The Angel Asrael (1832) is the most revealing and the purest of S. Henry Berthoud's fantasies, and a significant early contribution to what became the great Romantic and Symbolist tradition of "literary satanism," in which writers deliberately adopted a stance removed from orthodox Christianity in order to reappraise the character of Satan. As might be expected of a devout writer, Berthoud shows no sympathy for Satan, who remains an archetype of vitriolic nastiness, but in his characterization of the rebel, like John Milton, he cannot help express a certain admiration for his overweening...