The Sorrows of Satan

1895 Faustian novel by Marie Corelli

For the films, see The Sorrows of Satan (1917 film) and The Sorrows of Satan (1926 film).

The Sorrows of Satan

A poster advertising an American edition of the novel published by J. B. Lippincott Company

Author| Marie Corelli
Language| English
Genre| Horror, social criticism

Publication date

| 1895
Publication place| United Kingdom

The Sorrows of Satan is an 1895 Faustian novel by Marie Corelli. It is widely regarded as one of the world's first best-sellers – partly due to an upheaval in the system British libraries used to purchase their books,[citation needed] and partly due to its popular appeal. Roundly condemned by contemporary literary critics for Corelli's moralistic and prosaic style,[1] it nonetheless had strong supporters, including Oscar Wilde and various members of royalty.

Widely ignored in literary circles, it is increasingly regarded as an influential fin de siècle text. The book is occasionally subtitled "Or the Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, Millionaire".

## Plot summary[edit]

On the surface the plot follows the story of a penniless, starving author called Geoffrey Tempest. So poor that he is behind on his rent and can barely afford light in his room, he receives three letters. The first is from a friend in Australia who has made his fortune and offers to introduce him to a good friend who might be able to lift him from poverty. The second is a note from a solicitor detailing that he has inherited a fortune from a deceased relative. The third is a letter of introduction from a foreign aristocrat called Lucio, who befriends him and proceeds to be his guide in how best to use his newfound wealth.

Tempest remains blissfully unaware throughout the novel, despite warnings from people he meets, that Lucio is the earthly incarnation of the Devil. Over the course of the book, his wealth leads to misery. Eventually, when confronted with the true nature of his companion, he renounces evil and returns to society penniless but content with the chance to purify his soul.

Although the plot follows Tempest's fall from grace and subsequent redemption, he is in many regards a secondary character to Lucio. Both the title of the work and much of its philosophical content relate to the supreme yearning within Satan to achieve salvation. The book's main contribution to Faustian literature is the introduction of the concept that above all other people it is Satan who most truly believes in the Gospel – and yet he is forbidden ever to partake of it.

## Major themes[edit]

The novel is notable for its attempts to mix Christian thought with popular heterodox themes of the day, such as reincarnation and Theosophy or Blavatskyism. It is also a damning critique of the time's social structure – claiming both that Britain's elite are morally bankrupt and hinting an allegiance to ideals that soon gained in prominence after its publication (such as women's suffrage and the universal welfare state).

It also touches on other issues, from the nature of appearance versus reality to the role of poverty in fostering true talent. Corelli is particularly scathing of literary critics (perhaps accounting for their dislike of the work) judging that the only true measure of a book's success is whether common people will buy and read it.

## Critical reception[edit]

Horror critic R. S. Hadji placed The Sorrows of Satan at number one in his list of the worst horror novels ever written.[2]

Brian Stableford, discussing Corelli's "narcissistic" novels, described The Sorrows of Satan thus: "as delusions of grandeur and expressions of devout wish-fulfilment go, the fascination of the Devil was an unsurpassable masterstroke".[1]

## Adaptations[edit]

* Films based upon the book include The Sorrows of Satan (1917),[3] Leaves from Satan's Book (1921) and The Sorrows of Satan (1926).
* A 2017 Off West End musical version written by Luke Bateman and Michael Conley premiered at the Tristan Bates theatre in London.[4]

## Other notes[edit]

* The name Mavis was invented for and popularised by the book.[5]
* Many critics view the Mavis Clare character as a surrogate for Marie Corelli: they are both popular novelists who are not taken seriously by the literary establishment; they share views on the "immoral" literature of the day; and they share the initials M.C.[6][7]

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ^ a b Brian Stableford, "Corelli, Marie" in St. James Guide To Fantasy Writers, ed. David Pringle, London, St. James Press, 1996, ISBN 1-55862-205-5, (p. 129-31).
2. ^ R. S. Hadji, "13 Worst Stinkers of the Weird", in Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine, July–August 1983. TZ Publications, Inc. [1] Archived 25 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine (pp. 86–87).
3. ^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 305. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
4. ^ "Home". thesorrowsofsatan.com.
5. ^ Mavis Archived 13 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine – BehindTheName.com
6. ^ Literary scholar P.J. Keating's introduction to "The Sorrows of Satan" (Oxford World Classics Edition, published 1998)
7. ^ "The Sorrows of Satan"—and of Marie Corelli Archived 18 October 2023 at the Wayback Machine – The Reviews of Reviews, Vol 12. (Google Books)

## External links[edit]

* The Sorrows of Satan public domain audiobook at LibriVox

* v
* t
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Marie Corelli

Novels|

* A Romance of Two Worlds (1886)
* Vendetta! (1886)
* Thelma (1887)
* Ardath (1889)
* Wormwood: A Drama of Paris (1890)
* The Sorrows of Satan (1895)
* Innocent: Her Fancy and His Fact (1914)
* The Young Diana (1918)
* Love and the Philosopher (1923)

