Meaning & Analysis
A child is considered fortunate or 'happy' because they stand to inherit the wealth their father accumulated by engaging in sinful, damnable acts.
Insights
Wealth and Moral Corruption
The proverb is a cynical commentary on the idea that significant material wealth is often built on unethical actions. The child's 'happiness' is purely material, purchased at the cost of the father's moral and spiritual damnation.
Inheritance vs. Virtue
This serves as a critique of prioritizing material inheritance over a legacy of virtue. The father provides for his child's earthly life by forfeiting his own eternal one, questioning the true value of such a trade.
Generational Sacrifice
The proverb explores the idea of generational sacrifice, where one generation endures hardship or moral compromise so the next can prosper. The 'devil' symbolizes the corrupting forces a parent might embrace for the sake of their offspring.
Critique of Emerging Capitalism
This proverb captures early modern anxieties about the rise of capitalism and social mobility. The father's 'going to the devil' refers to amassing wealth through means then considered sinful, such as usury or ruthless acquisition, sacrificing his soul for his child's material comfort.
The Moral Cost of Legacy
The proverb presents a cynical view of generational wealth, suggesting that large inheritances are often founded on the moral corruption of a previous generation. It forces a contemplation of whether material gain can justify a parent's spiritual or ethical ruin.
Psychology of Sacrifice
The saying explores the psychological tension between parental sacrifice and moral integrity. It questions the nature of a parent's love when it manifests as a willingness to embrace damnation to secure a child's worldly 'happiness'.
Literary and Proverbial Context
Shakespeare's use of a similar line in 'Henry VI' and the cross-reference to 'A rich man is either wicked himself or the heir of a wicked man' situate the proverb within a broader cultural discourse questioning the legitimacy and origins of great fortunes.
Rhetorical Devices
Irony and Paradox
The core of the proverb is the shocking paradox that a child's happiness stems from a parent's damnation. This creates a jarring and memorable statement on the perceived link between wealth and sin.
Hyperbole
The phrase 'goes to the devil' is a dramatic hyperbole for engaging in immoral business practices. Its extremity underscores the perceived severity of the father's transgressions in pursuit of wealth.
Antithesis
The proverb creates a stark antithesis between the child's worldly 'happiness' and the father's spiritual ruin, highlighting the conflict between material success and moral salvation.
Transcription
Quotations
(The old saying is, Happy).
There is a common saying amongst the worldlings, Happy is that child whose father goeth to the devil . . Many a father goeth to the devil for his child's sake; in that he . . scraped for his child, and forgat to relieve his poor miserable neighbour.
(But happie are those children whose).
(Happie the childe whose).
The Prouerbe is vile, if euer true, Happy is the Sonne whose Father goes to the Deuill.
Happie are those children, whose fathers goe to the deuil.
(Happy is that son whose).
(Hence I believe sprung the City proverb Happy).
(whose father went to the Devil).
Happy the Child whose Father is gone to the Devil.
(Happy the Son, whose). *Intimating that great Estates are gotten by Usury, or other ill Arts.
(whose Father went to the Devil).
Shakespeare Citations
Happy always was it for that son Whose father for his hoarding went to hell?
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.