy's approval. And his relationship with his own sons, biological or otherwise, is similar - they want his approval, he refuses to give it.
Note - Spike brags to Angel (whom he believes to be Angelus) that he killed a slayer. But at this point, that's not an accomplishment.
Part of it is surpassing the father figure, the other part is obtaining the father's approval...kill thy father, become thy father, become thy own man - typical mythological trope.
His relationship with Spike is both father/son and older brother/younger brother. In the first relationship - it's the dynamic of Spike striving to obtain Angel's approval. In the second - it's Spike striving to best his brother, sibling rivalry.