Guest Speakers: Emily Lavin Leverett, Jenna Steigerwalt
Track Director: R. J. Joseph
Assistant Director: Rory Montgomery
Welcome to the LEARN track hosted at Multiverse Con! Here, we are deep-diving into a 2-part presentation.
Demonic Pacts: Medieval Origins to Modern Popular Media
Jenna Steigerwalt
First, let’s take a look at the Faustian Bargain, which is basically a deal with the devil. This translates further into selling one’s soul to a demonic or paranormal creature, in exchange for gain, but at a price. Faust was a man from the 16th century, an alchemist and magician. In 1587, a book was written about him and a demon named Mephistopheles: The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus. England was changing from Catholicism to Protestantism in the previous century. This work addressed anxiety of the culture at that time and changing social landscapes. It also provided more accessible literature for the common people. In the story, science takes the role of the demon, and ethics the role of the soul.
The Americanized version in 1824 is a short story, known as “The Devil and Tom Walker.” The main character sells his soul purely for wealth and goes to hell. In 1936, “The Devil and Daniel Webster” is about a man who sells his soul to save his farm. The jury recognizes the contract, but allows for his soul to be redeemed.
When we look at modern-day, Millennial anxiety, it tends to have more apocalyptic themes – addressing all of humanity rather than the individual. Faustian Bargains were not relevant initially, but they certainly came back in full swing. We’ve got films and TV shows such as Supernatural, Constantine, Lucifer. This begs the question: if someone sold their soul for a good reason, are they worthy of redemption?
Let’s take a deeper look. What is a soul and why does the devil want it? There are different types of value. “Use value” means that the desired object should only be valuable to the one who owns it. As soon as a soul can be sold, it becomes “exchange value.” Souls take on the nature of commodities, such as labor and resources, which are traded for currency. Hell therefore embodies the commercialism of evil. Once a demon owns a soul, they can trade or loan it. This involves more financial language, translating into literal purchasing power. This shift in fiction has been happening more frequently post-economic crash of 2008.
In the TV show Lucifer and movie Constantine, they are “soul brokers” which indicates an economy. However, Lucifer himself doesn’t want people’s souls, even though he is, in fact, the actual devil. When it comes to media portrayals, the concept of the Faustian Bargain is going nowhere. Paranormal fiction abounds, and there is plenty more to come.
William Shakespeare in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman
Emily Lavin Leverett
Oh, you thought we were done with deals and bargains? Ha! Not a chance.
Neil Gaiman believes that the identity of Shakespeare could very well have been a commoner rather than a nobleman with a title. In the comic book series, Shakespeare is talking with Dream. Shakespeare wishes for the ability to become a successful writer, and would give anything for his works to be remembered throughout the ages. Dream offers this gift, in exchange for Shakespeare to write two plays for Dream himself.
Johnson accuses Shakespeare of garnering supernatural aid after his successes. He believes Shakespeare led a boring life, though Shakespeare insists that all it takes to write good stories is truly understand people. Humanity is the source of art, and therefore is responsible for art.
Later in life, Shakespeare feels regret for the negligence of his child and eventual death. This is blamed indirectly on the deal brokered with Dream. Because of this, Dream wonders if he made a mistake in his bargain with Shakespeare, thus revealing Dream’s personal development and care for humanity. Shakespeare makes choices that he doesn’t really understand, though he gets what he wants, and that is the price. He talks to Dream about his own regret, and feels upset, believing that Dream doesn’t care about humanity – yet, Shakespeare does not give up the deal, and continues creating art.
In their final conversation, Shakespeare demands to know why Dream gave him all of these dreams, insisting that he didn’t ask for them. Dream shows Shakespeare that he did indeed ask:
“I would give anything to have your gifts. Or more than anything to give men dreams that would live on long after I am dead. I’d bargain, like your Faustus, for that boon.”
Shakespeare wonders if he traded his soul for witchcraft, and Dream also desires a happy ending for his own soul. However, he doesn’t believe that he’s capable of change, since he isn’t a human, though he’s demonstrated a significant character arc throughout the series.
Shakespeare laments that he has been more an observer of life, rather than living his own life. Gaiman writes Shakespeare from the POV of being a storyteller, wondering how to describe tears in a sociopathic sense, even in the midst of crying. Stories and fantasy can be more real even than real life. The fact that we can endure regret may be the most human feature we have.
What is a soul? There are scientific vs. theological debates.
Demonic deals (success vs. rescue.)
What makes a bargain worthwhile? Are there unique ways to turn it on its head, or see something new? It has to make sense in the course of the story.
If you’d like to see more panels like this and receive the FULL experience in person, check out Multiverse Con! Get your tickets here: https://www.multiversecon.org/ Hope to see you there! 🙂
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Featured Image: https://posterspy.com/posters/lucifer-the-fallen-angel/
Baldur’s Gate 3 has an interesting take on this as well. A pact with a god imposes duties and obligations on both sides, similar to a roman patron. A big one is that you can’t lie, which is fun for trying to find a way to get out of the contract!