In Victor Hugo’s poem And There Was Night, the character of Satan was an archangel before he fell. In the play of Faust, Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe discusses the fall of Wagner. Both Hugo and Von Goethe show how the fall of a person can impact the rest of eternity. Both Satan and Wagner are seen as not believing in the Kingdom of Heaven or the power of God.
Satan is seen as falling from the sky which is Heaven in Hugo’s poem. He was first shown as being a fallen angel at the beginning of the poem. “He’d been falling in the abyss some four thousand years”. This means that Satan was seen as falling from Heaven even before he realized what was happening to him. He did not see this coming and did not lift his head once to see that he was near death and had betrayed Jesus. He fell from the good graces of God and was portrayed in the poem as being thrown from Heaven feet first. “Sad, his mouth open and his feet towards the heavens”. Satan was sad that he was thrown out of Heaven but he could not fight his fate.
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Next, Satan is also seen as a fallen archangel in the poem when he is shown at laughing at the weather and having the spit of a condemned person who was now free of jail instead of that of an innocent person. “The suns were far off, but were still shining. The thunder then rumbled in the skies unhearing, cold. Satan laughed, and spat towards the thunder”. This shows that Satan did not have any feelings or emotions anymore toward anything in which God did. Satan was now the damned one and he was terrible toward anything or anyone who was good and for God. He was weighed down with what he had done which caused him to get kicked out of Heaven by God. “Trembled, and in the night the great fallen one, Naked, sinister and pulled by the weight of his crime, Fell, and his head wedging the abyss apart”. This shows that Satan hung his head in shame at what he had done and now the result was that h got kicked out of Heaven.
When Satan is seen as having lost his status as an archangel to becoming a monster, this causes mankind to not listen to God. “He felt himself become a monster, and that the angel in him was dying, and the rebel then knew regret”. This means that Satan had lost the power of the Holy Spirit and now had the spirit of evil within him. He also realized that his soul was not pure anymore but was black once he had fallen from Heaven. “So, “he cried, “so be it! I can see! He shall have the blue sky, the black sky is mine’. After this happened, Satan did not see or share in the light of God anymore, instead, he only shared in and became a huge part and force of the darkness of evil in the world.
Lastly, Satan was shown as being like a bird flying toward the unknown once he had fallen from Heaven. He was also shown in the poem as being like a bird that was losing its wings after not listening to its parent which was God. “One feather escaped from the archangel’s wing remained and quivered, pure and white (Hugo 6). This meant that there was still hope for Satan just as there is still hope for mankind. But Satan also found darkness for many years after he had fallen from Heaven and lost his wings. “Through the respect for the One unseen, the sage, and finds, lifting the darkness of years”. Darkness will come to those who do not obey God just as it did to Satan when he betrayed God and fell from heaven.
The character of Wagner, as shown in Von Goethe’s play Faust when compared to Satan also shows that he had fallen and did not believe in the hope of mankind. “Man views the world, as through an optic glass, on a chance holiday and scarcely then how by persuasion can he govern men”?. Wagner could be showing Faust and mankind that he thinks that so little of mankind and how mankind views the world. But this could also show how mankind can be persuaded to think other things about God and the world.
Wagner also shows how he thinks that the delivery of God to mankind makes the world far behind. “The speaker in delivery will find success alone; I still am far behind”. Wagner does not believe that God will save mankind and the world. He believes that life is limited to those who do not believe in God. “Our life is short! With earnest and zeal still as I ply the critic’s task, I feel”. For those who do not believe in God, Wagner seems to ask the question of do they see life as a part of art? Wagner also seems to think that mankind is oppressed and takes life for granted just as the devil did. “A strange oppression both of head and heart. Check’d in his progress, the poor devil dies”. Satan which is the devil did not listen to God and took his status in Heaven for granted just as mankind does. This resulted in Satan falling from heaven just as mankind does.
Wagner does seem delightful to see that mankind does seem to embrace the Holy Spirit of God and not just dwell on them. “To see in times before us how a wise man thought, and what glorious height we have achieved at last”. No matter the time in the world, mankind should believe in the power which is the Holy Spirit of God. Wagner may also feel that mankind should use his whole being to know God and His Word. “But then the world and man, his heart and brain! Touching these things all men would something know”. Wagner may have meant that nothing should stand in the way of knowing God.
Also, in comparison to Satan in Hugo’s poem And There Was Night, Wagner is shown as hating evilness in the world and among mankind. “I hate the tumult of the vulgar throng; they roar as by the evil one possess’d, and call it pleasure, call it song”. This means that evilness and darkness is not something which could be enjoyed by mankind and the world once the light and brightness of God fade away.
Lastly, in comparison to Satan, Wagner believes that mankind and the world should not let their souls be cast aside by evilness, corruption, and darkness. “Why let this thought your soul o’ercrast? Can man do more than with nice skill, with firm and conscientious will? In manhood, dost thou spread the bounds of truth, then may thy son a higher goal achieve”. This means that mankind and the world should think of their souls and not just about material things which will not get you in Heaven or the good graces of God.
Both Hugo and Von Goethe show how the fall of a person from heaven and the good graces of God can impact the rest of eternity. Satan was once in the Kingdom of Heaven and the good graces of God. Wagner was seen as having lost his belief in mankind and the world when it comes to them believing in God and his power which is the Holy Spirit. Both stories show that mankind and the world can fall and lose faith in God.
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