Deals with the Devil and the Divine
ME AND THE DEVIL tells a story that is common throughout history: mortals’ desire for immortal abilities
Lantern Theater Company’s world premiere digital production of Me and the Devil — directed and co-written by Steve H. Broadnax III and extended through February 27, 2022 — explores Robert Johnson, the blues musician who supposedly sold his soul to the devil in order to become the greatest bluesman who ever lived. This legend plays on stories told since time immemorial, probing the all too human willingness to bargain with fate for achievement and fame. What does success mean to us? Are our achievements of our own merit, plain luck, or are they supernaturally inspired? What risks are we willing to take for immortality? The legend of Robert Johnson’s deal with the devil and the play Me and the Devil’s take on that myth are part of a long narrative tradition about encounters between the human and the divine or the demonic.
These stories generally come in two broad categories. One is the descent into the underworld, which can be a hero’s journey. Another is the arrival of a divine object into the world of humanity — and in these, the protagonist often suffers as a result. The myth of Robert Johnson is primarily the latter. In meeting the devil and bringing supernatural abilities into the world, he succeeds for a time at the risk of his immortal soul.
While Robert Johnson never claimed to have struck this devilish bargain, songs like “Me and the Devil,” “Hellhound on My Trail,” and “Cross Road Blues” were used by his admirers and detractors to perpetuate the myth. In reality Robert Johnson’s extraordinary gifts must have been the result of hard work, consistent practice, excellent training, and innate talent — all of which the myth threatened to overshadow for many decades.
In Johnson’s case, the myth grew out of a number of factors. A major source was hoodoo, a spiritual belief system rooted in traditions of the African diaspora and developed and practiced primarily by Black Americans in the South. A common belief rooted in hoodoo was that one could gain skills by visiting a crossroads at midnight for several nights in a row. Eventually, a man would come and give you those skills — and in some versions of the lore, he demanded your soul in exchange. This belief in a personified devil — one that could come to you in the form of a human and grant your specific wish — was also widespread, and his hold on those who struck a bargain was a common theme in blues music of the time.
Outside of this specific tradition, the idea of humans and supernatural beings striking bargains, for good or ill, is centuries old. Here are just a few other examples.
Prometheus
One of the earliest examples is also one in reverse: a god brings something to humanity, and it is the god who is punished. Prometheus was the Titan god of fire in Greek mythology, credited with creating humans from clay. He defied the Olympian gods by stealing fire and giving it to humans; his punishment for this gift of advancement was to be chained to a rock where an eagle would nightly eat his liver, which regrew every day. In recent centuries, Western writers used Prometheus as a figure to represent human striving, whether for knowledge or skill, and for the unintended consequences of that ambition.
Orpheus
Another ancient Greek myth fits the theme, this time including music and the god of the underworld. Orpheus was the greatest of all musicians, whose song could charm the animals and change the course of rivers. When his new wife, Eurydice, died on their wedding day, he traveled to the underworld to persuade the god Hades to allow her to return with him, alive. His song was so beautiful that Hades and his wife Persephone agreed, but on the condition that Orpheus never turn to look back at Eurydice until they were both out of the underworld. They almost made it, but at the last minute Orpheus’s human frailty won out — he looked back just at the last moment, and Eurydice vanished back into the underworld forever. The myth has been retold in many forms over the centuries, including in Eurydice, a play by Sarah Ruhl, and the current Broadway musical Hadestown.
Faust and Dr. Faustus
The German legend of Faust dates to the 16th century. Though the details change across its many retellings, some features remain consistent: Faust, longing for abilities and knowledge that go beyond the scope of what humans are capable of, makes a deal with the devil to attain those ambitions and loses his soul as a consequence. In addition to scores of books, songs, and puppet-plays, there are no less than three major narrative versions: Christopher Marlowe’s play The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus from approximately 1587; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 19th century two-part play Faust (in which the titular character makes a wager with the devil rather than a deal); and Thomas Mann’s 1947 novel Doctor Faustus, in which the titular character is a composer seeking extraordinary musical talent, and the story is used as a metaphor for 1930s Germany. The story has also been adapted in America by Washington Irving and Stephen Vincent Benét; the latter’s short story The Devil and Daniel Webster introduces the idea of a trial in Hell over the soul of the Faustian farmer Jabez Stone.
Frankenstein
Often cited as the first true science fiction story, Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel does not contain a literal deal with the devil, but it does involve a man reaching beyond the bounds of human understanding by building a living humanoid creature out of dead body parts. Dr. Frankenstein’s quest to learn, know, and do more in science than anyone before results in both an enormous achievement and in unbearable suffering for him, his family, and his creation. And while we do not see him dragged to hell, we do hear his miserable last words, advising to seek “happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition.” His creature, too, is doomed to unhappiness, and vows to die rather than to let the rest of humanity know of its existence. Shelley gave her novel an apt subtitle, nodding to the myth at her story’s foundation: Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.
Dorian Gray
Written in 1891, The Picture of Dorian Gray was Oscar Wilde’s only novel. Like Frankenstein, there is no literal pact with the devil, but there is a supernatural deal in the face of temptation. The handsome young man Dorian Gray is the subject of a portrait; while he sits for it, he hears the devilish figure Lord Henry extolling the value of beauty and hedonism. Gray wishes that his beautiful portrait could age instead of him so that he could live the pleasure-filled life Lord Henry describes. That wish is granted — over the decades, Gray never ages, but his portrait’s face turns twisted, ugly, and old as his selfish and debauched choices bring misery and death to those around him. Ultimately, the burden of this supernatural bargain becomes too heavy for Gray; he stabs the now-old portrait, and when his body is discovered, it is an old man’s, while the portrait is restored to its former beauty.
The human temptation to want to know more and to live and achieve beyond what seems possible is an archetypal tale because we recognize that desire in ourselves. These stories warn us of the consequences of taking what we are not prepared to handle — and of the costs to those around us who must also live with our choices. But, like Me and the Devil, they sometimes also show us the extraordinary things humans are capable of and the sacrifices that were necessary to leave a mark on the world for years to come. In Me and the Devil’s take on the hero’s journey to the underworld, his blues are Robert Johnson’s gift to the world. The cost is high, but his legacy is greater.
Related reading: Robert Johnson: The Man and the Myth — The legendary bluesman at the center of Me and the Devil
Me and the Devil was filmed at St. Stephen’s Theater in Center City Philadelphia in 2021 with strict adherence to all CDC, state, and local health and safety guidelines, and is streaming on demand and extended through February 27, 2022. Visit our website for tickets and information.
