The Devil in American literature : a consideration of four texts.

In Wonders of the Invisible World, Cotton Mather says, "About this Devil, there are many things, whereof we may reasonably and profitably be Inquistive." My study of the devil focuses on selected representations in American literature from the colonial to the contemporary period. I have selected four of the most influential and popular representations in American literature by a handful of America's favorite writers. These texts represent an innovative approach to and conception of the devil; they go beyond the mere retellings of the Faust myth. Chapter One considers the devil as perceived by Cotton Mather and expressed in Wonders of the Invisible World. Mather's text reflects the American Puritan sense of evil as a huge, malign force which pervades the vast wilderness in which the Puritans had settled. It was a unique sense to the American Puritans, for in Europe, there was no such wilderness. The Puritan sense of evil was heightened by the belief that the Puritans were God's most holy people and, possibly, the people called to prepare the way for Christ's coming. Thus, the Puritans maintained a very clear distinction between good and evil, based on their Calvinist theology and intensified by their regional identity. Wonders of the Invisible World reflects that distinction. As the witch trials demonstrated, however, such a distinction could become dangerous if drawn too clearly. Nathaniel Hawthorne was acutely aware of that danger, but he was equally aware of the dangers of losing the distinction altogether. Chapter Two deals with the devil as portrayed by Hawthorne in "Young Goodman Brown" and considers how the struggle to maintain moral order is played out between Brown and the devil. At the end of the story, Brown concludes that there is no real distinction and despairs as a result. The text suggests that one must adhere to a distinction between good and evil, but that one should not try to maintain that distinction too clearly. Chapter Three considers Mark Twain's The Chronicle of Young Satan, in which Twain suggests that both Christian theology and moral distinctions are worthless. According to Twain, God afflicts humanity with the Moral Sense, the faculty which enables humanity to distinguish good from evil, but possesses none Himself. Humanity's possession of the Moral Sense is only surpassed in its absurdity by God's lack of the Moral Sense. Moreover, the Christian doctrines which ascribe virtue to a God who, from the human perspective, appears void of virtue, render the whole idea of virtue meaningless. After pointing out these paradoxes to the narrator, young Satan urges him to dream a new dream, one in which humanity is not plagued by any distinction between good and evil or by any God who would institute that distinction. Chapter Four treats The Witches of Eastwick, by John Updike, as a text which continues the cycle in the development of attitudes toward moral distinction. The story's protagonists demonstrate no Moral Sense; they enact the principles set forth in Twain's The Chronicle of Young Satan. At the beginning, the elimination of the distinction between good and evil does not appear to be a bad thing; all the immoral activity occurs between consenting adults and almost no one gets hurt. The only ones who do get hurt are necessary sacrifices for the sake of womanhood and self-fulfillment. When the devil appears, however, people begin to get hurt, making it clear that, contrary to what Twain says, people will do evil, even if they are not conscious of it. Updike's text brings the circle to partial completion; no clearly stated doctrines are set forth as the basis for the distinction between good and evil, but Updike reasserts a moral universe and the necessity of observing moral distinctions. Updike does not seem to affirm Hawthorne's assertion of the distinction between good and evil in the face of uncertainty; the text implies that the distinction must be based on some presuppositions, but Updike does not embrace the doctrinaire mentality of the Puritans.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

1993

Author dc:creator

• Pastoor, Charles C.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• LeMaster, J. R., 1934-

• Devil in literature.
• American literature -- History and criticism.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/14662

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/14662