The novel follows Felix Canaris and Gladys, two young people whose lives are manipulated by a wealthy semi-invalid Jasper Helwyze, who seeks to undermine their relationship for psychological experimentation.
A Modern Mephistopheles uses Greek myths and art to discuss character relations, and it also explicitly references The Scarlet Letter, Arthurian legends, and Faust.
A Modern Mephistopheles first appeared in the No Name Series, in which writers adopted styles other than their own and readers were meant to guess the author.
[2] Alcott wrote, "This book was very successful in preserving its incognito; and many persons still insist that it could not have been written by the author of 'Little Women'.
[4] Alcott came up with the idea for the book after reading Faust, describing it as an attempt "at something graver than magazine stories or juvenile literature".
Canaris says he wants to wait for marriage but agrees to the plan when Helwyze threatens to reveal the poetry's true authorship.
When Olivia finds out Gladys is pregnant, she confesses that her interactions with Canaris were for personal enjoyment, then suggests the couple take a trip to get away from Helwyze.
Shortly after, Gladys delivers her baby and both die; Canaris blames himself for their deaths and resolves to make an honest living.
[10] Other guesses as to the book's authorship included Julian Hawthorne,[11] Harriet Prescott Spofford,[12] and Louisa May Alcott.
[13] Upon discovering the authorship, Public Opinion expressed surprise, writing that the style differed from what Alcott typically used but that the "tone ... and lofty moral purpose" were unchanged.
[18] Hartford Daily Courant described it as "strange, mythical, and unsatisfactory", while The Woman's Journal called it "thrilling, weird, and intense".
[23] As a Mephistopheles figure, Helwyze tempts Canaris and Gladys in order to learn about human nature and psychology.
[24] Rena Sanderson analyzes Alcott's mentions of Faust, Greek tragedies, and Dante in chapter one as symbolic of Canaris's character fall.
[27] Montclair State University English professor Monika Elbert views the conversation as representative of the relationship between the characters in Alcott's novel and compares Gladys, Canaris, and Helwyze to Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, respectively.
[33] Holly Blackford, Monika Elbert, Michaela Keck, Mary Chapman, and Rena Sanderson analyzed A Modern Mephistopheles in light of femininity in Alcott's time.
[25] University of British Columbia English professor Mary Chapman describes Helwyze's influence as "objectifying" and "controlling".
The first two sections, Chapman explains, demonstrate the impact of the women's influence on their male listeners, Helwyze and Canaris.
While Gladys and Olivia do not comment on their intentions, Chapman interprets this section of the novel as a criticism of women's passivity in society in Alcott's time.
[36] Blackford, who is an English professor at Rutgers University-Camden, and Sanderson write that Gladys's motherhood is redemptive, in that she gains authority over the other characters and redeems Canaris from the effects of Helwyze's influence.
[39] In A Modern Mephistopheles Gladys reads the book that Canaris is about to destroy and asks him to have the female lead die rather than the male protagonist.
[44] Chapman argues that A Modern Mephistopheles is "not a celebration of the subtle victory of womanly influence over male vice so much as a mapping out" of how gender roles affect art.