GALICIA STUDIES IN LINGUISTICS, LITERATURE AND CULTURE: THE STUDENTS’

VOICES

Sandra STACHURA

FOLKLORE ELEMENTS OF THE DEVIL’S IMAGE IN CH. MARLOWE’S DR

FAUSTUS AND J. MILTON’S PARADISE LOST.
The aim of this paper is to introduce what is folklore and to what extend it affects the devil’s image in the
literature. Obviously, a number of works could be presented as examples here but I chose Ch. Marlowe’s Dr
Faustus and J. Milton’s Paradise Lost as the most appealing instances for the character of the Devil in both
works is clearly visible and so are the folklore inspirations.
At the very beginning let us see what folklore is in general. As we can read in the Longman Dictionary of
English (Wesley 1991:276), folklore is all the ancient knowledge, beliefs, and stories of a racial or national
group, another source says that it encompasses the records of beliefs and customs (Cox, M.R., 1985:3) of a
specific group of people. William Thoms coined this term in 1846. Those are the beliefs passed down from
generation to generation mainly orally rather than in a written version. Another man, Alan Dundes has
proposed a more specific definition, which tells us that folklore:

can refer to any group of people whatsoever who share at least one common factor. It does not matter what the
linking factor is - it could be a common occupation, language or religion - but what is important is that a group
formed for whatever reason will have some tradition which it calls its own. In theory a group must consist of at
least two persons but generally most groups consist of many individuals. (Dundes, A. 1980:7)

Folklore tradition for a long time was mostly the beliefs of the uneducated. The religion of those people, for
example that of populations of Old English era, was not so strictly defined and had more flexible boundaries.
The Devil in this case could be treated not necessarily as the Prince of Darkness but could be portrayed in other
figures as well, e.g. dragons, ghosts, giants. Folklore religions have been giving a lot of attention to the trivial
matters such as what clothing did the Devil wore or how he moved. Those elements are widely visible in form
of art or literature.
It is not rare for these religions to attribute various names to the Devil, which could possibly represent his
many personalities, as some believed that he had more than one. Those names (or even nicknames) include:
Satan, Asmodeus, Belial, Belzebub, Old Nick, Old Horny. His appearance has also been an area within which it
has been pretty hard to find a common ground, so his depictions were so various as his names. Obviously, one
of the most common representations of the Evil One featured some kind of an animal, usually with horns. The
dragon and serpent were also attractive depictions. Sometimes the Devil could take the form of human beings,
which would make him very appealing. Jeffrey Burton Russell (1988:114) expounds:

Often the Devil appears monstrous and deformed, his outward shape betraying his inner defect. He is lame
because of his fall from heaven; his knees are backward; he has an extra face on his belly, knees, or buttocks;
he is blind; he has horns and a tail; he has no nostrils or only one; he has no eyebrows; his saucerlike eyes
shoot fire; he has cloven hooves; he emits sulphurous stenches; he is covered with coarse, black hair; he has
misshapen, batlike wings. In artistic representation he resembled the pagan god Pan, horned, hooved, covered
with goat hair, and equipped with oversized nose and phallus.

Colours related to him were mostly black or red. Even now those are the colours of dark powers, which
instantly generate the vision of Hell and the Dark One in the minds of people. Darkness, which is pure lack of
light is just as well considered to be symbolizing the lack of goodness. Red brings to mind the destructive
power of fire. What might come as a little surprise is connecting the Evil One with the colour of nature, which
is green. In this context, though, green is supposed to bring the association with wilderness and hunt. Another
point made in folklore beliefs is that the Evil One most probably comes from the North. There are some
unusual connections made with Santa Claus due to this. As Russell (1988: 114) presents:

The Devil lives in the far north and drives reindeer; he wears a suit of red fur; he goes down chimneys in
the guise of Black Jack or the Black Man covered in soot; as Black Peter he carries a large sack into which he
pops sins or sinners (including naughty children); he carries a stick or a cane to thrash the guilty (now he
merely brings candy canes); he flies through the air with the help of strange animals; food and wine are left out
for him as a bribe to secure his favors. The Devil’s nickname (!) “Old Nick” derives directly from Saint
Nicholas. Nicholas was often associated with fertility cults, hence with fruit, nuts, and fruitcake, his
characteristic gifts. This odd connection indicates how freely associative folklore becomes and how tangential
to the essential point. The permutations of the folklore Devil are almost limitless; for the most part they do little
to penetrate the problem of evil.

