The Devil character's name is a direct homage to
John Milton, who wrote
Paradise Lost, quoted by Lomax with the line, "''Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n''". Despite this, the thrust of Milton's epic was to rebuke the devil. As a rebel against God, complaining of being perpetually "underestimated", the Milton character, like
Paradise Losts Satan, is "''Heav'n running from Heav'n
" with a "sense of injur'd merit''". Professor Eric C. Brown judges the climax, in which Milton attempts to persuade Lomax to have sex with his half-sister to conceive the
Antichrist, to be the most "Miltonic", as the sculptures become animated in carnal activities evoking
Paradise Losts "Downfall of the Rebel Angels". The tirade that Milton gives in this sequence is also reminiscent of Satan's lines in
Paradise Lost, Books I and II. In U.S. literary education, Milton's temptation of Lomax in the climax, in which he rationalizes rebellion against God for a "look-but-don't-touch" model, has been compared to Satan urging
Eve to eat
forbidden fruit in
Paradise Lost, Book IX, lines 720–730: In his
DVD commentary, Taylor Hackford did not name
Paradise Lost as an inspiration, instead citing the legend of
Faust. An underlying concept of the story is a "
Faustian bargain", offered to a character with
free will. Philosopher
Peter van Inwagen writes that Milton referring to free will as a "bitch" when Lomax contemplates selling his soul moves away from a legalistic definition of "free will" as "uncoerced" into the philosophical realm of its definition. As with ''
Goethe's Faust'', the Devil that is commonly depicted in cinema is associated with lust and temptation. Milton shows Lomax many seductive women to induce his "fall". Sex or rape is usually also the means by which Satan creates the Antichrist, as in
Roman Polanski's 1968 film ''
Rosemary's Baby. In The Devil's Advocate'', someone other than Satan will have sex to conceive the Antichrist, although Milton nevertheless brutally rapes Mary Ann.
Incest becomes a way of creating the Antichrist, for the offspring of Satan's son and daughter will inherit much of Satan's genetic makeup.
Dante Alighieri's
Inferno raised "visual potential" that informed the film. Dantean scholar Amilcare A. Iannucci argues that the plot follows the model of the
Divine Comedy in beginning with
selva oscura, with Lomax losing his conscience defending a guilty man, and entering and exploring deeper circles of
Hell. Iannucci compares the office building structure to the circles, listing fireplaces where flames are always present; demonic visual phenomena; and water outside of Milton's office, analogized to
Dante's Satan's icy home, albeit situated at the top of Hell, as opposed to the bottom. Free will is also a major theme in the
Divine Comedy, with the film's musings on the concept being similar to Dante's
Purgatorio, 16.82–83 ("if the present world has gone astray, in you is the cause, in you it's to be sought"). Other religious references are present. In describing New York City as
Babylon, Alice Lomax invokes
Revelation 18: Milton tempting Lomax is also possibly inspired by the Biblical
Temptation of Christ. Aside from Milton, other character names have been commented on: Author Kelly J. Wyman matches Mary Ann, the virginal figure who falls victim to Milton, to the
Virgin Mary, and adds the literal translation of Christabella is "Beautiful Christ", and that the title refers to the Catholic Church's
Devil's advocates and lawyers as advocates; Eric C. Brown finds Barzoon's name and character to be reminiscent of the demon prince
Beelzebub. Scholars
Miguel A. De La Torre and Albert Hernández observe the vision of Satan as CEO, wearing expensive clothing and engaging in business, had appeared in popular culture before, including the 1942 novel
The Screwtape Letters. ==Production==