A Modern Mephistopheles
novel by Alcott
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"A Modern Mephistopheles" is a Gothic novel by Louisa May Alcott, published pseudonymously in 1877. The novel centers on a failed poet who enters into a Faustian bargain with a tempter figure. This theme draws from the legend of Faust, a scholar who sells his soul to the devil, often represented by the character Mephistopheles, in exchange for knowledge or power. The novel explores the dark consequences of such a pact, a common trope in Gothic literature.12
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