Some people, usually from Northern areas of the globe, believe that the Gates of Hell are placed in Iceland,
the cold and volcanoes of which would bring the idea of torture. This is what can be seen in the books of
Russell, who gathered the most basic assumptions of folklore beliefs. Now let us focus on more contemporary
visions of the devil. We will see what the current trends in the subject are and what people would say about this
matter nowadays. The answers were part of a short questionnaire I prepared for my Bachelor Thesis in 2016.
As a whole there were sixty people of both genders and in the age range spanning from fifteen to sixty-five
years that contributed their answers.
In the case of one of the questions, that required mentioning all of the possible names of the Devil, I
received plenty of ideas: Fiend, Devil, Demon, The Evil One, Diablo, Beelzebub, The Angel of Darkness, The
Lord of Darkness, Amalimom, Behemot, Judas, Azazel, Legion, Ibus, Bafomet, Samael, Belfegor, Belial,
Mammon, Soffermis, Leviathan, Ball, Asmodan, Andariel, Duriel, The Fallen Angel, The Enemy, Hades,
Lilith, Habil, and a few names of the people of particular dislike to the given person. Beelzebub and Fiend are
the two that undeniably took the lead here.
Other questions, that are particularly important for this article, were correspondingly: 1)Which colour/s do
you associate with the Devil? 2)Which element of the nature do you most strongly associate the Devil with?
3)Which animal/s do you usually associate the Devil with?, and finally, 4)In which form do you usually think
of the Devil?
As far as colours are concerned, it comes as no surprise that basically everybody pointed out black and red.
The other answers were: grey, violet, yellow, orange, and only once white and blue. Under those circumstances,
no-one should be shocked that the element that basically everyone chose was fire. As it goes with those hellish
colours. Only one person thought about ice being the element of the Devil and some noted that it could be
earth, air, lightning or no element whatsoever.
Now in the case of the animals the feedback was quite curious. Despite naming obvious images such as
goat, snake, bull, cat and dragon, all of them being very popular, there were also some more exotic ideas, for
example: wolf, raven, dog, bat, ram, moth, beetle, capricorn, Tasmanian devil and a minotaur.
As for the form in which they think of the Devil, a vast majority agreed on the masculine form. Again only
one person thought about associating the Devil strictly with a feminine form and only eight of respondents said
that it could be of both genders.
The last point of great interest to this article regarded the appearance of the Evil One. Some said that he
could choose whatever form he pleases, whether of a human, a demon, an angel or an animal. Some strongly
believed that he does not have any form whatsoever and exists purely on the metaphysical level. Others
unconsciously ascribed him to either one of the two completely opposite images: beautiful and ugly. The
majority, again, went for the ugly concept saying that the Devil has dark, black or red skin, a tail, horns, a
beard, claws, demonic eyes, hooves, fur, a cape and a pitchfork. They also suggested that he might not look
entirely human in shape, but could be half-animal just as well, for instance having a body of a human being and
the head of a goat, or, alternately, having the lower body of a goat and upper body of a human. Those who went
for the beautiful image explained that the Evil One, to force his will or opinion upon them, would have to be
astonishingly attractive. He should be angel-like, powerful, elegant, handsome, appealing, sexy and
trustworthy. The latter group comes across as more convincing, because when you take it into very deep and
careful consideration, only this what is beautiful could ever attract you enough to divert you from taking the
right path.
 Having discussed contemporary beliefs and general knowledge about folklore we should now look at the
chosen literary examples of those folkloristic elements. We will see how the devil was presented in Marlowe’s
Dr Faustus and then in Milton’s Paradise Lost. I will only focus on the figure of Lucifer as he was presented in
both of these works so we can compare his image. It should not be forgotten, however, that besides Lucifer we
can also see the character of Satan in Paradise Lost and Mephistopheles in Dr Faustus.
Let us start with Dr Faustus as this work was published in 1604 so earlier than Paradise Lost that was released
for the first time in 1667.
Mephistopheles in this play is the servant of Lucifer and this is due to his words that we learn something
about Lucifer, at first. What is it then that we get to know about the “prince of hell” as Mephisto calls him? We
learn that Lucifer is the ruler of hell and no more than he commands must we [the demons and other fallen
angels] perform (Marlowe, 2003:19). As much as Mephisto admires his master, he also puts some kind of
blame on Lucifer for their fall, because when Faustus asks, who they are that live with Lucifer, the creature
says:

