Did Sauron feel enslaved or tortured by Morgoth?

Question

In The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power S02E07 "Doomed to Die," Sauron (in the form of Annatar) has a revealing conversation with Celebrimbor. He draws a parallel between their situation and his own past experiences with Morgoth.

As Sauron coerces Celebrimbor (essentially enslaving him) to complete the Nine Rings of Power for Mortal Men "doomed to die," Sauron implies that his treatment of Celebrimbor mirrors how Morgoth once treated him:

Sauron: You must know it pains me, treating you like...
Celebrimbor: Like you've treated countless others?
Sauron: Like Morgoth treated me. Do you know what it is to be tortured at the hands of a god?
Celebrimbor: I cannot imagine.

This echoes a similar sentiment Sauron expressed to Galadriel in S01E08 "Alloyed":

Sauron: When Morgoth was defeated, it was as if a great, clenched fist had released its grasp from my neck. And in the stillness of that first sunrise, at last, I felt the light of The One again.

While Sauron is clearly manipulating Celebrimbor in these scenes, is there a kernel of truth in what he's saying about his past with Morgoth? Did Sauron, at one point, feel enslaved or tortured while serving under Morgoth? Are there any mentions of similar sentiments from Sauron in the books?

Answer 1

Lúthien seems to think so

When Huan has Sauron pinned down, Lúthien threatens Sauron saying that if he does not yield control of the tower to her, Haun will kill him, and that being sent back to Morgoth without his body will result in him "enduring the torment of Morgoth's scorn".

But no wizardry nor spell, neither fang nor venom, nor devil’s art nor beast-strength, could overthrow Huan of Valinor; and he took his foe by the throat and pinned him down. Then Sauron shifted shape, from wolf to serpent, and from monster to his own accustomed form; but he could not elude the grip of Huan without forsaking his body utterly. Ere his foul spirit left its dark house, Lúthien came to him, and said that he should be stripped of his raiment of flesh, and his ghost be sent quaking back to Morgoth; and she said: ‘There everlastingly thy naked self shall endure the torment of his scorn, pierced by his eyes, unless thou yield to me the mastery of thy tower and reveal the spell that bindeth stone to stone.’
_{"Of Beren and Luthien" (published in The Silmarillion and The Lost Road)}

In the Lay of Leithian she gets a little more detailed with the torment that Morgoth has in store for such failure: Morgoth will "immure [=imprison] him in a hole in the bowels of groaning earth, where his naked soul will everlastingly wail and gibber".

'O demon dark, O phantom vile
of foulness wrought, of lies and guile,
here shalt thou die, thy spirit roam
quaking back to thy master's home
his scorn and fury to endure;
thee he will in the bowels immure
of groaning earth, and in a hole
everlastingly thy naked soul
shall wail and gibber - this shall be,
unless the keys thou render me
of thy black fortress, and the spell
that bindeth stone to stone thou tell,
and speak the words of opening.'
_{"The Lay of Leithian" - Canto IX - Lines 2774-86 (published in The Lays of Beleriand)}

While it's unclear how Lúthien could have known all of this, Sauron seems to feel the same way, because he responds to the threat.

Then Sauron yielded himself, and Lúthien took the mastery of the isle and all that was there; and Huan released him. And immediately he took the form of a vampire, great as a dark cloud across the moon, and he fled, dripping blood from his throat upon the trees, and came to Taur-nu-Fuin, and dwelt there, filling it with horror.
_{"Of Beren and Luthien"}

With gasping breath and shuddering
he spake, and yielded as he must,
and vanquished betrayed his master's trust.
_{"The Lay of Leithian" - Canto IX - Lines 2787-89}

Answer 2

Probably not

Rings of Power is based on The Lord of the Rings, and not The Silmarillion (it's a rights thing). The closest Sauron comes to this sort of thing in that book would be when he fights Lúthien and loses. She basically gets him to run away after threatening to destroy his physical body. Morgoth would likely have not been pleased by that. It doesn't talk much about Sauron after that. The fact that Sauron escapes Morgoth's fate, only to continue with Morgoth's plans (but now with himself in control) would belie the fact that he was enslaved or otherwise not acting of his own will. Torture would fit with a mad near-godlike being losing a war, but there's nothing on point.

More likely (and a better fit with TRoP in general) is that Sauron is trying to garner sympathy by basically saying "I suffered under Morgoth, too." That overlooks that Sauron willingly joined Morgoth and aided him in his First Age conquests. The Celebrimbor quote, in particular, is indicative that this is standard fare bad-guy logic. "I'm sorry you're making me hurt you. I've been hurt too."

Answer 3

I don’t think the writers intend on sympathizing with Sauron either. Though I think from the basis of viewing Morgoth as close to ‘pure evil’ as the fiction is aware, it just stands to reason that he would at times torture those around him. He doesn’t get what he wants by asking nicely. Undoubtedly he would torture Sauron in some way. Sauron was also a Maiar, closer to man than that of a Valar, and a servant as such. Of course he’d be tortured in such a position.