РефератыИностранный языкA A Comparitive Study Of The Work Of

A Comparitive Study Of The Work Of

The Devil Essay, Research Paper


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 gi

ven 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.

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