DGR began but abandoned this story, according to WMR, in 1851. WMR's note on the tale is so interesting that one regrets DGR never finished it. Apparently it would have featured the devil acting the part of a devil in a play in which the story's narrator, the actor, also played a part.
DGR's gothic imagination was strong, and he had a distinct taste for its comic possibilities, as we see perhaps most clearly in his ballad âJan Van Hunksâ. See also the set of comic verses composed around 1848 (âThe devil has gone rightâ).
First published by WMR in âSome Scraps of Verse and Prose by Dante Gabriel Rossettiâ
Pall Mall Magazine and later collected by WMR in his edition of 1911.
WMR notes that DGR's âincitement towards writing a story about an Actor and the Devil arose partly from his reading some years previously, in Hood's Magazine, a very effective tale about the Devil acting his own part in some piece of diablerie such as Der Freischützâ.
This collection contains 2 texts and images, including:
The text from the Pall Mall Magazine
Scholarly Commentary
IntroductionÂ
DGR began but abandoned this story, according to WMR, in 1851. WMR's note on the tale is so interesting that one regrets DGR never finished it. Apparently it would have featured the devil acting the part of a devil in a play in which the story's narrator, the actor, also played a part.
DGR's gothic imagination was strong, and he had a distinct taste for its comic possibilities, as we see perhaps most clearly in his ballad âJan Van Hunksâ. See also the set of comic verses composed around 1848 (âThe devil has gone rightâ).
Printing HistoryÂ
First published by WMR in âSome Scraps of Verse and Prose by Dante Gabriel Rossettiâ Pall Mall Magazine and later collected by WMR in his edition of 1911.
LiteraryÂ
WMR notes that DGR's âincitement towards writing a story about an Actor and the Devil arose partly from his reading some years previously, in Hood's Magazine, a very effective tale about the Devil acting his own part in some piece of diablerie such as Der Freischützâ.