Miscellaneous|

* Marie Corelli: the Writer and the Woman (1903 biography)
* Bertha Vyver

* v
* t
* e

Works based on Faust

Folk legend|

* Faust
* Johann Georg Faust
* Deal with the Devil
* in popular culture
* Simon Magus
* Theophilus of Adana
* Erdgeist
* Mephistopheles
* Pan Twardowski
* Stingy Jack

Seminal works|

* Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1587 chapbook)
* Doctor Faustus (1592 play)
* Cenodoxus (1602, play)
* Goethe's Faust (1808 play)
* Faust, Part One
* Faust, Part Two

Prose|

* "Bearskin"
* "Daniel and the Devil"
* Melmoth the Wanderer (1820)
* "The Devil and Tom Walker" (1824)
* St. John's Eve (1830)
* Auriol (1844)
* Chasse-galerie (1892)
* The Sorrows of Satan (1896)
* Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician (1898)
* The Master and Margarita (1929–1940)
* Mephisto (1936)
* "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1937)
* None but Lucifer (1939)
* Doktor Faustus (1947)
* The Devil in Velvet (1951)
* The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant (1954)
* Gimmicks Three (1956)
* The Devil to Pay in the Backlands (1956)
* That Hell-Bound Train (1958)
* For a Breath I Tarry (1966)
* The Damnation Game (1986)
* Eric (1990)
* The Devil's Own Work (1991)
* Jack Faust (1997)
* Johannes Cabal the Necromancer (2009)
* The Last Faust (2019)

Plays|

* Gretchen (1879)
* Damn Yankees (1955)
* Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1955)
* The Black Bonspiel of Wullie MacCrimmon (1965)
* Temptation (1986)
* Il Dottor Faust (2018)

Operas|

* Faust (1816, Spohr)
* La damnation de Faust (1846, Berlioz)
* Faust (1859, Gounod)
* Mefistofele (1868, Boito)
* Le petit Faust (1869, Hervé)
* Faust and Marguerite (1855, Lutz)
* Faust up to Date (1888, Lutz)
* Doktor Faust (1916–1925, Busoni)
* Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights (1938)
* The Rake's Progress (1951, Stravinsky)
* Reuben, Reuben (1955)
* Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1994)
* Faustus, the Last Night (2006)

Ballets|

* Faust ballets

Classical music|

* Gretchen am Spinnrade (1814, Schubert)
* Faust Overture (1840, Wagner)
* Grande sonate 'Les quatre âges' 2nd movement "Quasi-Faust" (1847, Alkan)
* Scenes from Goethe's Faust (1853, Schumann)
* Part II of Symphony No. 8 (1906–07, Mahler)
* Faust Symphony (1854–1857, Liszt)
* Mephisto Waltzes (Liszt)
* Gothic Symphony (Brian)
* Bagatelle sans tonalité (Liszt)

Other music|

| Albums|

* Epica Saga
* Epica
* The Black Halo
* Beethoven's Last Night
* The Black Rider

|

Songs|

* "Mephisto Polka" (1859–1885)
* "Cross Road Blues" (1936)
* "Sympathy for the Devil" (1968)
* "Friend of the Devil" (1970)
* "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975)
* "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (1979)
* "Faustian Echoes" (2012)
* "The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles" (2015)

Films|

* The Laboratory of Mephistopheles (1897)
* Faust and Marguerite (1900)
* The Damnation of Faust (1903)
* Faust and Marguerite (1904)
* The Student of Prague (1913)
* Rapsodia satanica (1915)
* The Student of Prague (1926)
* Faust (1926)
* The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
* Alias Nick Beal (1949)
* The Legend of Faust (1949)
* Beauty and the Devil (1950)
* Marguerite de la nuit (1955)
* Damn Yankees (1958)
* Faust (1960)
* Bedazzled (1967)
* Doctor Faustus (1967)
* El extraño caso del doctor Fausto (1969)
* Mephisto (1981)
* Doctor Faustus (1982)
* Oh, God! You Devil (1984)
* Crossroads (1986)
* Faust (1994)
* Bedazzled (2000)
* Faust: Love of the Damned (2000)
* Fausto 5.0 (2001)
* I Was a Teenage Faust (2002)
* Shortcut to Happiness (2007)
* Goat Story (2008)
* Faust (2011)
* The Last Faust (2019)

Television|

| Episodes|

* "Printer's Devil" (1963)
* "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" (2003)

|

Other|

* The Devil and Daniel Mouse (1978)
* When the Devil Calls Your Name (2019)

Musicals|

* Damn Yankees (1955)
* Randy Newman's Faust (1995)
* Success! (1993)
* Faust (2003)
* Disco Inferno (2004)

Comics|

* Gods' Man (1929)
* Faust (manga) (1950)
* Doctor Faustus (comics) (1968)
* Faust (comics) (1987)
* Frau Faust (2014)

Art|

* Mephistopheles and Margaretta
* Paintings

* Category

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