The Devil in Love (novel)

Lore & Background

The plot follows Don Alvaro, a young but wise man, who invokes a lesser demon. Upon seeing Alvaro, the demon falls in love with him and assumes the appearance of a young woman named Biondetta. The demon, disguised as a woman, tries to seduce Alvaro, who rejects his advances out of suspicion that Biondetta is a demon and fear of damnation. Over their journey, Biondetta and Alvaro grow closer. When Alvaro's friend Olympia discovers that Alvaro's 'male' servant is female, she confronts Alvaro, who denies the accusations and sides with his servant. Biondetta then abandons her life as servant and survives an assassination attempt by Olympia. The demon tries to have sex with Alvaro before their wedding, but is rebuffed. Biondetta then takes leave, never to be found again. The story ends with Alvaro's confusion and despair.

Reader's Guide

The Devil in Love started a literary style known as fantastique, where surreal events intrude on reality and the reader is left guessing whether the events actually occurred or were merely the product of the character's imagination. The novel proved influential on Jacques Lacan, who encountered it as part of a symposium on Jacques Cazotte. Lacan adapted one scene from the story, in which the devil first appears and asks Alvaro 'che vuoi?' (What do you want? in Italian), incorporating this into the graph of desire, arguing that one must ask oneself over and over again what the big Other 'truly wants'. The work has inspired numerous adaptations, including ballets, operas, a novel (The Club Dumas), a film (The Ninth Gate), and a soundtrack compilation. Its legacy as a foundational text of the fantastique genre and its influence on psychoanalytic theory mark it as a significant work in literary and cultural history.

Did You Know?

• French critic P.G. Castex described The Devil in Love as 'the very initiator of the modern fantasy story'.
• Canadian critic Carlo Testa called the novel a 'terminus a quo' in the history of the demonic subgenre.
• Jacques Lacan adapted the devil's question 'che vuoi?' from the novel into his graph of desire.
• The novel inspired Arturo Pérez-Reverte's 1993 novel The Club Dumas, which was partially adapted into the 1999 film The Ninth Gate.