Unhappy spirits that fell with Lucifer,

Conspired against our God with Lucifer,
And are for ever damned with Lucifer. (Marlowe 2003:21)

We can sense the resentment that Mephisto feels towards his current lord but unfortunately we do not have
any hint whether Lucifer also regrets his fall and betraying God.
Another point in the book where Lucifer is mentioned is the pact between Mephistopheles and Faustus. The
former tries to tempt the scholar with false promises that he can be as great as Lucifer when the Devil will
claim his soul after the pact expires. The latter swears to give both body and soul to Lucifer, Prince of the East
(Marlowe, 2003:39). Undoubtedly, we get to know here, where hell is situated. Choosing east as the hellish
land may be a little surprising to some, especially when we think about how most of the folklore beliefs locate
this place in the north.
After that, we get indication about the appearance of Lucifer. When Mephisto brings Faustus a woman, he
says that she will be as beautiful as was bright Lucifer before his fall (Marlowe 2003:43). The Prince of Hell
was enormously beautiful before so we can conclude from that, that currently there is not much left from his
previous angelic shape. We do not yet know, however, how ugly he looks at the moment, but this fact is quick
to change as a few scenes later, Lucifer himself appears on stage. The very first impression that Faustus gets
from meeting the hellish lord is not very good as he says: O, who art thou that look’st so terrible? (Marlowe
2003:53). Only now the true ugliness of Lucifer can be imagined.
The true significance of the scene, in which Lucifer appears, is important for a different reason, however. It
is not his looks that should draw the most attention from the reader, but rather the purpose of his arrival. As
Faustus keeps talking about heaven, God and Christ, the Prince of Hell appears in person, to prevent such
things from happening ever again. His determination to keep Faustus’ soul and enlarging his kingdom is now
clear as he even brings the Seven Deadly Sins with him, so as to satisfy the scholar’s desire for knowledge.
Lucifer seems to be genuinely interested in Faustus’ needs and in granting all his wishes, because when the
doctor says that he would gladly have a tour over hell, Lucifer is quick to oblige. The entire meeting is not long,
but very fruitful as the Devil gets what he wants by enticing Faustus to pursue his desires even more eagerly.
In the very last scene, the scholar is terrified by the demons that came for his soul and even though neither
Mephistopheles nor Lucifer had any intention to show up to contribute to the process, Faustus still screams
their names. He calls hell “ugly” and wishes for Lucifer not to come to fetch his soul, but this time the Devil
seems to be deaf to anything the doctor says.
In contrast to the image of Lucifer in Dr Faustus there is quite a different approach to his persona in
Paradise Lost. While it can be agreed on that even in the previously discussed work Lucifer was mentioned to
have been an angel once, this is not the image of him that the play focused on. It was his fallen, devilish side
that was more emphasized, but this time we will see something completely opposite.
Milton seemingly divided his devil into two separate forms: Lucifer and Satan. Lucifer in Paradise Lost is a
beautiful, prideful, almighty arch-angel, full of charisma and ready to fight in the name of freedom that he
yearns. He does not wish to be inferior to anybody. The name “Lucifer” appears only three times in the entire
book because the era of this bright angel ends along with his fall:
Satan, so call him now, his former name
Is heard no more in Heav’n. (Milton 1966: 5.658-659)

The reason that might actually be underlying this fact is that there is almost no justification for the usage of
this name to be found anywhere in the Scripture. It appears only in reference to the planet Venus, also called
morning star, or the dawn. Milton knew that and hence proceeded fast from his poetical Lucifer or “the light-
bearer” to more historically and religiously explainable Satan. For some time after his fall Lucifer still upheld
his almighty nature:

Above them all the Archangel; but his face

Deep scars of thunder had intrenched, and care
Sat on his faded cheek, but under brows
Of dauntless courage, and considerate pride
Waiting revenge: cruel his eye, but cast
Signs of remorse and passion (Milton 1966: 1.600-605)

