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following him will prevent Adah’s tears, when Lucifer never demonstrates any suchintention. The Devil wants a follower, not a companion.EvilA further issue of significance as regards Lucifer’s character is Bishop Heber’scomment that “we absolutely know no evil” of Lucifer. That he is selfish, selfcontradictory,and controlling is not enough to damn him, of course. Neither is thefact that he is engaged in perpetual war with the individual whom he describes as atyrant. It is, however, pertinent that he approves Cain’s cursing of his own father:CAIN:Cursed he not me in giving me my birth?Cursed he not me before my birth, in daringTo pluck the fruit forbidden?LUCIFER: Thou say’st well (2.2.23-5).Such an action is a capital crime in Mosaic Law, 496 and so Lucifer’s approval of ithere is in direct contravention of Sacred Writ and thus of Georgian cultural norms.Further, this devil is not above being judgemental. Eventually, he says to Cain, “thouart evil” (2.2.220). As Byron says, “the object of the demon is to depress him”, not toassist him. This is the same letter in which Byron says, “& the sillier Satan is madethe safer for every body” (BLJ 9.53), a comment which makes little sense if Byronintended the Devil as a serious mouthpiece for heretical views, as Bostetter claims.As Chew notes, Lucifer, like Milton’s Satan, aims “to invade the realm of good and toform a league with mankind, or, if that be impossible, to snare him into evil”. 497The demon’s intentions are also apparent when he steers the conversation towardsAbel, away from the issue of himself not loving anyone. He starts by saying, “Thyfather loves him well – so does thy God” (2.2.340); when Cain replies, “And so do I”,Lucifer snidely comments, “ ’Tis well and meekly done” (2.2.341), which draws areaction of surprise, and probably displeasure, from Cain, who exclaims, “Meekly!”496 Exodus 21:17, although that, of course, post-dates Cain in the Torah narrative.497 Chew, p.124.313