Devil’s Contract: The History of the Faustian Bargain

According to this spry account from Belt Magazine editor-in-chief Simon (Relic), society is in the grip of the Faustocene, a period when sacrifices of principle in exchange for power are ever more prevalent. Simon traces the legend of Faust, who sold his soul to the devil for magical abilities, from its literary origins to today’s compromises with destructive forces ranging from nuclear weapons to deepfakes. He investigates the myth’s inspirations, including Simon Magus, an eerie New Testament figure who attempted to buy the Holy Spirit from the apostles. Turning to Doctor Faustus author Christopher Marlowe, Simon portrays the Elizabethan playwright as an obsessive skeptic who relentlessly deconstructed articles of faith, including the notion of divine retribution for committing evil. Simon depicts Marlowe as standing at a moral precipice (one into which he eventually tumbled himself, Simon suggests; he was likely assassinated over his shadowy religious spy work) that opened at the beginning of the modern age, when new scientific discoveries led to uncertainties of faith that created “a void... we’re still in the darkness of.” Simon profiles later figures relevant to the myth, including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, author of Faust, and wraps up with an analysis of America, “the Faustian Republic,” with its “negotiations and nightmares.” Simon’s probing curiosity conjures up an enjoyable grab-bag of arcane knowledge. It’s a beguiling literary history of diabolical deals. (July)