Lucifer may have been the most beautiful of the angels, but as can be seen even in the short passage above,
he was most probably also the fiercest. There was no end to his courage, but yet it was stained with pride that
led him to his tragedy. We know from the book that one third of the angles followed him in his battle and then
shared his fate, which gives us a clear idea about his great skills as the leader.
To be honest, as Milton puts it in his story, it took God, Christ, Adam and Eve altogether to balance the
power of Lucifer alone. This is the reason why so many believe that Milton actually admired his devil in a way
and rather cherished him as a hero of the story. The rebellion for freedom and utmost good seems very tempting
and immediately appeals to us, as Lucifer is more human in his thinking then we might even imagine. He was
probably the precursor of any independence movements that took place in the history of humankind.
In Paradise Lost he seems to be a somewhat political figure. It cannot be said that he was always ill-
tempered or of some sort of evil nature. He was an angel so he had to be good by definition, hence his reasons
for the revolt could not be strictly associated with doing evil for evil’s sake. We could easily ascribe some
higher motives to his actions if we take God and Lucifer as two parties, where God is the tyrant and Lucifer the
one that tries to liberate from him. As in that case obviously no peaceful means would do, Lucifer goes for the
idea of war. As it is known, he is defeated and, along with his army, exiled to hell. What is this hell actually? It
is nowhere and has no characteristics, the fit dwelling for those who have chosen nothingness over reality.
(Russell 1986:109) Lucifer himself says that: which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell. (Milton 1966: 4.75)
All things considered, Lucifer is depicted in literature variously, but vast majority of his images share the
idea of him being the arch-angel that once ruled in heaven as the right hand of God. Then, his prideful desires
led him to revolt and hence his fall, which on the other hand resulted in his transformation to the Prince of
Darkness.
By no means can other pieces of literature that deal with the image of Lucifer be omitted. A classic example
of this is Dante’s Divine Comedy (1308-1320). It is an epic poem by Italian author, who himself is the main
character of the story. He is taken by the Roman poet Virgil for a tour in hell, where with his own eyes he
witnesses the eternal torments that the sinners must endure. To some of them he is even allowed to talk to and
ask them questions. Each circle of hell is dedicated to other offence against God. What we learn at the end is
that the worst we could possibly do is to commit the sin of treason. The form that Lucifer takes is that of a giant
demon with three mouths, each of them occupied with chewing another traitor: Judas, Brutus and Cassius. This
devil has almost no powers, frozen in ice in the centre of hell and undergoing same tortures as other souls.
A more contemporary example would be The Legend of the Ice People (1982) by Norwegian author Margit
Sandemo. It is a saga of forty seven volumes about the eponymous Ice People. Lucifer appears only in the
volume number twenty-nine, and then in volumes from forty-five to forty-seven. He is allowed to step up to the
surface of the Earth only once every hundred years. With his appearance in the twenty-ninth volume, he falls in
love with the human girl of the Ice People and has sexual intercourse with her, which results in her giving birth
to the twins. The Ice People posses some magical powers of their own due to a curse of their evil ancestor that
lies upon them, but children of Lucifer are even more powerful as they also take after their father who is the
black angel. It is rather his offspring that play major role in the story but his depiction as a fallen angel is clear.
 All things considered, it becomes clear that the folklore beliefs are inescapable and tend to influence any
kind of literary work. Whether the author wants it or not, they end up paying attention to all those little details
such as appearance, variety of naming options and the choice of colours or elements of nature as some sort of
an indicator of how their devil should be perceived. Folklore is everywhere. It says a lot about the author and
the society of their times so we should all appreciate those folkloristic touches in any work that we may have
the pleasure to read.

Bibliography:
Alighieri, D. 2008. Divine Comedy. Oxford: Oxford World’s Classics.
Dundes, A. 1980. Interpreting folklore. Indiana University Press.
Marlowe, C. 2003. Doctor Faustus. A-text (1604). London: Pearson Education Limited.
Milton, J. 1966. Paradise Lost. New York: Penguin Books Ltd.
Russell, J.B. 1986. Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World. New York: Cornell University Press.
Russell, J.B. 1988. The Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of God in History. New York: Cornell University Press.
Sandemo, M. 1982. The Legend of the Ice People. Vol. 29, 45-47. POL-NORDICA Publishing Ltd.
Wesley, A. 1991. Longman Dictionary of English. Essex: Longman Group UK.