A Reasonable Devil?

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Whilst first reading Faust, I was very perplexed because the devil doesn’t seem like well…. a devil, or, at least what my typical idea of a devil looks like. He seems almost reasonable and even somewhat respectful to God, which is a great contrast to what we see in Milton’s Paradise Lost devil (Satan) who is always entirely evil and trying to cause harm. In Faust, the devil (or as he is called Mephistopheles) hasn’t even really caused Faust any great harm yet. Faust in fact appears to be excited about conversing with what he feels is someone with whom he can actually have true philosophical discussions.  This contrast reminds me of the different musical settings we listened to in class on the same poems. Even though each setting held the same words from the poem, they sometimes held entirely different emotions and musical structures; that is how I feel about these devils. They are the same thing, but portrayed completely differently. This got me thinking about how everyone pictures and views things differently, which leads me to my question: When you hear the word devil, what do you picture and how would you describe him?


P.S I commented on Natalie and Trey's post.

Comments

  1. Michael TurnerOctober 23, 2017 at 9:23 PM

    Devil? I think of several things. I think of a mischievous person or a place that has an evil air about it. I think of demons. I think of Satan himself. I sometimes think my son is possess by the devil. In a broad sense, the Devil can represent many things and is portrayed in a myriad of ways. The Bible says that Satan can disguise himself as a good angel. Mephistopheles is a good example of that.

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  2. UnknownOctober 23, 2017 at 9:49 PM

    When I hear "devil", my first thought jumps to Satan. I don't think of him the way Milton seemed to, that is, as ugly and outwardly evil. Satan was one of the archangels, which means he was beautiful; I imagine he is still beautiful, and that's why sin looks so appealing to us. Does that make sense? Obviously, Satan is only appealing on the outside, just like sin is before we realize the consequences. Once Adam and Eve tasted the fruit, they realized just how bitter it was.

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  3. Ty GoramOctober 23, 2017 at 10:13 PM

    When I hear the world devil I always think of something nasty and unholy. Typically the image of a goblin like creature with slit pupils and a toothy grin (haha). But anything daring against the right can also be a devil, hence the term daredevil. Context is key, I suppose!

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  4. Carmen KnowlesOctober 23, 2017 at 11:46 PM

    I think our reaction to the word "devil" depends on what we are going through at the time or have gone through in the past. One day a person might think of the raging and flaming devil. Another day the same person might think of the sly trickery devil. Another day the same person might think of the archangel that feel from Heaven and the "innocent" side of him that Milton created.

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