Bedazzled

My first thought, perhaps bashfully, is of the image of Liz Hurley as the naughty devil in the largely panned, but playful 2000 film Bedazzled, alongside Brendan Fraser as yet another man who tried to sell his soul for love.

On the surface it’s a fun rom com and perhaps a vehicle to relaunch Liz Hurley’s film career after success as Vanessa Kensington in the first two Austin Power films '97 and '99 respectively. However, the millennium bug must have affected her success rate, so I will give a gold star for any film you can name, where Liz Hurley has a role after 2000. Apparently, there are twenty-two.

You may already know that Bedazzled (2000) was a remake of the all round better 1967 movie of the same name, staring Peter Cook as the devil, ably supported by Dudley Moore and Raquel Welch. The original film had a more telling ending when the protagonist, Dudley Moore rejects the Devils offer at the end, to find his own way.

The source of this story told in so many ways, so many times, goes back long way. The legend is believed to have been created 100 years after the death of Johann Georg Faust in 1541, a German alchemist, astrologer and magician. Nowadays this would make him very popular as an influencer on a multitude of social media platforms, but back then dark magic was perceived as heretical, in league with the devil.

The legend of Faust went from German to English, notably penned by Christopher Marlowe, who in turn returned the story to Germany in a play from, reducing Faust to a comedic fool. The story goes that Faust exchanged twenty-four years of pleasure and adventure for his soul. From Rome to Constantinople, he tours the world with his companions until the devil in the claims his prize and leaves Faust bloody and eyeless on his courtyard floor.

In 1926 a black and white silent movie depicts Faust against Mephistopheles who has taken a bet with an archangel that he can corrupt a good man's soul. The movie addresses desire, addiction, decadence and temptation. Does it achieve redemption? Well, no plot spoilers in this section. Like me, you will need to watch it to find out who triumphs.

Faust reappears on the big screen, this time in colour and with words, to tell the tale of an aging Faust seduced by a beauty, bedazzled if you like, and tempted to make a deal with the devil for eternal youth to pursue love at any cost… what ever the outcome, Mephistopheles gets all the best lines and steals all the scenes.

1967 sees the birth of new approach to the story, Bedazzled, this time the devil grants the hapless Dudley Moore seven wishes, but as with any trickster the die was loaded from the start. The lesson, we all know but so often ignore is that there are no short cuts without risk, and clarity in communication, including well placed punctuation can literally be the difference between life and death. Despite Raquel Welch being on the cover and probably being the inspiration for Liz she only makes a brief appearance in the film, as ‘Lust’.

Faust returned in 1994 and 2011, battling with angels and demons to engage in forbidden fruits, selling souls for unrealistic goals that ultimately cause pain and tragedy.

But it is to 2000 we return, where this blog started, with the temptation of seven wishes to achieve life’s goals, without all the effort, hard work, blood sweat and tears, which is ultimately what gives any reward the true satisfaction one deserves.

This well told and loved story in all its variations, of greed, a ‘quick fix’ and redemption have resonated in many cultures throughout time and still rears its ugly (beautiful) head today. I am sure the reader will recognise these traits in some of the infamous protagonists of life in our daily news feeds. Sadly, it seems, to weirdly quote a line from Chris de Burgh’s 1975 hit ‘Spanish Train’ about the devil cheating god at cards:
‘And far away in some recess The Lord and the Devil are now playing chess The Devil still cheats and wins more souls And as for the Lord, well, he's just doing his best’.

Human beings’ eternal gamble with life will continue into an unforeseeable future.

Blinded

Beware the light that shines so bright
It might not make it through the night
Just like the road that’s paved with gold
What does the contract truly hold
If it’s to good to be actually true
Then it’s time to make your plans anew
For temptation waits at every turn
Be prepared to suffer and feel the burn.

Thanks for reading, Ian.

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Bedazzled

I wasn’t quite sure of the difference between ‘dazzled’ and ‘bedazzled’ so I had a google. I think this shows it:

Christophe Dugarry gave a dazzling performance which bedazzled the crowd. See photograph and poem below.

Bedazzled does come from the word dazzle, which in turn is a form of daze. Daze came into modern English from the Middle English word dasen, which came to us from the Vikings in Norway. The Old Norse term dasask meant ‘to make weary.’

So when was it first used in English? Many of the sources say that it was first used by Shakespeare thus,
(The Taming of the Shrew, Act IV, Scene V line 50):

KATHARINA: Pardon, old father, my mistaking eyes,
That have been so bedazzled with the sun
That everything I look on seemeth green:
Now I perceive thou art a reverend father;
Pardon, I pray thee, for my mad mistaking.

Shakespeare however doesn’t seem to be the first person to use the word bedazzled, but it is a very early use of the word. The Taming of the Shrew is one of his earliest plays, written sometime around 1590. 

Here is the first that I can find:

Portcolized & bard with bolts, of gold resplendant bright, of glistering gēmes, through Pallas power, bedazeling eche....
—John Bossewell, Workes of Armorie, 1572

And who might John Bossewell be?

BOSSEWELL, JOHN (fl. 1572), heraldic writer, was, according to his own statement, a northern man, and probably a member of the family of Bosvile, established for many generations in the neighbourhood of Doncaster. He describes himself as ‘gentleman,’ and appears to have acted as a notary public, but by taste he was an antiquary and especially devoted to heraldic pursuits. In the latter he was a close follower of Gerard Legh, and the first part of his ‘Workes of Armorie,’ entitled ‘Concordes,’ is in fact a mere abridgement of Legh's ‘Accedens.’ Like his master, he delighted in symbolism and allegory, in conceits and legendary fables. The first edition of his ‘Workes of Armorie’ was published by Tottell in 1572.

A "Workes of Armorie" refers to a book focused on heraldry, the study of coats of arms and related symbols. Bossewell's was a comprehensive guide to heraldic principles, illustrations, and the legal aspects of arms bearing. It was considered a key reference for heraldry in England during its time. The book's original editions, including the 1572 and 1597 versions, are now highly sought after by collectors and researchers of heraldry.

I didn’t expect to end up with a quick look at heraldry when I started this and it’s started me thinking about what I would have on my coat of arms.

I’d have to have a hammer and the word ‘Forward’ from Birmingham’s coat of arms. I’d have a soldering iron, a pencil, a rubber, a keyboard, a football, something to represent Preston (not a lamb)...I’m working on it.

Blackburn 18th January 2003

BCFC
Christophe Dugarry

I’d seen him on tv
now he was here
a French World Cup winner
playing for us
and he’s getting battered
we were screaming at the Ref
as a high ball comes down
he’s surrounded by Rovers’ thugs

then he isn’t

moving to their goal
smooth elegant fearless
bedazzling the crowd
I’ve no idea how he did it
he took over the game

that one move
taking its place
with Verdi in ‘83
Diva and Heaven’s Gate
my worn out LP
of Under Milk Wood

with the difference
of being part of it
a very cold chorus
not knowing the end
Vive la difference
Vive le Dugarry.

                         Terry Quinn

(First published in the French Literary Review in March 2017)

Thanks for reading, Terry Q.

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