A relação entre o humano e o diabólico em Fausto, de Goethe, e A Igreja do Diabo, de Machado de Assis

Abstract

At first an angelic creature, the Devil acquired, throughout the Middle Ages, through the Western imagination, amazing and animalistic aspects, in addition to the status of a powerful being who antagonizes God and persecutes men. However, from the 17th and 18th centuries onwards, his image, previously inflated and spread by fear, began to be undermined by the rationalist ideal of the Enlightenment, being portrayed, in the literary sphere, as a decadent creature, with a humanized appearance that, sometimes, tries to get to know the man and dialogue with him. It is through the myth of Faust, that Satan, under the nomenclature of Mephistopheles, gains his resignification of him. This work has, therefore, the objective of analyzing two representations of the Mephistophelian Devil in two literary works of the 19th century, these being “Faust”, by Goethe, and “The Devil's Church”, by Machado de Assis, emphasizing the physical aspects and morals that make up the being that personifies Evil, and that show its intimate relationship with the elements that qualify man. To do so, we take as a theoretical basis the deals presented to us in “Symbolism of Evil”, by Paul Ricoeur, starting from the concepts of “stain”, “sin” and “guilt”; in addition to the conceptions of “divine influences” and “diabolical influences”, postulated by Vilém Flusser (1965) with regard to human actions. Mephistopheles, painted by the hands of Goethe in the work “Faust”, despite his first animalistic appearances, finally manifests himself as a human being for the protagonist of the story. A diabolical being in his ability to persuade, the Goethian Mephistopheles signs a pact with Faust, establishing between them such complicity that it leads man to doubt his own nature, unable to affirm his acts as works of demonic influence, or fruits of his own will. Machado's Devil, in turn, inspired by Goethe's Mephistopheles, is also a being who knows worldly pleasures, although he is completely oblivious to human contradiction. Aiming to attract “Fausts” to himself, the Devil creates a doctrine based on the subversion of the seven deadly sins, which is widely accepted by men. The machadian Devil's deceit stems, however, from the belief that humanity is and has always been evil, and from the imposition of its dogmas above the human will. At the end of the plot, Satan becomes aware that man, endowed with free will, although he is not a completely good creature, is also incapable of being solely evil. What is concluded with this work is that no matter what form the Devil takes, whether as a monstrous creature, as a seductive philosopher, or a simple idea, he is an integral part of the western man's consciousness. He is the reflection of his most vile desires, feelings and failures. He is the necessary darkness, which leads us to recognize the light.