Faustian Legends and Femmes Fatales

The 1941 film directed by German-born William Dieterle, The Devil and Daniel Webster, is one of many works based off the German “Faust legend”—a tale that can date back as early as 1540. Faust is a German scholar and protagonist of the legend who is dissatisfied with life and subsequently makes a pact with the devil to exchange his soul for knowledge.1 Older adaptations of the legend typically ended in the protagonist’s sure damnation to the fires of Hell. Some adaptations include Helen of Troy sealing Faust’s damnation in the underworld. Helen of Troy is a character in Greek mythology that is sometimes accused of causing the Trojan War after seducing Paris. Like the basic story lines in the tragedies of Shakespeare or Sophocles, the Faustian story line is recurrent throughout the history of literature and cinema. In 2003, a film called Shortcut to Happiness (the alternative title is also The Devil and Daniel Webster) was released, another adaptation of the 1941 film and the Faustian legend.2 The Faustian legend has been adapted in a variety of manners, but there is a commonality in many adaptations—a femme fatale. Whether it be Helen of Troy whose sex appeal may have started carnage between two great nations, Satan’s French handmaiden Belle who takes the souls of men with a smile on her face, or the sexy American actress Jennifer Love Hewitt as the devil herself in the 2003 adaptation, the idea of a devastatingly beautiful woman—the ultimate devil in sheep’s clothing—has pervaded time. What is so troubling about a femme fatale? The femme fatale has the unique ability to be successful in the "spheres" of the feminine and masculine; she is a transitory character. Helen of  Troy is so beautiful (feminine) that she causes a war among men (masculine). Belle's ditzy charm (feminine) allows her to end men's lives (masculine) without batting her bedroom eyes. And Jennifer Love Hewitt's role as the devil shatters every common perception of Satan--whether he be red with a pitchfork or in common clothing, the devil is most often male. Scratch comes to Jabez Stone as the devil in sheep's clothing, but Love Hewitt takes it a step further, making the notion of the femme fatale even more frightening. Now, not only can a femme fatale be devastating--like Helen of Troy--or deadly--like Belle--but she can be the embodiment of evil herself.

Helen of Troy, Simone Simon in The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), and Jennifer Love Hewitt as the devil in Shortcut to Happiness (2003)

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1. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, "Faust," accessed March 29, 2015, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/202814/Faust.

2. International Movie Database, “Shortcut to Happiness (2003),” accessed March 29, 2015, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263265/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1