Meaning & Analysis
It is advisable to perform an act of reverence, like lighting a candle, for the devil. This suggests making a respectful offering to a powerful, malevolent entity to placate it and avoid its wrath.
Insights
Pragmatic Appeasement
The proverb is a cynical piece of advice advocating for pragmatic appeasement. It means one should flatter or show courtesy to a powerful, dangerous, or wicked person to avoid their anger or to gain some advantage, even if it goes against one's principles.
Moral Compromise for Survival
It suggests the necessity of moral compromise for self-preservation. 'Holding a candle' implies complicity or assistance in a bad cause, suggesting that sometimes one must engage in distasteful or unethical acts to navigate a perilous situation.
Strategic Flattery
The act of offering a candle serves as a metaphor for strategic, insincere flattery. It advises using kind words or respectful gestures as a tool to manage difficult or threatening individuals, not out of genuine respect but for personal safety.
Conciliating an Enemy
The proverb warns that it is sometimes necessary to conciliate or cooperate with an enemy or an evil force out of necessity. It frames this compromise not as a virtue, but as a 'good' or sensible tactic when one is vulnerable.
Subversion of Religious Ritual
The proverb subverts the deeply ingrained religious practice of lighting votive candles for saints, applying it ironically to the ultimate figure of evil. This reflects a cynical but pragmatic worldview, acknowledging that survival in a world with tyrannical or malevolent figures in power sometimes requires acts of appeasement or flattery, regardless of one's true feelings.
Power Dynamics in Practice
The anecdote from 1584 concerning Fillimore and Sir Thomas Throgmorton provides a vivid, real-world illustration of the proverb's meaning. It demonstrates how the 'devil' was understood not just as a supernatural entity, but as any powerful, vindictive person who must be carefully managed to avoid severe repercussions.
Psychology of Appeasement
Psychologically, the proverb captures the cognitive dissonance involved in strategic appeasement. It is a coping mechanism for managing fear and powerlessness, advising a calculated, insincere performance of respect to placate a perceived threat, thus prioritizing personal safety over moral purity.
Moral and Ethical Compromise
The proverb's advice exists in a morally ambiguous space. It is not an endorsement of evil, but a practical, albeit cynical, strategy for navigating danger. It highlights the complex ethical compromises individuals make when confronted with overwhelming power.
Rhetorical Devices
Antithesis
The proverb's power comes from the stark juxtaposition of a sacred act (lighting a candle in reverence) with the ultimate profane subject (the devil), creating a memorable and shocking image.
Symbolism
The 'devil' serves as a powerful symbol for any malicious, tyrannical, or dangerous authority figure, while the 'candle' symbolizes respect, appeasement, or complicity. This symbolism makes the advice broadly applicable.
Irony
A deep situational irony is at the core of the proverb. It recommends performing a holy, reverent action for the most unholy being imaginable, highlighting the paradoxical and often cynical nature of human survival strategies.
Transcription
Quotations
It is a comon proverbe, A man must sumtyme set a candel befor the Devyle.
Thou art aboute to please a shrewe (I haue espyed) as a man that offereth a candell to the deuyll.
[c1537] (set).
I . . thought it not euyll To set vp a candell before the deuyll.
They thought it good to hould a candell before the deuill, and speake him faire while their feete were in his mouth.
Yet I le giue him good words, tis good to hold a candle before the diuell.
Infaith I looke like an old Prouerbe, Hold the candle before the devill.
Whores set vp a candle before the deuill.
To set a candle before the deuill.
Set vp a candle before the Devil.
Hee hath offered his candle to the divell.
This (now common) thus arose; Old ffillimore of Cam, goinge in Anno 1584, to present Sr. Tho. Throgm: of Tortworth with a suger lose, met by the way with his neighbor S. M: who demanded whither and vpon what busines hee was goinge, answered, To offer my candle to the Divill: which comminge to the eares of Sr. Tho: At the next mus-ter hee sent two of ffillimores sonnes soldiers into the Low countries, where the one was slayne and the other at a deere rate redeemed his returne.
According to the Italian Proverb, That one must sometimes light a candle to the Devil.
'Tis good sometimes to hold a candle to the Devill.
It's good sometimes to hold a candle to the Devil.
Holding a candle to the devil is assisting in a bad cause, an evil matter.
It may be necessary sometimes to hold a Candle to the Devil.
Cross References
- See DÜR., II, no. 435.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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