--Voltaire
My first question is one that I initially overlooked: How is the Devil defined? The other day I read a short essay by Voltaire: "On India, Brahmins and their Theology, Imitated Very Late by the Jews and then by the Christians” which, among other things, explores the concept of the Devil: his origins and manifestations. For instance, though today we may assume that Satan and Lucifer are one--they are not. In fact they represent two wholly different aspects of reality: one light—Lucifer; one dark—Satan.
This got me thinking: what about his other names and manifestations: Beelzebub, Abbadon, etc.? Though Milton clearly distinguishes the former from Satan, many sources do not. Which leads to another question, or series of questions: which manifestation of the dark prince did Stephen Vincent Benét have in mind when penning “The Devil and Daniel Webster”? It is hard to imagine that Mr. Scratch had much in common with Milton’s Satan or the Red Dragon of Revelation.
This all leads me to one ineluctable question: What we are talking about when we say the Devil? What precisely do we mean? When Twain, or Milton, or “J” was referring to the Devil, what did each have in mind; and—perhaps more importantly—what do ALL of these manifestations have in common—if anything?
The result of this investigation will most likely lead to one of two conclusions: 1) that the term "Devil" is terminally plastic, or 2) there is indeed a denominator common to the various manifestations, something to the term "Devil," that though impossible to define absolutely, is nonetheless valid: the term “game” though lacking precise definition, is still understood by all who use it (Wittgenstein).
The next objective is to, having defined the Devil, cite each and everyone of his manifestations in literature in the English language: Any work of literature, from “Lucifer in Starlight” to "The Mysterious Stranger"—everything.
This second objective might be beyond the scope of an MA thesis, but still might be worth considering.
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