The Sorrows of Satan: Hedonism between Epicurus and the Cyrenaics S. R. Kercenna College

The Sorrows of Satan is a controversial novel often regarded as an influential fin de siècle text in spite of the mixed critical responses it has received. Published in 1895 to its author Marie Corelli - who had enjoyed then a period of great literary success, and exceeded in sales many of her most popular contemporaries such as H.G. Wells and Arthur Conan Doyle - the book had secured, even then, a number of strong supporters like Oscar Wilde. Needless to wonder then about the depth of a work which had made such strong impressions in the literary circles of late Victorian England, for the richness of its themes and the complexity of its characters speak loudly for it. Among the various readings of this text, the study of ‘hedonism’ through the character of Geoffrey Tempest is a captivating one especially that the term itself changes and ripens in accordance with the plot and the character’s development.

Hedonism, in few words, is the branch of philosophy founded upon the belief that pleasure is the greatest of all goods. The book leads to this concept by means of its existential themes and the repetitive questions about life, its meaning, and worthiness. At the beginning of the story, Geoffrey Tempest, the central character of...