The Devil & the Faustian Bargain

Why the Devil obsession?

The Seventeenth Century Crisis and Reformation led to an Age of Anxiety throughout Europe and has been described as "one of the 'most psychically disturbed periods in human history.'"[1] Sound familiar at all? Anxieties of this era, particularly held by the upper class, include the following:

• Numerous tragedies in the late 14th c., like the Black Death

• Profound economic crisis 

• The trauma of the Reformation

• Frequent wars + plagues

• Wave of social rebellions led to fear of disorder

• Instability

What tragedies, plagues, economic crises, traumas, wars, and rebellions have we reckoned with recently? What impacts have they had on our communities?

[1] Levak, 141 (emphasis mine).

The origin of the Devil:

The name Satan comes from a Hebrew word meaning adversary. The word Devil comes from a similar Greek word meaning adversary or slanderer. Satan only arises as a distinct, evil figure in opposition to God in the first book of Chronicles later in the Old Testament. He is much more prominent in the New Testament as a figure of temptation and deception. Here, the paramount conflict between the Kingdom of Christ and the Kingdom of Satan arises. He is also referred to as:

• Lucifer

• One who has the power of death

• The cosmic powers of this present darkness, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places

• Leviathan

• The great dragon

• Angel of the bottomless pit

• Abaddon

• Apollyon

• Beelzebub

• Beliar

• The evil one

• Father of lies

The image of the Devil:

Since the Bible gives no physical description of the Devil, artistic depictions of him vary greatly across millennia. Generally, he is either depicted as a beautiful fallen angel (an interpretation popularized by John Milton’s 1667 Paradise Lost—though that significantly came decades after The Witch of Edmonton) or as a beastly lord of armies of devils who punished sinners.

Many images of the Devil also equate him with competing religions (like Judaism and Paganism). Medieval art of the Devil varies: some visual attributions come from Christian theology while others were efforts to demonize other gods. For example, he is black because Christians associate black with sin. He has wings because he is a fallen angel. However, "the goatee, the cloven feet, the horns, the wrinkled skin, the nakedness and the semi-animal form bear direct reference to both the Greek and Roman god Pan and to the Celtic god Cernunnos, while the female breasts, which appear often in seventeenth-century English depictions of the Devil, came almost certainly from the fertility goddess Diana."[1]

         The following quote details differing images of the Devil throughout history and their influences: 

“The image of evil as a composite, zoomorphic creature belonged to ancient Persian and Egyptian religion. It was eastern influence that produced the many-headed monsters of the apocalypse and the Satan of Byzantine art. Later western medieval art modified his shape, making it essentially human but retaining numerous bestial appendages: claws for hands and feet, a tail, limbs entwined with serpents, and sometimes wings as a reminder of his angelic origin. The grotesqueries that depict a human or animal face misplaced on the belly, buttocks, or genitals seem to have been generated in the imaginations of later medieval monks; they found their way also into religious drama. The Renaissance took its image of the devil from the classical satyr, with its horns and cloven hoof, signifying that paganism was the enemy of the Church. He may be disguised as a monk or wayfarer, betraying himself by a hoof or claw showing under his cloak."[2]

[1] Levak, 27

[2] Hall, 272.

The Devil’s powers:

• 12th and 13th c. theologists established the view that the Devil was a non-corporeal spirit that "could, however, take on the appearance of a human or an animal body by mixing the air with various vapours from the Earth so as to create a non-corporeal or arial body"[1] that was able to dance and perform sexual acts.

• Bodily possession

• Creating illusions/delusions

• Temptation

[1] Levak, 30.

The Faustian bargain:

The idea that somebody could strike a bargain with the Devil does not have biblical origins. This deal, known as the Faustian bargain, was popularized by Christopher Marlowe’s play Doctor Faustus in 1604 (just 17 years before The Witch of Edmonton). It occurs when the Devil enters a contract with a human, promising them wealth and/or power in exchange for their service and the surrender of their soul. The earliest writings about this idea come from St. Augustine in the fourth century and belief in the bargain became widespread in the ninth century. Because of its ubiquity, the idea of selling one’s soul was the central idea in the concept of witchcraft and the basis of the legal definition of the crime.

In theatre and literature, the Faustian bargain represents the eternal question of the meaning of the human soul. Being presented with the option to sell your soul brings up many questions. Namely, what is a soul? Can one be oneself without it? What is it worth exchanging for? Is the acquisition of wealth and power more valuable than one’s own humanity? In Witch, Cuddy, Frank, and Winnifred take the bargain. Elizabeth refuses. What does this choice tell us about the social position and values of these characters? 

Scratch:

         In Witch, Scratch is the Devil. He wanders through Edmonton offering the Faustian bargain to those he deems worthy (or gullible) enough to take him up on it. But, what does he think of this bargain? When he offers it to Frank and Cuddy, he seems to be duping them. But after his initial pitch to Elizabeth, when he really tries to convince her, he seems to genuinely believe it to be way out of her situation. Throughout the play, Scratch refers to this process as his job, often using American corporate vernacular. After all these years, how does he feel about performing this task? Does he truly believe in it? How are these questions related to his concept of hope?