It is true that the study of the devil or evil in general as a
part of
the world has intrigued
man for centuries. This is mostly because it is
something people don't have
concrete proof of
and is also considered
taboo in our society. Yet, studies and/or story
telling on the devil and his
evil forces seems to have been apart of all societies since the begining
of
time. Such as,
Christpher Marlowe's play, The Tragical History of
Dr. Faustas, written in
the 16th century
and the modern day film,
The Devil's Advocate, starring Al Pacino and Keanu
Reeves.
The
devil in Marlowe's play doesnt come to Dr. Faustas as himself ,
instead he
sends
one of his disciples named Mephistophilis. When Mephistophilis
first comes to
Dr. Faustas he
comes as himself, a demon like
creature that is not quite appealing to the
eye and seems to
frighten or sicken Dr.Faustas. Dr. Faustas immediatley asks
Mephistophilis to
come back as
something more pleasant, such as a
fransiscan friar. The devil immediatly
does so. I assume he
does
this to please Dr. Faustas and to show him that with the type of power
he
possesses he
can appear to be or even change into whom ever he wants.
This being
something that the
doctor can also achieve by giving up
his soul. He also offers Dr. Faustas
many things such as,
knowledge
(something the Doctor can't get enough of) and tells the Doctor
that he can
basically
have everything he desires in exchange for his soul.
Something very similar to this instance also occurs in The Devils
Advocate. In the
beginning of the film Keanu Reeves is approached by
a man( also a messenger
of the devil's) in
a bar offering him a job
opportunity in Manhattan and to persuade him to come
he offers him a
very large sum of money. When Keanu arrives he is surrounded by all the
materialistic things he
could desire in addition to the power and
acknowledgment he so strongly
desires. This is all
once again there
to tempt him towards evil and persuade him to sell his soul.
Another
pertinant similarity between the 16th century play and the modern
day film
is
the chance that both characters were given to give it all up, leave
the devil
and regain their souls,
yet the outcome is far different.
In Marlowe's play, Dr. Faustas is approached by an old man who tries
to
convince
Faustas to leave the devil and regain his soul. Faustas
declines this plea
and continues on the
path he already was on,
despite the fact that he was beginning to doubt the
actual rewards of his
endeavor. In opposition to the play's character, during the film when
Keanu
Reeves is offered
even more rewards to procreate with his
sister and birth an anti-christ ,thus
ending his life as he
knows it
and completely giving his soul to evil, he declines in the only way
he
thinks possible,
commiting suicide.
The major difference in
the play and the film is the way the devil
presents himself. In the
play, Dr. Faustas calls the devil and is looking for another source of
knowledge and power. The
devil comes to him not trying to hide his
persona or his pursuit of evil, but
rather promoting the
cause from
the beginning. Knowing the outcome of his acceptance of the devil,
Dr.
Faustus
knowingly accepted the devil and all of his gifts. On the other
hand, in the
film, Al Pacino (the
devil) presents himself as a
friendly successful lawyer who can offer Keanu
Reeves everything
he
ever wanted such as, money, power, and most importantly a successful
carrer.
Yet in an
honest fashion and without knowingly giving up his soul.On
these terms Keanu
Reeves accepts.
That is where I feel the major
differnce in the portrayal of the devil
between the play and the film
exists.The fact that Dr. Faustas willingly accepts all gifts and
willingly
gives up his soul, while
Keanu Reeves only accepts all
this on the merit that Al Pacino is a
legitimate laywer.
Yet,
overall the modern day outlook on the devil isn't much different
than the
outlook of
many years ago. In both portrayls the devil had to physically
show himself in
a disguise, he had
to lie in one way or another to
gain the soul of his concubines, and in both
the film and the play
the devil is there only to promote evil and only offers things to people
that
wil eventually benefit
himself.