Gothic Tropes: The Faustian Bargain

We all know never to make a deal with the devil right? The concept of engaging in trades or bargains with demonic figures has been a common motif in folklore around the world for centuries, but this particular iteration—the Faustian bargain—derives its name from the Germanic folk legend of Doctor Faust. These legends spring from a real historical figure, a sixteenth-century itinerant alchemist and astrologer named Johann Faust, whose larger-than-life reputation led to rumors that he had sold his soul to the devil in exchange for great knowledge and magical abilities. The legend of Doctor Faust has been directly adapted into works of literature many times, but we also see similar bargains being struck by other characters throughout Gothic literature. 

So what exactly is a Faustian bargain? In the original legend, Faust encounters a demon named Mephistopheles and promises his soul in exchange for access to knowledge and worldly pleasures. In other instances of this trope, the terms of the bargain may vary: the bargainer might be after immortality, wealth, power, or some other gift. But the cost is always the same: the bargainer gives up his soul—either literally, by spending his afterlife serving the devil in hell, or metaphorically by irreversibly compromising his morals and values. The bargain may be struck with Lucifer/Satan himself,  with some lesser demon, or simply with an implied demonic force. But while there are many variations on the bargain, one thing always holds true: it does not end well for the bargainer. 

The most famous literary adaptations of the Faust legend are Christopher Marlowe’s play The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s closet drama Faust. Written around 1592, Marlowe’s play predates the advent of the Gothic genre by nearly two centuries. But with subject matter that includes supernatural beings, dark magic, and the occult, it is no wonder this Elizabethan tragedy would influence later Gothic works. In Marlowe’s version, the scholar Doctor Faustus summons the demon Mephistophilis and signs a contract in blood, in which the demon agrees to serve him for twenty-four years, after which time Lucifer will have full claim to Faustus’s body and soul. Faustus spends these years traveling the world, getting Mephistophilis to conjure up legendary figures like Helen of Troy, and only briefly regretting his bargain. Though Faustus tries to find a way out of his bargain in his final hours, the play ends with devils arriving to drag him to hell. 

In Goethe’s version of the story, published as Faust (Part One) in 1808 and Faust (Part Two) in 1832, the bargain between Faust and Mephistopheles is depicted with some key differences. First, rather than the bargain being Faust’s own idea, Mephistopheles comes up with the plan and approaches Faust with it of his own accord. Mephistopheles offers the following terms: he will be Faust’s servant during his lifetime, using his powers to grant all Faust’s wishes, if Faust will then serve him in the afterlife. Faust agrees and adds an ironic twist to the bargain: if he ever experiences a moment of transcendent happiness and contentment, he will die then and there and begin his eternity as the demon’s servant. Mephistopheles helps Faust to win over Gretchen, the woman he loves, though his meddling seems to cause more tragedy than happiness. By the end of Part Two, Faust repents of his bargain and is ultimately saved by God’s angels. Few Gothic characters who enter into such bargains are so lucky. 

To backtrack in our timeline slightly, Matthew Lewis’s The Monk (1796) is probably one of the earliest instances of a Faustian bargain in Gothic literature made by a character other than Faust himself. While one could read the overall story as a Faustian bargain in a vague and metaphorical sense—the formerly virtuous monk Ambrosio compromises his morals and damns his soul when he begins engaging in black magic to satisfy his lust—a more literal deal with the devil occurs right at the end of the novel. After Ambrosio rapes and murders the object of his desire, Antonia, he is captured and imprisoned by the Inquisition and sentenced to death. Lucifer appears in Ambrosio’s cell and offers him freedom in exchange for his soul. Ambrosio tries to resist, but when faced with imminent death, he signs the contract. Unfortunately, Ambrosio fails to stipulate air-tight terms to his side of the bargain. Lucifer frees him from his prison cell only to immediately subject him to a slow and painful death as a prelude to the eternity he’ll be spending in hell. 

The Faustian bargain plays a more central role in Charles Maturin’s 1820 Gothic novel Melmoth the Wanderer. The titular character of this story is a scholar who has sold his soul to the devil in exchange for one hundred and fifty years of extended life. In an ironic twist, rather than enjoying the longevity he paid such a dear price for, Melmoth spends most of those years trying to find someone who will take over the pact so that he doesn’t have to fulfill his end. Portions of Maturin’s novel are told from the perspectives of various people that Melmoth has tried to tempt, but none of these ventures are successful. When Melmoth’s one hundred fifty years are up, he must succumb to the fate he brought upon himself when he made the bargain.

One last example of a more subtle Faustian bargain is Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). While no demonic figure appears directly in the novel and forces Dorain to sign a literal contract, some unholy power is implied to be the cause of Dorian’s supernatural link with his portrait. Dorian unwittingly makes a bargain when, upon seeing the completed portrait for the first time, he murmurs to himself: “If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that—for that—I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!” Though no one but Basil and Lord Henry is around to hear this pronouncement, Dorian’s wish is granted. Over time, as Dorian leads an increasingly immoral life, his portrait reflects not only his age but also his cruelty and moral corruption, while the living Dorian remains young and beautiful. Toward the end of the novel, Dorian tries to repent and turn his life around but finds that the portrait, and indeed his own morals, are already too far gone. In a fit of defiant rage, Dorian stabs the portrait, which results in his own death. While Dorian’s fate in the afterlife is left unstated, his youthful body’s transformation into an ugly and withered corpse suggests that the the consequences of his bargain have been visited upon him in death, as with his literary predecessors.

Can you think of any other examples of Faustian bargains in Gothic literature? Let me know in the comments below!