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Post date: Jun 26, 2018 10:28:07 PM
The Devil and Daniel Webster is a story based on the German Myth of Faust. Faust is about a man who sold his soul to the devil for knowledge. The stories based on Faust have the payment as various things but usually money. The term for a devil that is willing to buy souls is Mephistophilis or Mephisto. Any story that is described as faustian or mephistophelian has this basic story. The usual outcome is that the deal never goes well for the person.
One of the more well known faustian contemporary movies is the comedy "Bedazzled"; made in 1967 and again in 2000. It is a story of a headstrong guy who makes a deal with the devil. It is played for comedy. He gets exactly what he asked for.
Another famous faustian story is "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde. A man sells his soul for eternal youth. He remains the same but his picture ages. It has an interesting Victorian ideal that a man's sins are written on his face.
In "The Devil and Daniel Webster", a not so smart American named Jabez Stone makes a deal with the devil and it goes badly. I find that the element that distinguishes this story is the legal trial at the end. The story was written with the optimism of a new country that set itself apart with a legal document called the United States Constitution.
Daniel Webster represents this ideal. He is a man whose moral ideals and honor code are admired by everyone including the devil. Daniel Webster's defense of Jabez Stone is a classic courtroom tour deforce. He knows he is arguing for his life. Interestingly enough, the short story that the movie is based off of, spends all its words on the obviously bad deal that Stone got and doesn't even try to come up with any inspiring courtroom speech.
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